Browsing by Subject "Support"
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Item A case study investigation of employed mothers' workplace formal social networks.(2009-08) Schultz, Jennifer LynnEmployer-based social networks for working mothers can be low-cost, innovative interventions designed to assist women in managing multiple life roles. This study presents research using a case study framework, specifically aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of how and to what extent social networks for working mothers impact their participants with regard to effectiveness, value and connection. This study was preceded by a positioning survey and included meeting observations, a pilot interview, and seven subsequent individual interviews with leaders and participants of a workplace social network for working mothers. The unit of measure for this study was the individual, featuring diversity of participants with regard to education, age, professional expertise, tenure with the organization, parenting experience, and network involvement. Individual interview results were transcribed and analyzed to identify and confirm outcomes among participants that revealed impacts of advice, confidence, work-life balance, knowledge of employer and community, employer support of mothers, internal research resource, helping colleagues, positive feelings, social capital and support and empathy. This study concluded with research-based recommendations for the network, employing organization, and for further research.Item County Exemption from Social Work Licensure in Minnesota: Understanding the Past and Present to Affect the Future(2021-12) Goodenough, KarenThis three-paper dissertation discerns the current landscape surrounding county exemption from social work licensure in Minnesota and whether additional repeal efforts are timely and necessary. It outlines the purpose, critiques, and history of social work licensure in Minnesota and analyzes how the literature describes the reasons for and against licensing county social workers and the gaps remaining in the literature. It then describes the results of a mixed methods study to: 1) ascertain the number of current Minnesota county employees would need to be licensed should the exemption be eliminated, how the number has changed since 2007, and the number of licensure supervisors currently available within the MN county public service agencies; and 2) to understand the connection between having the resources in place to support licensure and the decision to become licensed when an exemption is in place.Item The impact of computer decision support on military team decision making.(2010-08) Larson, Adam DonavonThis dissertation work highlights extremely valuable results regarding significant costs and benefits of using a computer decision aid by analyzing the impact of such a decision support tool on military team decision making. Decision support systems (DSS) are becoming increasingly popular as an approach to aid decision makers in making better decisions in a more efficient and effective manner. However, DSSs have both costs and benefits in their utilization, and there is no guarantee that a DSS will actually improve decision making or problem solving performance. This work shows that although a DSS has many advantages and can facilitate user problem solving, brittle DSS behavior can significantly degrade user decision making. The primary goals of this work are to improve scientific understanding of situations in which DSSs may improve decision making performance and those where the use of a DSS may actually degrade performance. Specifically, the heart of this work focuses on understanding and measuring the performance benefits and costs of a solution generating DSS on individuals versus teams, and on situations in which the DSS produces "brittle," or questionable solutions. Understanding the impact of brittle behavior is especially important given the domains in which DSSs are often utilized, including military, medical, and business operations. The results of decisions in these areas greatly impact dollars and most importantly, human lives, that may be saved or lost. The decisions teams make in military situations play a vital role in determining the success or failure of operations. Decision support in this study was provided by a component of a DSS tool called Weasel. A previous study in 2004 analyzed Weasel with respect to individual decision makers' performance and behavior [9]. This study analyzed team behavior and performance in a military context with military personnel working together in three person teams. The primary questions addressed by this work are: What is Weasel's overall impact on team versus individual performance and what is the effect on user performance when Weasel exhibits brittle behavior? Brittle behavior refers to the automated decision tool offering questionable, low quality courses of action for a given situation. As all DSSs will at sometime or another exhibit some degree of brittle behavior, the impact of such behavior on user decision making is vitally important. The results showed brittle behavior does indeed negatively impact user decision making behavior, and that individuals and teams demonstrated the same levels of performance with the use of the automated decision tool. The results of this experiment will help researchers and military personnel to better understand when it is appropriate to use decision support and to better understand both the benefits and the costs in team decision making by assessing when the DSS tool facilitated improved decision making and when performance was hindered by the tool. Additionally, information may be gained regarding situations where computer support and automation use may degrade performance.Item Motivations to mentor ex-offenders(2014-10) Gingery, Nicole BuehrerCorrectional agencies, scholars and offenders alike have stressed the importance of positive support for someone being released from incarceration. When community members provide support, reintegrative shaming can occur, whereby the offender is welcomed back into the community through displays of forgiveness for their harmful actions. Using qualitative data from the Community Offender Reentry Program, mentors' motivations to work with the incarcerated were explored - a topic largely unaddressed in previous research. Common motivations were identified in the study, including prior exposure to the criminal justice system or incarcerated population. Implications for mentor recruitment are also discussed.Item Personal Perspectives on Alzheimer’s Disease in Morocco(2017) Krueger, AllisonThe number of people affected with dementia worldwide is expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, which is characterized by progressive memory loss and increasing behavioral changes throughout the course of the fatal disease. This growing healthcare concern affects not only those with the disease, but caregivers and family members as well. Understanding the unique challenges of affected families across cultures can be useful in providing culturally competent healthcare and providing support resources for patients and their families. This study investigated the major issues faced by families affected by Alzheimer’s disease in Morocco and the support resources available through a site visit, in-country library research, and semi-structured interviews to gain an in-depth understanding of the effects of the disease from multiple perspectives. Results indicate that there are at least four aging centers in Morocco, either in construction or already functioning, to provide caregiver support and education on Alzheimer's disease. Two out of three of the interview participants believe that Alzheimer's disease is not a major health priority on a national scale compared to other acute diseases.