Ethnographic Research Essay

The focus of my study is the interactions inside a nursing home environment. I observed the social interactions between the elders and nurses, elders and family, and elders among other elders. The reason why I decided to study this particular group of people was primarily because my grandma currently resides in a nursing home. I also wanted to observe how elders keep up with relationships and social interactions when living in a nursing home. Although my grandma was at the nursing home where I did my observations, I did not observe her as a subject. The building I did my observations in was called the Johnson Center. It was a two-floor, dark and light brown building. The entrance on the outside of the Johnson Center was inviting, but once I went inside, there was a sadness that overcame my mood. There was also this distinctive scent, like mixed meatloaf and hand sanitizer, which attached itself in my nose during the entirety of my observations. The area I did my observations was located on the second floor, directly in the middle of the floor. There were five halls that lead from the dining room to the bedrooms of the residents, and to an â€Å"activity room† and the â€Å"living room,† which had couches, a TV, two parrots in a cage, and access to the outside patio area. But, the dining room area was the main focus of study of my observations. The dining room area was about the size of the classroom we hold class in. It had a tall ceiling with many windows that let in some natural sunlight. There was a black piano, which is where I sat when I did my observations. A clear windowed office filled the side of the dining room. The tables in this dining room were set up with white table cloths, red napkins, coffee cups and utensils. When lunch came out, the trays took over the majority of space left on the table. Some tables were completed with chairs, while other tables weren’t, since the elders in wheel chairs occupied that space. The noise level was at a low-medium during my observations. It only got noisy when the utensils hit the plates, or when small chats among the elders, nurses and families occurred. The environment was comforting, with a hint of sadness and despair. â€Å"Creating the conditions for self-fulfillment for aged care residents,† by Sonya Brownie and Louise Horstmanshof, shows a study that measured how 27 residents in a high-care facility in Ohio spent their day. Unbelievably, there was only 4% of the time dedicated to organized activities, while 25% was spend in the dining room, and 9% was eating. I think this article is the most relevant and important to my research because it describes exactly what I observed, the dining room, which was where the elderly spend most of their day. This article also explains the importance of relationships, the importance of maintaining relationships and the effects of relationship deprivation. The article states that â€Å"deprivation of meaningful relationships and social engagement adversely effects the physical and emotional well-being of older people, leads to feelings of isolation and loneliness,† which I saw when I observed the elders’ social interactions. I observed that lack of social interactions effect the way certain elders behave or react in the nursing home, and almost every elder showed some sign of depression or sadness. It is true to my observation on the interactions between elders and other elders, in which elders isolate themselves from the group, and thus respond back with hostile behavior towards one another. Without social interactions, the elders create a sense of loneliness and depression, and their personal identity, self-esteem and personal control are all shaken. The article, â€Å"Families and Elder Care in the 21st Century,† by Ann Bookman and Delia Kimbrel, studied the importance of finding nurses who have the ability to understand each elder and how to adapt to their behavior, as well as the significance of nurses of color in comparison to the Caucasian elders. â€Å"Although most Americans refrain from putting their elderly kin in nursing homes, Latinos, African Americans, and Asians are least likely to do so. Even elders of color with greater care needs, such as those afflicted with dementia or chronic illnesses, are more likely than whites to receive care from their children and live in the community with them.† This statement describes the reasoning as to why the elder population in this nursing home is predominately Caucasian. It is because in Latino, African American and Asian cultures have their elderly live with their children. Gerritsen, Steverink, Ooms and Ribbel are the authors of â€Å"Finding a useful conceptual basis for enhancing the quality of life of nursing home residents,† which describes the quality of life, what the quality of life is and how it should optimized. It also describes what the factors in the social integration. This is the most important part of the article because it highlights exactly what factors are needed in order to improve on the elderly’s wellbeing and what needs are needed within the nursing home. First is social integration needs, which includes the factors of growth needs, self-esteem needs, as well as love and belonging needs. The second is material resource needs, which includes safety and security needs, and physiological needs. Every one of these needs is necessary in creating an environment dedicated to the needs of the elders. This will enhance their quality of life and thus â€Å"be dependent on the degree to which they are able, with assistance, to meet those needs.† The last article I found that related most to my research is called, â€Å"Nursing home residents’ dependence and independence.† The focus of this article is the observation of the pattern of social interaction between nursing home resident and the nursing staff during mealtimes. This was very similar to my observations on the elders in the nursing. In fact, the results were almost the same, as well. The study showed that residents were rarely socially active, which is true for my observations. Stated in the conclusion of the article, â€Å"the response of the nursing staff to the residents’ social engagement was variable†¦however, they did not respond at all and seldom displayed engagement-supportive behavior.† This statement holds true to my observations on the elderly and nurses as well. Although, I only studied a total of 5 nurses, the nurses’ response to the elders definitely varied, but almost every time, the nurses did not engage with th e elders, unless they had a specific duty.

A World Affected by Pollution and Global Warming Essay

Roy M. Harrison.(2001) Pollution:Cause, Effects and Control. Royal society of chemistry. This author concentrates mainly chemical and radioactive pollution. The book speaks of the sources of pollutants and their effects on both living and non livings especially human. It also shows how chemical pollution can also cause of water, air and land pollution. Agarwal S.K. Water pollution. APH publishing(Jan.1 2005) The author bases the book on recent views, ideas and contribution of various leading ecologist information of water pollution. It show how to use waste water and its treatments. Irina Gray (2008). Pollution effects on humans, animals, plants and the environment. The writer shows the various types and causes of pollution and its effects on the environment. It shows the effect on human ranging mild discomfort to serious diseases. It also how the effect destroy animal life and the atmosphere. Credit: www.Tropical-Rainforest-Animals.com Margaret A. Wheatley(1996). Social and cultural impact of mercury pollution on Aboriginal people in Canada. Neurotox 17(1), 251-256 The writer explores the link between mercury pollution and social &cultural disruption in Canadian aboriginal communities. It shows the difficulties in communication that contribute to the social and cultural impacts and their health effects.Credit: V. Ramanathan and G. Carmichael(2008). Global and regional climate changes due to black carbon.Nature Geoscience 221-221. The writers express how black carbon becomes air pollution and how it affects both the climate and the environment. This book said that the pollution affect different regions and the â€Å"black carbon in soot is the dominant absorber of visible solar radiation in the atmosphere.† Credit: www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v1/n4/full/ngeo/56.html S.Fred Singer.(1968) Global Effects of environmental pollution. Science 13 vol. 162 no 3859. The author talks the pollution effects on humans, animals, plants and the environment. It expresses the cause of pollution and how it causes the extinction of animals and plants species which is a grave loss for mankind. It shows how the advancement in technology aids the improvement of a well being of mankind but also its consequences. Credit: books.google.com/books Clive Glifford (2006). Planet under pressure:pollution. Rain-tree ISBN-13: 9781844439 744. The book examines how pollution has become a global issue and looks at the debate over possible solution. It shows how pollution whether air, water, radioactive or terrestrial affect the lives of a lot of people causing disease and contributing to the global warming. Credit: www.booksdirect.com.au/books/?isbn=9781844439744 Green StudentU. Pollution. This is a encyclopedia entry which speaks of how toxic chemicals from factories pollute the land, air and water. It explains what pollution is and why there are different types . Of the types, It takes of their sources and how to prevent them. It gives link to environment protection agency website if to be involved in prevention of pollution. It also gives the statistics of the people affected by pollution and other. Credit: www.greenstudentu.com/encyclopedia/pollution

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Research Paper

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Research Paper Example Under the new law, children are no longer denied of the coverage based on pre-existing conditions (NCSL, 2012). They will be considered beneficiaries of parents until they will reach the age of 26. The healthcare reform has nationalized its system at the cost of $940 billion (NCSL, 2012). Such amount is exacted from budget cuts, taxation and government funding (Gravelle, 2010). On a positive note, it was perceived to have reduced the national fiscal deficiency by $1.2 trillion (NCSL, 2012). This was perceived as the strategic resolution to provide remedy to the serious concern about 32 million Americans who have no health insurance (NCSL, 2012) notwithstanding critique from other stakeholders that changes will also potentially impact to medicare system and the need for hospitals to cope with the increasing demand of health consumers as budget for national services are rationalized by the state. Healthcare subscribers still need to realize though that preventive health measure remains necessary since Obamacare program is designed as a government’s response to bridge the gaps on financial resources in case of hospitalization. Its appreciable still to note that central to this healthcare reform is the gender non-discrimination clause in its policy; restriction enforced to pre-need companies to make them customer-centered in providing insurance benefits; obliging insurance companies to justify any increase of insurance fees; availability of option to avail healthcare in accordance to their income bracket and nature of employment (NCSL, 2012). The co-payments for domestic violence screening, birth control and related expenses are no longer allowed (NCSL, 2012). Annual and lifetime limits for caring for the patients are already removed and micro-businesses will enjoy tax credits if their workers are afforded with insurance. Notwithstanding these positive reforms, there are still those who categorized that the Obamacare remains favorable to the affluent or the moneyed middle class who could save more from the healthcare benefits. They opined that there are still about 25% of entrepreneurs that are uninsured, 50% are dependent on their respective family, and there are about 60% with private insurance enjoy incomes at about 400% above the poverty level (NCSL, 2012). These affluent will qualify for tax credits other than the fact that it can subsidize healthcare to 83% small business owners that are currently considered not insured (NCSL, 2012). Department of Healthcare and Family expectations of Obama care for state of Illinois The Institute of Medicine (IOM) have already provided directives for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)Â  pertaining to essential benefits of mandatory insurance under the health reform law's insurance exchanges (NCSL, 2012). Medical experts observed that the report and directive did not listed specific medical services to be covered by premiums of insurers but it recommended a framework to define the minimum benefits that can be generated under the insurance policy (NCSL, 2012). DoH acknowledged that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was the most comprehensive changes to the provision of health insurance since the development of Medicare and Medicaid by requiring all Americans to have health insurance by 2016 (NCSL, 2012).

Needs Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Needs Assessment - Essay Example The greatest area of need is the family support that these students are accorded by their families while handling stress. The educational program that the children go through is quite demanding and occasionally puts them under undue stress. That was the opinion of most parents. In reference to the educational staff at school, most parents were of the view that they made students work harder and thus put them under so much stress. In spite of the presence of the families, the stress needs to be managed well. In fact, most parents had a fair understanding of the processes that their students underwent during their therapy sessions at school. From the interviews, it is obvious that the students observed had shown incredible improvements since the first time that they attended the therapy sessions. It should be noted that the levels of motor coordination of the students directly affect their motor activities. This directly affects their concentration while doing activities, like dressing and eating. Overall, most parents thought that the performance of their children was improving. The progress that most parents would want to see is an exponential improvement in the physical performance of activities. The set goals that most parents needed to achieve were material support from the institution. Most parents shared their sentiments with other parents as well as the therapist. The biggest problem that affects the performance of the therapist is the overwhelming workload. He or she has to tend to the needs of the diverse student population alone. The biggest strength of the therapist is his/her understanding of the individual needs of the students. A therapist has a personal relationship with the students and thus is able to attend to their needs more effectively. Such a specialist’s biggest weakness is the fact that he/she lacks additional human resources to assist in delivering services. The priority that the therapist uses

Feminist political thought Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Feminist political thought - Essay Example Her removal of the women’s suffrage campaign, and her acrimonious opposition to the social transparency dogmas that influenced many feminist reformers, inspired many feminists to reject her as an enemy of women’s liberty and a man’s woman. This paper will focus on the Emma Goldman, and that in her own unique way, she was not only a radical feminist but one of the most deep-seated of her time. In all, this paper also focuses on Bell Hooks’ concept of transcendence and immanence from the Second Sex. The fact that Goldman was an avant-garde rather than a systematic theorist presents a problem for any discourse of her beliefs. Of course, she had specific ideas that were always evolving. It will also be imperative to depict the context in which her ideas were modeled, as unlike other feminist radicals, Goldman’s struggle for women was second to her struggle for equality for all. Further, this paper will also discourse Goldman’s early influences th at worked upon her consciousness and made her a dissident. Emma Goldman was born and raised in a Russian province of Kovno on 29th June 1869. In her memoirs entitled Living my Life she explains how she gleaned in the community around her demoralizing repercussions of erratic system where wives and children are beaten, Jews ostracized and peasant beaten, guidelines made and broken at the whim of those in power. There was no place for her where she could resort for refuge in her family. Her dictatorial father whom she refers to as the nightmare of my childhood picked her out as the object of his often rages, consequently making sure that from the starting point her advancement was largely in upheaval. In 1882 the family relocated to St. Petersburg, and after a year, the experienced changed everything in her whole life. The same year saw the bloody assassination of Tsar Alexander 11, which was the culmination of numerous decades of increasing radical activity focused towards the Tsaris t despotism. Further, Populism had originally arisen as response to the explosive European revolutions of 1848. For this case, nearly all the Russian affluence and authority were focused in the hands of tiny wealthy aristocracy, which clearly live off a wide-ranging subjugated populace of uneducated and underprivileged peasants. In repulsion against the mounting poverty and injustice around them, scholars such like Nikolai Chernyshevski and Alexander Herzen, somehow nurtured by far-reaching thought from Western Europe, started to evolve a particularly Russian prototype of socialism. They held that Russia could bypass capitalism in the walk toward socialism. At this rate, Emma Goldman started to read the outlawed tracts and censored novels that disseminated amid her sister’s students friends and mourn the insurgents, many of whom had been incinerated, exiled to Siberia or executed by the despotic government. With the books and tracts influencing her, she began questioning more and more the community in which she lived. The notions of the Populist openly inspiring her, she started falling prey later to anarchist notions. She chronicles this in her memoirs when she asserts â€Å"they had been my inspiration ever since I had first read of their lives.†(21) Further, the eminence of women in the Russian revolutionary crusade was an unusual phenomenon within the framework of the 19th century European left. The crusade was maybe the only environment in which women were treated as equals. The

History phase 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History phase 3 - Essay Example Its accession number is 10.125.130, can be viewed in gallery 774. Irvin Lyion, the author of an 18th century book on furniture provides the modern-day readers with the original details related to the object in the Metropolitan museum. Page 198, of his book shows that the oval table with falling leaves was sold in 1669, from a man known as Antipas Boyes from Boston. The location of the owner of the table coincides with the information at Metropolitan Museum, which shows that the table could be found from different geographical locations, such as Boston and New England, as note from the title of this book. From Lyion’s table, it is also clear that the table was on sale at a price of  £ 3.10. It is also evident that tables with an oval top with falling leaves and at times with folding parts were fashionable in England for one of two decades (Lyion 199). As stated by Lyion, the tables were in existence in the latter part of the 17th century and later became common during the 18th century. This information also coincides with the information o f the oval table at the Metropolitan Museum. As describe by Lyion, people used to call them â€Å"oval tables† and loved them because they occupied small space in the house. Though the oval tables were narrow in frame, Lyion states that the leaves were often large and had many legs to support their weight. From this source, I also learnt that these tables were not only used at homes, but in hospitals such as the hospital that Lyion mentions on page 199, the Heriot Hospital in Edinburgh. Others could also be found at the Connecticut Historical society of Hartford. The legs of the table were plain before 1750s, but after this year they were all made with certain patterns (Lyion 201). In Brock Jobe’s book on Portsmouth furniture, he also provides his readers with details of the 17th century tables and when most of these tables were made. For

Public administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Public administration - Essay Example The process of formulating a new public policy often follows three stages: agenda setting, option-formulation, and then finally implementation. This obviously revolves around the problem to be solved. A perfect example is the problem of health care in the US. The Affordable Care Act/ Obama Care is an example of public health policy that was recently implemented in the US. President Obama signed into law The Patients Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March 23rd 2010. This policy aims to help more Americans gain access to health insurance at affordable rates. This is because millions of US citizens are uninsured. The ACA works in phases to reduce the number of uninsured by introducing an Individual Mandate. By 2014 every uninsured individual (Adults and Children) will be required to have some form of health insurance by paying up to $285/year to virtual health insurers online. Women will not pay higher premiums and insurers will have issue a cover regardless of enrollees having pre-existing medical conditions. Under ACA, insurers are also requires to spend at least 80% of their premiums in actual health care. The ACA strives to push health insurance prices down and also maintain quality of care in the