Health and Social Communication Skills

Group Interaction. Basic Details/Work Context. It is important to be able to communicate effectively in a health and social context, in order to transmit the appropriate care values appropriate to people’s specific needs. Just like my one to one interaction, I had to demonstrate my communication skills. I undertook an interaction with a group of young children that were at a primary school. But before undertaking this interaction I had to do some research on group interactions in order for me to do this interaction correctly. Walsh et all [2000] explains a group as â€Å"Groups are collections of people who come together because they have a common purpose or goal and who gradually develop a shared sense of belonging, or group identity† There are four groups in total which people can be classified when communicating together; two of these were identified by Burnard [1992]. The first one he identifies is Primary groups, these involved face to face contact and members will get to know each other. While as Secondary groups are more widely distributed these may include membership of a club such as Trade Unions. The other two groups are Task Orientated Group and Socially Orientated Groups. The Task Orientated Groups are groups that achieve a common goal/objective, a group like this may be a doctor meeting to discuss a patient’s care, and these groups tend to happen cause of a purpose or a point. The last group is the Socially Orientated Groups, these are the friendship groups, and they will share personal reasons and views with each other. As I did my group interaction within a Primary School, I was able to sit one side of the classroom with my group, which was an advantage as the children and I was still in a classroom, an environment where teaching and learning is done. I undertook the role of a teacher’s assistant and had a teacher’s assistant observing me which filled out my ‘Group Observation Sheet’. They were able to comment and feed back to me what I was doing correctly and what I could improve on. I was able to evaluate and take in their comments as they work with groups of children every day. My group interaction consisted of myself, a teacher’s assistant and five children aged from 4-5. I decided to read a story to them relating to a subject they were currently studying and during and after the story I asked questions. Asking questions allowed the children to make them feel more involved, I asked questions such as ‘What do you think is going to happen next? ’ and ‘Do you think that’s a good or bad thing they had done and why? This abled those to express what they thought were going to happen next in the story and compare their ideas with other children. Communication Skills [A01, A02 and A04] Groups can develop over a period of time, and different kinds of groups come together in different ways. A friendship group goes through mutual attraction while as working groups form by a leader. These groups formations can take time, some may be longer or shorter compared to others, but each group will gradually go through four stages of development which is suggested by Tuckman. Tuckman suggests that groups go through four basic shapes in order to become effective. The first stage is Forming, this is when a group comes together and will find out about each other and a leader may emerge. Following onto the second stage is Storming, this is when conflict occurs as group members will argue over purpose, the group members will disagree with the leader. The purpose will become clearer as the arguments are won and lost. The third stage is Norming this is when the group identify develops with a strong set of shared values and norms, their group identity begin to develop. The group becomes Cohesive, this is when all group members begin to work together for the good of the whole. Groups can be affected by the communication strategies that individuals use while being in a group which split into positive and negative. Bales [1970] identifies these types of communication behaviour used by group members. Bales identifies the following types as positive: * Proposing, are communications that offer new ideas and are constructive. * Building is the communications that develop the ideas of others. Supporting, communications that support or agree with the comments of others in the group, this is it good for cohesion. * Summarising involves summing up the contributions and discussions of the group. * Information seeking is when you seek new ideas or information from other group members. * And the last positive communication behaviour is Information giving, these are communications that contribute the ideas and information. Bales also identifies there are also neg ative types that occur when communication with a group. These are: * Disagreeing, this is ommunicating a difference which could be done in a positive or negative way. * Defensive, this is where group members with defend their idea when under attack. * Attacking, communications that challenge other group members, * Blocking, this is when obstacles are placed in the way of others. * And the last negative communication behaviour is Exclusive, this is the opposite to Inclusive, their aim is to block out specific group members. As I was able to do my group interaction within a Primary School they had a colour scheme which represents their level and how they are progressing. Within these ‘colour groups’ there are a group of 4-6 children where they are all working at a similar level. I took one of these groups for my interaction. The children all knew each other well and were able to communicate together in a sensible manner. When doing my interaction I was able to see that ‘Tuckmans’ four stages of group formation had already taken place. I think this particular group was at Tuckmans suggested stage of Storming. There seemed to be conflict between the children as they argued over where they were all sitting and some did challenge others ideas. There also seemed to be a leader of the group that decided on everything and wanted to be the centre of attention. Although once the children had calmed down I think the children had formed into the Norming stage. The group of children was able to identify similar ideas towards the story most of the time. Most of the children agreed on what were right and wrong in the story and all had similar ideas on what the ending of the story will be. The suggested leader of the group was quieter when settled when starting the task we had to complete together. Within the Norming stage Tuckman also suggested that the group becomes cohesive, when a group becomes cohesive, all group members begin to work together for the good of the whole. This was clearly shown within in the group interaction, when little tasks were asked to be completed throughout the story. Little tasks included things such as role-playing the previous chapter of the book and drawing on A3 paper to show to the rest of class when they join back together. There can be a number of factors that can influence the effectiveness of communication; some can enhance it while others can weaken it. The type of communication and the skills that are used within the communication can vary. Communication will differ between within a hospital and a pharmacy; the health care user will also affect the different types of communication you will use. There are four types of communication that can be used within the health care’s sector although I am looking at Non-Verbal Communication and Verbal Communication. Promoting effective communication should contain a balance of power in care workers and client relationships. Listening to others is essential when promoting effective communication. During my group interaction with young children I used the following skills: Non-Verbal Communication. Non-Verbal Communication is as important as Verbal Communication, According to Gahagan [1984], he believes that â€Å"Non-verbal communication is communication though any means other than language† This includes, body posture, gaze, proximity and touch, personal appearance and use of space and props and also gesture and facial expressions. Other research on Non-Verbal communication is that Argyle [1967] suggests that non-verbal communication functions in 3 ways. The first function is that non-verbal communication communicates inter-personal attitudes and emotions are a key part of interaction, this includes facial expression. Another function is that it supports verbal communication, e. g. listening is a key part of interaction and non-verbal communication establishes evidence that it is happening. The last function is that non-verbal communication replaces speech, e. g. sign language. Eye Contact. Eye contact can send a particular message to a health care user. We often get eye contact messages mixed up, an example of this would be. Long broken eye contact, this can show two very different messages, one of them being attraction or unfriendly staring. Eye contact can also show that you’re listening to what the other person is saying and that you are generally interested in what they have to say. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I was able to demonstrate this skill of eye contact correctly by viewing everyone equally and not just focusing on one particular child. I didn’t use long direct eye contact as this would have made the children feel uncomfortable. Eye contact is a great way to show Bales inclusiveness, I was able to correctly show this, by looking at everyone in the group; I was able to involve everyone in the group by bringing them together and asked for their opinions and views on what’s going to happen next in the story. I extremely focused on children that were more isolated and quiet and often shy, although I ensured that I used eye contact at a comfortable gaze comfortable eye as to much direct eye contact can make an individual feel uncomfortable, anxious and even nervous with the children. I also ensured that all my attention was spread out to everyone; I just encouraged the shy children to bring out their opinion. Contexts of the Skill. Comparing the skill of eye contact and the use of it when communicating with younger children is much easier when using the skill for Therapy groups with the clients being Alcohol Anonymous. With children my group was at a smallish number and they all seemed generally interested except for some of the disruptions. When talking and running a therapy group for Alcohol Anonymous the leader of the group will need to focus on all the group members which tends to be a much larger group. I would need to use eye contact in an appropriate way; it can help to show reassurance and interest which is essential when talking to people in an Alcohol Anonymous. The eye contact will need to be comfortable and not to overpowering when talking to the group, as people within the group will be finding this situation very sensitive and you don’t want to offend them by overpowering eye contact. Body Language. Body language can refer to many various things, such as eye contact, facial expressions and posture. An individual’s posture refers to how an individual sits or stands; this is one way how messages and emotions can be transmitted to the receiving person. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill During the interaction I ensured my body posture was open so it could be transmitted onto the group of children. With my body posture being positive and open it allowed the chance of all the children to know that I was relaxed and open to talk and teach. This would be a positive effect on the children’s self-concept on the whole, with my body posture giving of the impression I want to listen to what the children have to say, would of made their self-esteem positive, the way they value themselves would be higher as well. I think my open posture also transmitted that I was confident in what I was going to do with the children, read them a story and various tasks. My body posture remained open throughout the whole of the interaction, during reading the story and helping them with their tasks. Having an open body posture is also a way of letting of positive energy and made the children feel good as I wanted to take all the time to teach and talk to them, especially as I was new visitor in the class. Contexts of the Skill As body posture is an important skill to transmit the right feelings and expressions across to the receiving person, a health care professional needs to be able to transmit the right expressions correctly. In a dentist context, I would need to be able to transmit a happy comfortable body posture to my patient. A dentist can be a scary uncomfortable place for many individuals, so a positive posture is needed to almost comfort their patient. I would demonstrate this skill by welcoming the patient gently and using hand gestures to guide them to the seat. I wouldn’t be standing upright as this would suggest I’m tense or serious, but my posture would be open which a sign of relaxation and comfort is. The patient would able to recognise and read my body posture, which would be able to keep them calm and the feeling of being able to trust me would also appear. The patient should be able to feel in safe arms with me being the dentist. Facial Expressions. Facial expressions can also be used to show and express what an individual may be thinking or feeling and can replace verbal communication. During my interaction with the children I ensured I made my facial expressions match what I was actually saying, as this was going to avoid confusion with the children. As most of the interaction was reading a story to the children and stopping at parts of the story to discuss what had happened and what was going to happen next. I was able to show excitement during the story by using my mouth to smile and my eyes were large as this is seen as a sign of interest and excitement. Although I doubt the children would notice about the eyes as they haven’t been exposed to pick up the signs of eye contact. Along with my facial expressions I also used hand gestures; this also helped explain what was saying to the children. Strengths and Weakness of the Skill. Being able to perform the skill of facial expression was one of the easiest skills to perform to the children. I was able to correctly use facial expression to match what I was saying verbally. Examples of this is when a sad part of the story came up and I was told to discuss what had happened and how the child would feel if they were in that position. I was able to show the sadness by facial expressions by making my mouth frown almost like and showed emotion through my eyes. The use of gestures was also used by suggesting what it could feel like with my hands. I was able to use the ‘OK’ hand gesture to a child sitting at the back of the group, as they asked to go to the toilet. When I first replied the children did not hear me, but when I repeated the answer again and did the ‘OK’ hand gesture, the child understood what I was saying. Contexts of the Skill Hand gestures and facial expression would be extremely important if you are communicating with a child who has learning difficulties. In a context of a Nursery the child may have difficulties understanding verbal language. The use of facial expressions would be extremely useful to the child as they would be able to pick up key signs such as smiling would mean something positive is being said and would be able to digest that easily. I would also use hand gestures would also be useful as I would use my hand to suggest where the toilet is, or where a particular item is. Hand gestures can also be used to do sign language to help the child. Verbal Communication. Asking Questions. The workers in the health and social care sector need the ability to help people discuss and talk about their feelings, thoughts and concerns. Burnard’s theory refers to this as drawing out. He suggests there are four main components to this process. These include, Open questions, reflection, understanding the checks and Empathy building statements, which I have previously explained in my one to one interaction. There are two different types of questions that can be used in communication, closed and open questions. I used more of the open questions, as this allowed the children to think and discuss their ideas of the story with their peers and myself. There are also Prompts and Probes which can be used within asking questions. I used both types, but used Probes much more then Prompts. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I think I was able to perform the skill of opening questions correctly and precisely each time, open questions are great to keep the conversation flowing. The children were able to say their views and listen to what the other children had to say, the children argued on certain points which in general turned out to be a healthy debate about the story we was currently reading together. I used many probes during my interaction; Probes are a very short question that usually follows on from an answer that the other individual has given. I used Probes as they are used to dig deeper into the child’s answer. Which is great when discussing, it abled me to probe into what a child had and then for them to reply with a more detailed answer and often allowed them to explain their answer in a more detailed context. A weakness of this skill of asking questions is that I didn’t use as many Prompts as I should of, prompts are short questions or words which you can offer to person in order to prompt them to answer. There were a couple of shy children who might of distanced their selves from the group when discussing the story, even though they are shy they might of felt excluded as I didn’t try to involve them as much as I should of. This would have affected their self-concept negatively; their self-image and self-esteem could have been affected by this. I should have used more Prompts in order for the shy children to join in with the group discussion 100%, using such words as ‘and what does that mean to you? ’ ‘what do you think is going to happen next? ’ could of provoked more responses out of the shy children which would of made them feel more part the group and feel way more involved. Contexts of the Skill The way you ask questions can vary on what the context of the situation is, the way you ask questions to a young child will be far easier then asking an adult. The questions will be far more complex when speaking to adults comparing it to young children. With each client a health care professional must be able to adapt asking the appropriate questions to their client user. In the context of a doctor asking their patient what is wrong with them, i will need to ask the essential questions to find the diagnosis. A doctor uses questions daily when interacting with their patient; I would use a persistent use of probes and prompts to get the information out of the patient. This allows me to get the correct symptoms out of the patient and for them to prescribe a prescription if needed. There are some cases where a patient is embarrassed or shy when visiting them. If this was to happen I would approach the situation delicately, I would slowly ask questions but allowing the patient to think of their answer and wait for them to reply. I may begin the conversation with an open question such as ‘Hello, what can I do for you today’ and the patient will then explain their symptoms or illness. I would then prompt the patient to answer questions relating to the illness I think they have. I wouldn’t s use too many prompt questions, as this will be pressuring the patient into answering and will make them feel highly un-comfortable. A doctor needs to enrol the role of a professional in which the patient feels they can trust them. Tone ,Pace and Volume of Voice. During my group interaction I had to adjust my tone, pace and volume to fits with the children’s acquirements and needs. I had to speak directly to all the children, so I made sure I projected my voice so that every child could hear what I was saying and wouldn’t be left out. I ensured i kept my sentences short as they were young children. My sentences remained quite simple and not as complex to if I was speaking to an adult. I also used traightforward language and vocab due to the children’s young age. I made sure I used straightforward language and vocab so they could actually understand what I was talking about, wouldn’t want to use over complicated words and for the children to get confused about what is being said. I also maintained comfortable eye contact with all the children when they were speaking; this showed that I w as listening and generally interested in what he was going to say. I was able to speed up my pace of voice, which showed excitement when reading the story which was able to transmit onto the children. Speeding up will invariably makes the tone of voice more urgent and compelling. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I was able to demonstrate my tone, pace and volume effectively during my group interaction with the children. I was able to adjust my voice with the children. I ensured I had a positive tone of voice as they made the children want to communicate back with me. This was because my tone of voice was soft and inviting which convinced the children I wanted to talk to them and listen to what they had to say. As the children are quite young, I did speak a bit slower than usual so the children could digest and understand what I was saying. I made sure I wasn’t patronising to the children with my slow voice, but ensured they felt comfortable to talk to me. I think I was promoted the children’s self-concept during the interaction, by congratulating them when they said a good answer or point. I really allowed the children to talk and express their opinions thoughtfully. As I was a new visitor to the class, I needed the children to trust me and feel comfortable to talk to me as they were unsure of whom I was. My tone of voice had to invite the children in and make them want to talk to me about the story they were currently studying. My volume of voice stayed stable during the whole conversation, it was a comfortable relaxed volume of voice. The observer of the interaction said ‘my tone, pace and volume ‘were at a correct level when speaking to a group of children’ My observer who is also a teacher’s assistant followed on to say that ‘ I was well spoken and had a voice that edged the children to speak to me perfectly fine. After my observer commented on my tone, pace and volume they then followed onto to say that ‘Although she did sometimes use to over complicated words which the children couldn’t understand and enquired about’. As this all comes under the vocab I used, I should have researched more into what words the children would know and what they wouldn’t. I could have overcome this weakness by speaking to the teacher or even the teacher assistant that works with the group of children every school day what kind of reading level they were all at. This would of abled me to research on the amount of knowledge the children would have. A good thing I could have done was asked the teacher or teacher assistant what words they have recently learnt and ensured I used them in my interaction. Contexts of the Skill Adjusting your tone, pace and volume of your voice varies on what service user you are talking to. If I was a nurse working with an elderly person in a care home, I would have to adjust my voice to ensure the individual could hear me properly and for them to communicate back with me. It is typical to stereotype that all elderly people are death and need hearing aids, although there hearing does deterates over time, we can’t assume they are deaf. As this would hurt their self-esteem. I would be very sensitive towards the matter, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions that all people struggle with their hearing when speaking to them. I would address them I would with any other people, as they would reduce them feeling patronised. I would adapt their volume of voice to suit the service user. I would not shout at the individual as this may make them feel intimidated, although I may speak a tad louder so they could hear them. As older peoples hearing does deteriorate over time, they may have difficulties in what I was talking about so they may ask to repeat what I was saying. I would not get angry towards them for not being able to understand me, as this would make the individual to feel little and worthless. I would simply repeat what i said over and over again until they understood properly. For all of this to be possible for the elderly person to communicate back with me. I would ensure to make myself seen clearly and would face the care user, so this allows my mouth to be visible to the elderly person. I would then continue to speak clearly and slowly. I would also have to reduce the background noise, so this wouldn’t interfere with the conversation. I could also make the communication easier for the elderly person by using non-verbal signals where it’s appropriate. Care Values and Transmission [AO1, AO2 and AO4] Maintaining Confidentiality. During my group interaction I was able to demonstrate the care value of Confidentiality precisely. I was able to do this by not mentioning any specific names in this coursework; I always refer to the ‘children’ or the ‘child’. This shows that I was protecting the children’s identity and keeping them protected. Also on the observation sheet that I made sure my observer didn’t comment on any specific children that were in the group I was interacting with. I was also able to demonstrate the skill of confidentiality by saying to the children before the interaction had started what I was going to do through the interaction and ensured that no names would be use when writing about it in my coursework. I also got the children to sign a sheet which explained what was going to happen and that their identity would be kept safe and anonymous. (This sheet is attached to the coursework) The teacher also went through what was going to happen with the children to guarantee they knew what was happening, I also asked if any of the children had any questions before the interaction took place which I would be happily to answer. Contexts of the Care Value. Every Health and Social Care Sector needs to be able to stick and demonstrate the Care Value of Confidentiality with every client they are presented with. Confidentiality can be easily shown in an Alcohol Anonymous group. As a group leader I would ensure and stress that all members are safe to talk about their previous experiences and thoughts, and must allow the members to feel comfortable with the group knowing that they are all together as one. I could show confidentiality at the beginning of the session by saying ‘Whatever is said today stays within the walls of this room and doesn’t travel out of it’. This should make all the group members feel safe and ready to share their experiences. Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice. Anti-Discriminatory practice involves challenging unfair discrimination and counteracting any effects that it has already had on an individual. Discrimination can be done in many ways such as: age, sex, disability and even homophobia. It is important to keep within this care value as I was working with a group of children and within this group I had many children who shared different cultures and beliefs. I was able to treat every child equally and didn’t favor or disfavor and particular child. I ensured that every child felt included, secure and valued. I was able to show this Anti-Discriminatory practice by allowing the children to form a circle, also known as ‘circle time’ to discuss ideas about the cultures within the story. The children are more likely to feel comfortable about exploring issues if they feel that what they say and do is cared about. Circle times allowed children to help listen to each other, talk about other cultures they knew and religion. Contexts of the Care Value. My context is going to be within a primary school with children, I will explain how Anti-discriminatory practice takes place within schools, as I wasn’t able to show this as much as I wanted to during my interaction. Children need to hear songs and stories from a range of cultures, Music and dance offer opportunities for expression regardless of language; however, there is a need for sensitivity around dancing in some cultural groups. Music and dancing allows the children to feel as if they were in that particular culture and for them to express themselves, which would be making their self-image and self-esteem positive. The way the children see theirs selves and value themselves will be much higher than before. Dressing up clothes can also represent the styles of different communities, allowing children to take on roles and develop imaginative play skills. The school can also have a large selection of books that introduce different cultures which can be introduced to the children and for them to become aware of them and well educated. The book corner should also involve traditional stories from around the world. Strengths and Weakness of the Care Value. I think I was able to demonstrate the care value correctly, as I kept everyone equal and didn’t favour any of the children. Although there were children who had different culture backgrounds and shared different beliefs compared to other children but I wasn’t able to investigate and promote Anti-Discriminatory Practice within the rest of the children. If I was undertaking a activity with the children talking about religion and cultures I would have been able to promote the differences and make the children more aware that there are many different cultures and religions in the world. Promoting Effective Communication. During my group interaction, I showed the way how projected the sound of my voice when speaking to the whole of the group. As my group were young children, I had to adjust the vocabulary I used; this was due to their age. I couldn’t use over complicated vocabulary as the children wouldn’t of understood and would then be confused. I was able to promote an Effective Communication with all the children during the story and smaller group activities. I was encouraged to use ‘Circle Time’ as this would influence the children to talk and discuss their ideas. To encourage the children to discuss their ideas I used a range of prompts and probes to get information out of the children. This encouraged the children to really express his thoughts and feelings towards the book. I asked every child in turn, what their thoughts were and ensured them that there was no wrong answer. I praised each child when they told the rest of the group their thoughts, praising the child made the children’s self-esteem more positive. The way they value themselves would increase as I praised them for their good work and made them feel good about their self. When asking these questions I allowed enough time for the children to think of a response, and when they replied I ensured I listened to their reply and commented back. All these things show that I was able to Promote Effective Communication with all the children, due to them having happy facial expressions and smiling throughout the whole interaction. Contexts of the Care Value. In the situation of a support group for giving up smoking with the NHS sector, the leader/host of the group would need to show Effective communication throughout the whole group towards everyone. I would have to show support and encourage group members to quit together. I would also show praise towards people that have achieved a goal or a target. A simple thing like praising the individual will affect their self-concept on a whole. Their self-image will be positive and their image will also look more appealing to their selves. I could have given up smoking 10 years ago and knows what the struggles are when trying to give up. This means that I would be able to sympathise with all the group members as I have been through the whole situation herself. When sympathising with a member, I would ensure I speak directly to the individual and ask them to express their feelings as best they can. The best ways to show sympathy is to listen attentively while the other person talks. Asking questions can also make individuals feel more comfortable in the group and will also make them feel welcomed and part as a group, as a leader, a target is to include everyone in the conversation. Finding out information about the individuals can do great good both for the individual and me. The individual may feel like something has been lifted of their chest, by explaining their situation, thoughts and feelings. I would also ensure that I listen thoughtfully when the individual is replying and would use head gestures and ‘replying with yes’ gives the individual that they are being listened to. Promotion of Equality And Diversity. This care value was easy to transmit in the group interaction, when talking about the story I made sure the children was in ‘Circle Time’ so we could discuss the children’s ideas and thoughts. Following on Circle Time I asked the children to get into smaller groups (pairs) for some activities and then asked them to go alone to complete the given task. I went round and gave attention to every child equally and didn’t leave anyone out. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Care Value. I gave attention to each child when discussing what they thought was going to happen next in the story. I asked every child in my group to ensure no one felt left out. I spent roughly the same amount of time on each child when discussing with them about the story, I was giving out my divided attention equally to everyone. During the activities we had to complete, the children were put into smaller groups or by their selves for some activities. In their solo activities I went round and gave them my divided attention, I asked what they were doing and encouraged them to do their best. I did this with every child so again they didn’t felt left out but felt involved just like other group members. I also ensured that I kept an eye on what the other group was doing with their teacher; we were both doing the exact same activity and had a routine/plan to stick to. When the teacher moved onto the next section I also did the same. All the children in class 1 had the same amount of time to complete the tasks; no one had any extra time as this would be making a child seem more important than the others. Contexts of the Care Value. In the situation of working within A&E, it is constantly busy throughout the day and workers need to be able to deal with the rush of patients needing emergency medical attention. A nurse or doctor needs to be able to give every patient the same quality of care and support, they must all treat every individual the same. Every patient that comes to the A&E is unique and nurses and doctors need to recognise their individual differences. For example, they need to address how serious the injury is and if they need to be prior due to the fatal accident and if addressed quickly and lead to serve consequences for the patient. All different service users will use A&E and the workers need to figure out what care to give them, different service users need different care, such as elderly care will be different compared to young children. If a young child came in with a serve injury such as cracking their head open due to something landing on their head, and their head is full of blood and is not stopping, and another service user came in A&E with a ‘sore wrist’ which comes out to be just a sprained wrist. The nurses will put the child first as without immediate attention the child will bleed to death while as the client with a ‘sore wrist’ is not a major injury, although the nurses will give the appropriate care to the client but will put the child first as its more serious. Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice In my interaction it was essential and so important not to discriminate against of the children because of their age, sex, race or religion. Within my small group I had a child who suffered from a learning disability they was diagnosed with dyslexia. This made certain school work activities hard for him to complete and took him longer to do so compared to the other children. I didn’t discriminate against their learning disabilities and treated him equally like I did with any of the other children. I influenced the children to voice their opinion and thoughts and share them with the other children. When discussing thoughts in ‘Circle Time’ I influenced and persuaded the children to talk about what they really thought. There was children in the group who had different religious beliefs and culture compared to me and the other children, which meant they had different opinions to certain subjects. I welcomed any new ideas and thoughts from the children and listened to them with an open mind and didn’t reject their opinions. I praised the children when they voiced their opinion and told them what I thought about their opinion in a positive way which influenced their self-esteem, the way individuals think about their selves positive. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Care Value. I don’t think I was able to transmit their Care Value as much as I wanted to; this was because the teacher told and advised me to do a range of particular ideas so I couldn’t really demonstrate what I would do to promote Anti-Discriminatory Practice. If I was given the chance to transmit this Care Value I would of asked to be in a religious studies (RE) lesson, this would mean that I could explain many different religions and cultures. I may tell the children all the ifferent religions we have in our country, after doing so I would then further on to explain some of the religious beliefs they have and similar ones we share. I would get a group discussion going with the children so they could express their own thoughts and would answer any questions about different religions beliefs if children asked. After telling them loads of information about the religions, I could get the children to do a task in small groups, this would c onsist the children being given a particular religion and them to draw/write on an A3 bit of paper about the religion. Then the groups of children would have to explain what they had written/drawn on the A3 sheet to the rest of the class, every group would do this in turn. Work Related Issues/Problems [A03] Encouragement of Independence and Choice. During my interaction I allowed the freedom of choice to all of the children when interacting with them. Even though I was instructed by the teacher to do certain actives I did allowed the children to choose what small group they wanted to work with. I noticed that the children worked with the people who they were sitting next to, and they seemed quite happy to all be working together. This may suggest that they were working with their friends, and by doing this they produced great group work by working as a team. I supported the children’s opinion when expressing in ‘Circle Time’, I often praised the children when they spoke their thoughts and feelings. This would have made every child’s self-esteem value much higher than usual. The way the children values themselves should be positive due to my positive comments I made throughout the interaction. I also allowed the choice and independence of the children going to the toilet by themselves. Adjusted Vocabulary I was able to present myself in a happy positive way when being introduced to the group of children. I tried to use a range of sentences to gain the children’s attention due to my self being a new visitor to the class and the children had never met me before so they seemed to be very anxious of me. so Bob wouldn’t get to confused, this was done so that he could digest the conversation we was having. I also allowed enough time for Bob to think what I had previously said; I didn’t hesitate when he asked me to re-peat what I had said. Even though I tried to use simple vocab, my observer did comment on the ‘use of over complicated words’ which of made Bob struggle. I should have done more research on the language and vocab disability children can understand, to overcome this barrier I could of seeked permission from his mother to look through his school books and completed home work so I could get an idea on what language and vocab Bob uses himself. Interferences/Disturbances. Ensuring the environment is comfortable and not to over powerful is an important factor to effective communication. It is important to make the perfect environment for the interaction to take place. My interaction was completed in a room where my group of children felt comfortable, relaxed and defiantly not anxious of where they were. This was because my room was the classroom the children are used to. This is where they come five days a week to learn and be in school. This made the children easier to settle down as they were in their normal environment. If I had asked the teacher to be placed in a separate room, separated from the rest of the children, it could of made the children feel un-easy and uncomfortable and this could of cause problems such as the children playing up and not setterling down. It could of made me interaction very difficult and negative which would then be picked up by the children. Although I did ensure the place where my interaction took place was in view of the rest of the children and teacher, but was at the other end of the class. This made sure there wasn’t too much background noise, as this would have affected my communication with the children. Being to close to the rest of the class could have intruded on the conversation I was having with the group, this again would cause distraction and make the group hard to settle down and be quiet. This also might have made it hard for the children to pay focus to me, if they could overhear the teachers voice and other children discussing. The lighting was not to bring nor to dark, as this can effect non-verbal communication. This was already done due to being in a school environment. Too much darkness reduces the ability to read non-verbal messages, It can affect people with degrading eye sight or with people who have bad eye sight but use glasses; poor light would of enable the children to see my face clearly. Therefore making it difficult for them to communicate and understand properly what I was saying. Positively Establishing a Friendly Relationship. I effectively promoted a friendly relationship with the whole class. Although it was a struggle at the beginning, this was because I was a new face to the class. The children had never met me and I had never met them either. It took time for the children to pay attention to me; I had to start the interaction by introducing myself and asking the children’s names. The children were still a bit weary of me at that time, so I started a conversation by saying ‘I use to go to this school’ this opened up a lot of conversation between me and the group of children. By saying a true statement like that it abled the children to trust me and feel comfortable with my presence. I also relaxed and wasn’t so tense, which the children could of picked up on. I treated all the children in a sensible manner and treated them all equally. I didn’t pick or favourite any child. By allowing a positive friendly relationship to form I ensured my body posture and facial expressions were transmitting positive ideas to establish this relationship to the group of children. I made sure I smiled when I was listening to the childrens ideas and also nodded which transmitted to the children that I was generally happy to speak to them and listen to all what they had to say. Comparison [AO4] During the one to one interaction with ‘Bob’ I could easily communicate and get them to pay attention to me without struggling to much, but in the group interaction with the small group of school children was much harder to ensure that every child was paying attention to me. I was dealing with a group of children instead of just one person. Although it was only a small group of children, I had never interacted with them before, so this made the children unaware of me and did take a while to settle and actually listen to me. Even after the children were comfortable with my presence it was hard to give them all my focus and attention, as I had to share it out equally between a group of them. There were some children who craved for more attention from me then the other children, so if I was giving them attention by answering questions. I would be giving my divided attention onto just one child instead of the group. Even though some children weren’t afraid to ask more questions, there was still one child who was highly shy and hardly asked or answered questions when I directed it at them. So that particular child wasn’t getting the same divided attention as the other children. This could have had an effect on the child’s self-concept. Also my one to one interaction was with a child who had a learning disability, Bob easily got upset when he couldn’t accomplish tasks that were set. Bob found school life more complicated and frustrating then other school children. Even though Bob had a learning disability, I was able to go through some of his school books and talk to his mother before the interaction so I could gather up an idea what it was like for Bob himself. Also just being a one to one interaction, I was able to communicate with Bob and get him to open up to me about what specific things he found hard and how these things had an effect on the way he felt. I was able to get Bob to confide in me and tell me how he really felt, while playing one of his favourite games. We were in a familiar environment which made myself and Bob feel comfortable and not out of place. While as the group interaction I felt highly uncomfortable at first as I was in an environment which I wasn’t comfortable with and I think the children could see this. Which made the interaction difficult at first, I had to get the children to know me first before they started answering questions and asking questions about the book we were reading together. Even though Bob had a learning disability and this did make me think more carefully about what I was going to say and what I shouldn’t say, I found this interaction easier to complete, as I was only dealing with one individual. While as the group interaction I was dealing with a group of children and had more responsibility then the one to one, I had to ensure I didn’t offend any of the children so I had to watch what I said. Although the children were roughly the same age, the one to one interaction with Bob was much easier to complete then the group interaction. Also when dealing with a group of different individuals, they all have different views and thoughts compared to each other, they all have different perspective views into their religion and their beliefs. I had to take this into account as I didn’t want to offend anyone in what I was saying. This made things more complicated as some of the children had different religious beliefs then the other children and me. So I ensured that I didn’t say anything insulting or anything which may seem insulting to a particular child and single them out. With the one to one interaction I only had to talk to one person, and Bobs religious beliefs were the same as mine, so I knew what to say and not what to say. Conclusion [AO4] During this assignment comparing the two interactions it made me think how different communication techniques are used when interacting one to one or to a group. You also use different techniques and skills when communicating with different client groups and different ages. It is important to ensure Health and Social care professions are able to transmit care values to their users and clients. It is important for these care values to be in place as these care values such as Maintaining Confidentiality, Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice and Promoting Effective Communication protect and help the individuals that use the services. If these services didn’t provide these care values such as Maintaining Confidentiality, patients at a Doctors surgery’s personal details would be on show and no long anonymous. People would be able to ask for other people’s personal information without people questioning it. Service users use this care value, to keep their details anonymous and to protect themselves. In the one to one interaction I was in Bobs family home, this made things easier for myself and Bob. Bob was comfortable when talking to me as he was in a friendly well known environment which made him feel comfortable when speaking to me. I think if the interaction took place in a different environment which was not known to Bob, then possibly Bob wouldn’t have been so open with me and wouldn’t of told me how he was really feeling when discussing what he thought about school and his school work. Bob could of possibly not trusted me like he did during our interaction, if you’re in a comfortable environment you’re going to feel comfortable enough to talk to anyone as you feel safe in your own family home. Knowing that Bob felt comfortable it also made me relax a little bit more, which is why me and Bob got along so well! Even though I think both my interactions went well, there are still improvements to be made to make the interactions more successful if I was to do them again. Both my interactions could have been better, but if I was to re-do the one to one interaction I would of done some internet research and textbook research on Bobs learning disability so it would make the interaction possibly more easier. Doing that extra research could reveal doing specific tasks in which Bob would be better at, for example. ‘Bob might find visual tasks easier then memory ones’ These interactions have made me realised how important communication is in a Health Care Profession, without good communication the workers and service users relationship would be very poor. Essential communication is needed to sort out problems and ask for advice and even book appointments in a doctor’s surgery or dentist. I will be able to use all my skills that I have learnt during the interaction in future situations. I can use the communication skills when communicating with my family, my work colleagues and even teachers. These interactions have taught me how we use eye contact, facial expressions, and hand gestures along with verbal communication to transmit excellent communication to other individuals. This can be extremely useful when working in a health/care and even retail environment, as all these services should provide excellent customer service, and using the above skills can help these services please service users, in which means they will be willing to come back.

Burnout Paper

Having a good job and supporting your family is one if the best things in life. Nowadays jobs are so demanding and they require a lot of time apart from your loves ones. Many of us love the fact that we can provide for our families, but there are times when the job life can become overwhelming and stressful causing the individual to burnout. The following paper will address issues and preventions methods of â€Å"burnout† and what precautions one should take. Also I will discuss the identifiable phrases that can be adapted in order to deal with burnout. Burnout has the same characteristics as depression and it can be easily misinterpreted. Burnout is actually exhaustion of work related stresses caused over time that can affect the personal goals related to their job. Although we may not necessary notice it right away it can creep up on you and you may not know. Other factors can contribute to burnout can come from the outside such as personal life, other responsibilities at home with families and even stressful events. Many of us experience bad days at work, feeling unappreciated, disconnected ourselves from co-workers and family members, and even lost focus on our goals. These are factors to burnout that should be addressed immediately. Individual factors that can cause burnout are fairly significant and naked to the eye. Burnout is not always displayed right away and it could take some time to be noticed by you or someone else. A person’s life style plays a role because the person may have little balance and lots of work. A person who works all week pulling in more work hours may not have down time for themselves. Individuals should continue with their regular hobbies and devote some time to exercising and their personal life. Burnout can affect everyone on the job, even cultural workers. It can be very hard for someone of culture because we may expect too much from them, or even it may difficult for them to keep up with work. Cultural workers may be absent more often at work to avoid stress issues from other co-workers that can factor burnout. Sometimes burnout has an organizational cause. In today’s organizations, everyone is doing more work in less time, and then the pressure starts to build up. Low value work, flawed work processes, or excessive performance expectations also contribute to negative stress, which, if unresolved, can lead to burnout. Some of the common organizational causes of burnout includes the fast pace of work in general (if your work has a global component), increased demand for information and communication, driven by technologies such as e-mail, instant messaging, and PDAs an downsizing, restructuring, or change in priorities that calls for extra demands on the employees. A work environment that changes frequently also can causes the supervisors to burn out, factors such as frequent changes in policies and procedures , changes in the organizations vision, and changes in staff are all contributions to burnout. Communication can help the individuals to cope with burnout as it is linked to social support. Social support is better because it gives you less burnout and it tends to make individual feels that they are loved and cared for. There are six categories of social support (technical support, emotional support, emotional challenge, listening, technical challenge and sharing social reality) in which they all help to identify some sort of communication and mutual obligation (Cruikshank, 2011). Burnout can come from many different factors and in order to prevent it, you must look at all the concerns associated around it. A way that individuals can cope with burnout is to ask for help and support from your supervisor. Communicating your issues and problems will make your job less stressful, which can prevent burnout. Another way is re-vamp the work flow or processes the department uses. For example, if you have more work and less people, you may have to change how the work is distributed. Maybe temporary help can be an option to handle the workload. Setting boundaries is always helpful. When approached by a difficult task or situation, don’t give in to it, review the importance of the situation then take time to make the necessary decisions. This can prevent mistakes in the long run that can potentially lead to burnout. If you are a person that fairly gets along with everyone as I am, I would prefer management-training programs that may help with specific needs. If the concerns are more related to behavior problems, then this could cause changes or pressures in the organization. Some ways that can reduce stress is to seek programs that focus on building personal effectiveness, such as time management, delegation, dealing with difficult employees, or adjusting to corporate change. Another way to reduce the effects of burnout is to seek employee assistance. Many organizations have employee assistance programs (EAP) that can provide stress-management resources (Scott, 2001). As a human service manager you must be able to handle difficult situations at any given time. To assist staff with staff burnout many tools can be put into place to help overcome this barrier. One is prevention. Help staff to prevent burnout by distributing the work evenly, in case of an absence, use a back-up worker instead of waiting on that person’s return. Another prevention method is to provide classes and educational materials on a quarterly basis. In conclusion, it is much easier on the staff and supervisors when you have support in the organization. Taking advantage of all related work programs and classes will become handy in the long run. The focus is to balance your needs against those in the organization and make the necessary changes when those issues of burnout arise. The more you manage stress in your daily life, including work and personal, the less chance you will have to burnout. The more positive you are with your goals in life, you can become more productive and motivated by what you do, not only in the workplace but in your personal life as well.

Chapters 4-6 of The Great Gatsby

Chapters 4-6 of The Great Gatsby revealed a lot about Jay Gatsby to the readers. The first thing to jump out at me was that Jay Gatsby’s real name is actually James Gatz. Also, Gatsby revealed that his parents were originally from the mid-western city of San Francisco. It became clear that Gatsby was living a life of uncertainty and that he was a mystery who chased wealth and greatness. The relationship between Gatsby and Nick changed a lot over these chapters. It is apparent that Nick lost some respect for Gatsby, once he began finding out some key details about his life and where he actually came from. When attending college, Gatsby dropped out after two weeks because he couldn’t handle the hard-working career as a janitor to support himself and make it through college. When Gatsby asks Nick to go to Coney Island, Nick declines his offer. Immediately after, Nick is asked by Gatsby to go swimming, he says that he just needs to go to bed. Now that Nick is finding out about Jay, he doesn’t really want all that much to do with him. Another developing relationship is the one between Gatsby and Daisy, who previously had a thing for each other. Despite being married, Daisy falls in love with Gatsby after Nick sets up for them to see each other in secrecy, without Tom finding out. Gatsby tells Daisy about how he always dreamt about having her love, and being together. Unfortunately for Gatsby, who wants Daisy to leave Tom, Daisy doesn’t have a good time at his next party. Tom, who doesn’t like or trust Gatsby, joined Daisy for the next party to keep an eye out. Obviously, Daisy and Gatsby were unable to connect in the way that they wanted to, and things became awkward and bad. As each chapter unfolds, we are learning more and more about Jay Gatsby, or James Gatz, and who he really is.

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

Accounting - Essay Example Cash flow statement is prepared separately to account for all the cash transactions and determine the hard cash position of the business apart from its profitability and sales figures, etc. If accounting was only based on cash, no credit transactions could have been made; in fact we would have been violating the principle of â€Å"Going Concern†. When we say businesses are a going concern, we usually pass entries to close accounts for an accounting period by transferring the balances to the next accounting cycle. This is done because business transaction keep on taking place as business activities and operations are executed. The key accounting concept for using the accruals versus cash is that the profits & losses are not actually documented by a business at the same time when the cash transaction is made. In fact the two transactions are totally separate from each other and have different accounting treatments. Profits and losses of any business are the outcome of its operations and revenue generating activities which circulate around the ‘income’ and ‘expense’ heads of accounting for that business. This involves expectation of cash inflows and outflows at a later date as well as deferred cash transaction or prepayments, etc. that needs settlement in a later period. Income and expense determine the cash that you might have eared or lost at the end of the day, when all the corresponding cash transaction have been made but they strictly do not mean that cash has changed hands. We record the income and expenses in the period they are incurred in order to complying with accounting standards (Weygandt, Kieso, & Kimmel,

Analyse the association between variables Assignment

Analyse the association between variables - Assignment Example The contention was to find a simple equation that could represent the presented proposition with ease (Witte & Witte, 2009). This was followed by a calculation of the correlation coefficient that was meant to express how well the equation connected to the actual plot points. This was done to see how well any calculations based on the equation would reflect on the actual situation. Part (g) In terms of the initial hypothesis, the plotted points provide a strong correlation between the fitting of denture for the first time and the weight loss in the first year. However, it must be taken to note that the plotted points show a consistent behaviour for respondents with an initial weight under 80 kg. However, when respondents above 80 kg of initial weight are looked into, it becomes clear that they tend not to follow the initial hypothesis. The best solution would be to carry out more research with respondents with an initial weight of over 80 kg and to possibly model the situation using q uadratic or higher order polynomial functions in order to find a better fit for respondents with an initial weight above 80 kg. References Witte, R.S. ...

Class,but not race Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Class,but not race - Essay Example Cross racial coalitions can be built if people belonging to the same class are categorised into the same group. For instance, people belonging to the same class like rich whites and blacks can get similar preferences and they can get the same opportunities for advancement in their lives. in other words, the element of class can create equality among different people compared to the aspect of racial equity. If the issue of race is taken into account, even rich blacks can be looked down upon besides the fact that they belong to the same class. Grouping people on the basis of race is discriminatory. It shows a lot of gaps between different races such as whites, blacks as well as Asians. In other words, the issue of race cements the element of white supremacy where they are treated as superior than any other race which might not be true. When preferences are allocated on the basis of class, the disadvantaged people are also considered since a certain percentage of places in a given institution would be reserved for

Benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing strategies in the context of Essay

Benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing strategies in the context of attempting to improve the management of the supply chain - Essay Example It is outsourcing, as in off-shoring, which is a novel addition to contemporaneous supply chain management paradigms (Teece, 2005). While corporate experiential and empirical evidence pertaining to the outsourcing of some functions and steps within the totality of the supply chain management framework have fortified arguments in favour of the referred to business phenomenon, others have solidified opposition to it. Certainly, and as the experiences of both Nike and Dell Computers indicate, outsourcing has evolved into an integral componential element of the supply chain management paradigm, not only significantly reducing production and service costs while maintaining the integrity of quality standards but, it has significantly contributed to organisational capacity for efficient and effective operation and resource allocation. That, however, does not imply that outsourcing is not without its problems or that organisations do not have to contend with often formidable challenges prior to reaping the benefits of outsourcing. The failure of many organisations to do so, or to fully appreciate the importance of the o utsourcing planning stage, concomitant with a comprehensive articulation of the areas of supply chain management to be outsourced, and the outsourcing paradigm of each, should not be interpreted as evidence against the outsourcing of supply chain management functions. Instead, it should be more accurately understood as evidence for the exigencies of planning. 2. Introduction While popularly perceived of as a new phenomenon for which globalisation is held responsible, Domberger (2005) contends that outsourcing, as contracting, is a historical practice, solidly grounded in economic imperative and principle. As defined by Domberger (2005), outsourcing is best understood as a form of extra-contracting whereby, to reduce overall operational and manufacturing costs and maximise efficiency, firms and manufacturers have, traditionally and historically, contracting out specific steps in the work process, preferring to allocate work process steps according to specialisation, rather than the organisation assuming responsibility for the totality (Domberger, 2005).Outsourcing, from this definitional perspective is, thus, a cost reductive strategy, based upon the precept of specialisation. Concurring with the above definition, Sako (2005) maintains that outsourcing is the redesign of relationships within product manufacturing, organisational operation and supply chain management architecture. The components and principles of the aforementioned architecture have remained, despite technological evolution and innovation, the same but, the componential relationships within them have changed. Hence, while the supply chain management (SCM) architecture are still comprised of procurement, inventory planning, customer

Profile in Leadership Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Profile in Leadership - Term Paper Example For me leadership is a way of living and it’s hidden in small acts with big results. In order to act like a leader, one does not need a designation or role assigned to him as someone may act as a leader in petite situations. Currently, he is working as a restaurant manager in one of Starbucks branches. I have seen him dealing with his staff and observing him makes me realize that he is a highly effective leader. I have also taken feedback about him from his staff and they all declare him as an effective leader and a great motivator using various means to satisfy and keep the team on track. In domestic life, he is always supportive and helping. One of his strengths is his negotiation and conflict management skills; he is well-respected in his friend’s circle, therefore he is often asked for help in managing difficult situations. The purpose of selecting him for this interview is to identify what kind of leader he is, how he perceives himself in a leading role, how others perceive him, what are his strengths and weaknesses in this role and what makes him an effective leader. Also, analyzing his leadership skills with the help of leadership theories was another main objective of this interview. Prior to this meeting, the objective of this interview was shared with him and his consent was taken. ... According to this theory, followers have four development styles according to which leadership styles are required to be amended. Competence and motivation of the follower act as the main criteria for selection of respective leadership styles. Hersey and Blanchard (1996) presented situational leadership theory that provided a correlation between respective leadership style and skill level of the follower. According to this theory, there are four leadership styles. First one is telling or directing. Such leadership style is used when the follower lacks competence and is not willing or motivated. In such case where relationship between leader and follower is quite weak, appropriate leadership would require the leader or manager to provide directions with strict task focus. This leadership style requires that the leader maintain necessary distance with the follower as effort to strengthen relationship would lead to further confusion. Another leadership style is selling or coaching, such leadership style is appropriate in a situation where follower has a reasonable degree of commitment and competence. In such situation, the leaders are expected to focus on relationship building as well as high task focus. Since the follower has a reasonable knowledge of the job required to be done, therefore strict directions would result in further demotivation. Therefore, leader needs to develop relationship through effective listening and providing appropriate guidance when required. These two leadership styles are mainly dependent on the leader, his competence and relationship building skills. Third leadership style is participating and supporting. In this case, follower is exceptionally competent and skilled but lacks motivation to perform tasks. In such cases, leader is

Personal Development and Planning Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Personal Development and Planning - Coursework Example Let us begin by looking at my pathway choice and how it enables me to my employability skills. Firstly, my studies in global management and marketing have made me to have the right professional attitudes. The two main ways in which my studies in global management and marketing have enabled me to have to develop professional attitude is through enabling me to have ethical sensitivity in in carrying out my various professional duties, and to be able to take initiative and to take action unprompted. Having ethical sensitivity is a very important professional attitude that greatly enhances one’s employability skills. In my pathway choice, for instance, there are various issues that will require me to make sound ethical decisions. For instance in marketing, I should make sure that I have given my customers all the important information that they need before purchasing the products or the services that I sell to them; although revealing honestly some information to the customers about the products that you are advertising or selling may make some customers not to purchase th e products, ethical sensitivity, however, requires one to disclose all the necessary information to the customer. The ethical sensitivity professional attitude, therefore, has greatly enhanced my employability skills because it has enabled me to be able to deal honestly with my customers. Just like ethical sensitivity, having the ability to take initiatives in your career is a very important professional attitude that enhances one’s employability skills. In my career path, for instance, being able to take initiative is a very important skill; this is because, in global management and in marketing, there are many decisions that one will have to make solely, without involving other people- as a manager, one has to be constantly taking initiatives on various issues. For this reason, therefore, my career path of global management and marketing has greatly enhanced my employability

How Have Other Peoples Readings Of Translations Helped You Essay Example for Free

How Have Other Peoples Readings Of Translations Helped You Essay How Have Other Peoples Readings Of Translations Helped You To Understand The Contexts Of The Play In Scene 1? The first act of Friels play Translations features many different contexts ranging from the infamous potato famine to hinting at the possible forming of the present day IRA (the Donnelly twins,) and politics. One of the major contexts that also coincide with the title of the play is translation. The translation of Irish name into English name. I only realised this by reading a Canadian writers essay on language and its importance in Translations. Especially in relation to Owen and his take on the Irish language. Where as many Irish people, at the time, saw the English to be taking away Irelands identity by colonizing it and changing names, language etc. Owen seems to be naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and miss this. By changing place names they are not only taking away identity but also something more intimate, a part of their lifestyle. Hence when the English mistake Owens name to be Roland it seems to be Manus who is more frustrated by this whereas Owen says Owen Roland- what the hell. Its only a name. Its the same me, isnt it. The importance (or un-importance, depending how you want to perceive it) of names is brought up firstly at the start of the play when Manus is teaching Sarah to speak. It is important to note that the first thing Manus teaches her to say is her name, also her identity. Owens ignorance for the colonisation is shown again when he says, my job is to translate the quaint, archaic tongue you people persist in speaking into the Kings good English. One quote from the particular essay by the Canadian writer says The Gaelic tongue is becoming obsolete in the wake of colonisation, Owen has boarded the ship of progress disassociating himself from his foundation. Similar, in a sense, is Maires view on the English language and that it should be learnt. Maires view links in with another context shown in the play and that is the focus on dead languages, such as Greek and Latin and soon to be dead, Gaelic. By researching Irish history at the time the play is set, it is easier to gather an understanding for the wanting of Maire to learn English. Dr Leon Litvacks paper on the historical and colonial context of Friels Translations illustrates this. Maires reference to Daniel OConnel, the disillusioned veteran who founded the catholic association, OConnel preached that it was necessary to learn English in order to allow Ireland to progress in a quickly modernising western world. Hence Maire wanting to learn English rather than a dead language such as Greek or Latin as this will be necessary if she is going to immigrate to the United States. One interpretation of the play is the focus on schools. Being set in an illegally run hedge school, a place where Catholics turned to for education after the penal laws were instated. The time the play is set is during a major transition period when the English are trying to get rid of hedge schools and introduce new national schools. It has been shown by statistics that half a million Irish children received illegal tuition through hedge school. This links in with the whole idea of translations, as at the new national schools, where you were forced to go to by law, the language you would be taught in would be English, no longer Gaelic. To some people This was a problem but to others like Maire, English was seen as the language of opportunity. The old language was a barrier to modern progress she quotes from the famous Daniel OConnel. There is an increasing amount of tension being built up in the first act with regards to the devastating potato famine. There is a sense of dramatic irony being shown as well. Seeing as the play is set in the 1830s this is only a short time before the potato blight occurred in 1845.this disaster caused the population of Ireland to drop from eight million down to six million. It is believed that one million people died of starvation while another million were forced to immigrate to start new lives in Canada and America etc. It is obvious to the audience that the famine will occur but the characters in the play are blind to this even though the clues are all there. This is why the audience tend to sympathise for their negligence. Even when Jimmy Jack suggests to Doalty he should plant something other than potatoes, which is the correct thing to do, he just comically shrugs off the remark, Too lazy be Jesus to wash himself and hes lecturing me on agriculture! Bridget also brings up the subject of the blight and its distinctive, ominous sweet smell, only to be aggressively dismissed by Maire. Sweet smell! Sweet smell! Every year at this time somebody comes back with stories of the sweet smell. Sweet God, Did the potatoes ever fail in Baile Beag? Well, did they ever-ever? Never! This is where the audience really begin to sympathise, as they know of the catastrophic effects that will soon occur. Although Friel has not written the play from a biased or political point of view it is still possible to find the idea of the modern day IRA being formed in this play. This becomes more noticeable as the play progresses. Although it is still possible to get an idea of this from Doaltys seemingly harmless antics with the British soldiers and his constant dodging of questions involving the Donnelly twins. Manus arent they at home? Doalty No. Manus Where are they then? Doalty How would I know? Even the stage directions in this particular section lead us to believe something suspicious is going on, Doalty begins whistling through his teeth. Suddenly the atmosphere is silent and alert. To be able to understand that this may be about the IRA, background reading about the times the play is set and when the play was written (the 1970s, a time of great trouble and political unrest in Northern Ireland.) is necessary. The 1970s were a time when tension between Northern Ireland and England was at a peak. This also was around the time of the infamous Bloody Sunday. So it is possible that Friel may have tried to incur some of this in to the play. Although Seamus Deane says Translations is a sequence of events in history which are transformed by his writing into a parable of events in the present day. The play has also been described as an enlightening metaphor for the situation in Northern Ireland. The many contexts featured in the play are extremely important as they add a framework or shell to the play allowing it to go in many directions. Although it features so many different contexts Friel is quoted to say that Translations is to do with language and only language. Therefore not historical contexts. To become more familiar with the play and its many contexts background reading and the reading of other peoples interpretations are essential. By reading theses criticisms I have become more aware at how Friel has made the play so effective by setting it in the specific era. By doing this it makes it easier for the audience to see how the recent condition of Ireland spiralled way out of control originating in the mid 1800s. It also gives greater depth to the tragedy that will eventually befall and that the audience know the tragedy is coming but not on so many levels. Overall it is essential to at least to some form of background reading in order to understand the play to a higher level.

Overview of the American Disabilities Act (ADA)

Overview of the American Disabilities Act (ADA) Crystal Mullen What did you learn this week that you did not know before or that you found interesting? What outside resources did you use this week? Your submission should be 1 page APA formatted paper, not including your title page. I grew up in the 70s and 80s; a time when every building, every walkway and certainly every restroom was geared toward able bodied individuals. I heard stories of my mom having to help my wheelchair-bound great-grandmother out of her chair, into a ladies room stall and then back into her chair. Certain shops were outside my great-grandmother’s ability to frequent because the door to get in was too narrow for her wheelchair or the building had to be accessed by climbing steps. If these are a few of the obstacles my great-grandmother had to overcome, I can only imagine how people who are blind, deaf, or even small statured managed to live in a world that was designed for people with two good eyes, two good ears and five feet, five inches tall. This is why I’m thankful for the Americans with Disabilities Act. The American Disabilities Act (ADA) is an all-encompassing civil statute with the magnitude of a constitutional amendment. It requires equal accessibility to interact with society and equal opportunity for gainful employment. This means that restaurants offer menus in Braille. It may also means an office adjusting a workspace for an employee in a wheelchair (The Center for an Accessible Society, 2014). As alluded to, one of the main areas that are affected by the ADA is the workplace. Employers are not allowed to discriminate against applicants who are qualified but have disabilities. This means when an employer is interviewing a job hopeful, for hire, the employer is not allowed to directly question the applicant’s disability. Furthermore, the job hopeful be given the same consideration for the job at hand as his or her able-bodied counterpart. Finally, though certainly not exhaustively, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to their employees with disabilities. If necessary, employers will need to make accommodations that are considered reasonable for employees who become disabled temporarily by providing temporary reassignment of duties (Kesee, 2014). One of my favorite shows is the TLC reality show â€Å"The Little Couple†, Dr. Jen Arnold, who’s 3’ 2† tall is a is a doctor who works in the Neo-Natal Intensive Unit (NICU) at a hospital in Houston. In order for the hospital to accommodate the doctor’s stature, there are step ladders strategically placed throughout the NICU as well as a motorized chair quickly transport her through the long corridors of the hospital (Wikipedia, 2014). Modifications like these are required in the workplace to accommodate anyone with disabilities and those requirements are the result of the Americans Disabilities Act. Another area that is affected by the ADA involves public transportation. Under the ADA, all modes of public transportation needs to be accessible by passengers who are wheelchair-bound or otherwise disabled. This means buses and trains must provide designated seating areas for disabled individuals. Furthermore, transit facilities are required by law to allow the entry of service animals that assist passengers onboard their vehicles of transportation. Finally, airports, train stations and bus stations are required to provide assistance when needed or when asked. These are just a few areas of transportation that are affected by the ADA (Kesee, 2014). Finally, but not exhaustively, a third area that is affected by the ADA involves access into public buildings. Public buildings must ensure that entryways as well as restrooms can be wheelchair accessible and that its accessibility to the public meets ADA requirements. Many of the public buildings are now equipped with doors that open and close automatically so that wheelchair-bound individuals are granted entry. Furthermore, public buildings with steps need to provide wheelchair ramps. Finally, though certainly not exhaustively, public restrooms are required to provide at least one stall with that has a wider entrance necessary for wheelchair entry. Public facilities like grocery store counters or gas stations however must provide some type of assistance for disabled individuals who require assistance (Kesee, 2014). These are just a few measures mandated by the ADA open the doors to those with disabilities. Every wide sweeping measure has its pros and cons and the ADA is no exception. There are instances where the ADA is both well-meaning yet problematic for small businesses – particularly those that are in areas where are few or no disabilities to address. One example is that businesses are mandated by the ADA to provide public spaces and ensure that disabled patrons can accesses needed spaces. This includes continuous railings be found along the stairs and ramps, the ramps need to be constructed with low grade slopes, designated and widened parking spaces and restrooms with hand railing. While I believe these mandates by the ADA are well-intentioned, these changes and modifications to a company’s infrastructure can be costly. However, if a business chooses not to comply, they face fine that far outweigh the cost for implementing the changes. For example, the Morena Business Association incurred many lawsuits for violating ADA requirements in their San Diego, California l ocation. Because they ignored ADA mandates from 1992 to 2007 the local business was forced to pay $1 billion in fines (Holzer, 2014). Conclusion Despite the financial challenges to small businesses, I believe the ADA has positively changed society and the workplace so that everyone – regardless of their abilities can participate in society and bring value to any workplace. Last summer I had the opportunity of working with someone who was partially hearing impaired. There was a time when she would never get a job due to her disability. However, thanks to technology, she could receive communication through emails and direct face-to-face communication; she was able to perform data-entry duties along with the rest of her team. I credit the ADA with these changes to society and the workplace and these changes have made our society and workplace a more welcoming environment for all. Furthermore, I’m so thankful to get on a bus and hear bus stops audibly announced for the visually impaired. Finally, though certainly not exhaustively, I wish my great-grandmother was alive today to see she can enter any restaurant and us e any restroom all by herself and with her dignity intact. Therefore, despite its flaws the ADA has provided a great amount of good for those with disabilities and even those who have two good arms, legs, eyes and ears. It benefits everyone across the country. References Holzer, D. (2014). ADA Compliance Issues. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from eHow.com: http://www.ehow.com/list_6611054_ada-compliance-issues.html#ixzz2SLge5VT1 Kesee, C. (2014). American Disabilities Act. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from eHow.com: http://www.ehow.com/about_6626833_american-disabilities-act.html The Center for an Accessible Society. (2014). The Americans with Disabilities Act. Retrieved March 2014, 2014, from The Center for an Accessible Society. Wikipedia. (2014). The Little Couple. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Couple

Diversity Statement - The Appalachian Mountains :: College Admissions Essays

Diversity Statement - The Appalachian Mountains    I was raised in an ultra-conservative Pentecostal Holiness church in the Appalachian Mountains. There were snake handlers in our church. It was thought that it tested one's faith to pick up a poisonous snake -- God wouldn't allow it to bite you if you had faith. However, I was always afraid that to pick up a snake would greatly increase God's propensity to smite me via death by snakebite. I did not have enough faith. I've never encountered a miracle -- I've never had a dream come true. I therefore can't help but lack faith.    To my great fortune, I've had many people help me along the way who didn't have to and who stood nothing to gain by helping me. Teachers gave me after-hours help; when I didn't know how I would pay for school, the financial aid office gave me a scholarship. These people helped me for no reason other than the mere fact that I am a human being, worthy of help when in need. Although I didn't have faith, they gave me hope.    This is why I have worked at a local homeless shelter for the past two years.   I feel like I can do the same thing -- help a person or two merely on the basis of our shared humanity. I enjoy paying back some of the help society has given me. I teach a computer class at the shelter, but everyone gets free therapy on the side. Most of those people aren't different in some essential way from the homed or those who have jobs, but life has often dealt them a losing hand to begin with. I tell them that I also had a losing hand, but I never gave up hope. Often, hope is all I had -- but it was enough to keep me pressing onward.

F.D.R.s Influence as President Essay -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt Ame

F.D.R.'s Influence as President Some have called him the best president yet. Others have even claimed that he was the world's most influential and successful leader of the twentieth century. Those claims can be backed up by the overwhelming support that he received from his citizens throughout his four terms in office. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began a new era in American history by ending the Great Depression that the country had fallen into in 1929. His social reforms gave people a new perspective on government. Government was not only expected to protect the people from foreign invaders, but to protect against poverty and joblessness. Roosevelt had shown his military and diplomatic skill as the Commander in Chief during World War II. This wartime leadership and international relations policy won him an award in the hearts of many Americans. Roosevelt threw his hat in the ring in 1931 in order to prepare for the election of 1932. Democratic Party chairman James A Farley directed his campaign. He started a nationwide radio address, outlining a program to meet the economic problems of the nation. He coined the term "forgotten man" to mean all of those who had been hard hit by the evils of the depression. These radio addresses were the start to what he called the "fireside chats". Overall, Roosevelt was the most energetic and dynamic candidate, and he was nominated by the party on the fourth ballot. Although he displayed excellent characteristics, his competition was fairly tough. He was up against John Nance Garner of Texas (who would be his Vice Presidential running mate); Newton D. Baker of Ohio, who was former Secretary of War; and former Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York. For three ballots, Roosevelt held a large lead, but lacked the two- thirds margin necessary for victory. Farley then promised John Garner the vice presidential nomination, which he accepted grudgingly. Then FDR took the presidential nomination on the fourth ballot. One of the purposes of the national convention is to bring the party together in a movement of support behind the nominated candidate. Although there was rough competition during the choosing process, most party leaders were happy with the Roosevelt choice. It would help pull votes from the urban-Eastern region of the country. Also, Roosevelt m... ...US river gunboat, the USS Panay, on the Yangtze River, killing two US citizens. This event infuriated the American public as well as the Roosevelt Administration. However, the US protested the Japanese action rather than demanding action taken against them. Roosevelt used his diplomatic power and refused to recognize the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Northern China until there was an official apology. Shortly after Roosevelt's statement, Japan made an official apology to the US and offend to pay for the damages in full. Although Roosevelt set his sights upon a global society, many Americans disagreed. This school of thought led to the Neutrality Acts of the 1930's. These acts, passed by Congress, prohibited the US from furnishing weapons or supplies to any nation at war. President Roosevelt hoped that any more of these laws that would be enacted in the future would allow more flexibility. He disliked the fact that these Acts treated all nations the same, whether a country had attacked another or not. World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Still, many Americans did not agree that the situation was as dangerous.

Management of a 40 Acre Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) Stand in Southern Michigan for Sustained Production of Sawtimber. :: Ecology Sugar Maple Trees Essays

Management of a 40 Acre Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) Stand in Southern Michigan for Sustained Production of Sawtimber Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is a hard maple used primarily for its lumber and sap. In fact, 9% of the hardwood sawtimber volume in the U.S. comes from this species (5). My client would like to begin extracting sawtimber from her 40 acre maple-dominated stand that has been unmanaged to this point. She sees a market for her sawtimber in the regional flooring industry, but would also like to manage for sustained yield. The sugar maple needs a cool, moist climate in which to grow, and my client ¡Ã‚ ¯s stand in southern Michigan is well within its natural range. The Lake States in general have the following habitat characteristics optimal for the sugar maple (5): . temperatures averaging 00 to 600 F, . precipitation averaging 15 (west) to 40 (east) inches per year, . a growing season of 80 to 260 days, . well-drained, loam soils, . elevations up to 1,600 ft., and . associated Beech, Basswood, Yellow Birch, and Red Spruce trees. Under these conditions, the sugar maple is commonly the dominant species, because it is so shade tolerant. Its seedlings are aggressive under the canopy ¡Ã‚ ¯s shade and restrict the establishment of other species (11). Natural sugar maple regeneration is typically sufficient for this reason, and the selection harvesting system is commonly chosen. I will now describe characteristics of various sugar maple growth stages, beginning with the seed stage. Seed The sugar maple is a very prolific seed producer. It produces a good seed crop every two to five years and can disperse 8.56 million samaras per acre in a virgin stand or 4.3 million in a selectively cut stand during an exceptional year (5). This is a large number, but only about 1 in 100 of these seeds will reach the seedling stage because of mortality, predation, competition, and the very low light levels in a sugar maple stand. Artificial regenerative measures are usually unnecessary in places such as the Lake States where the sugar maple grows naturally. A sugar maple tree begins seed production between the ages of 40 and 60, with the best seed coming near ages 70 to 100 (9). My client ¡Ã‚ ¯s stand should be producing adequate seed, as the oldest age class is over 100 years old. The seed that is produced has a high germination capacity of 95% (5).

Children Reading

â€Å"Children are not reading as much as they should presents danger† As Mr. Russell states, children not reading presents a risk in terms of their learning abilities. I believe Mr. Russell is correct. When children do not read enough, their development of creativity, attention span, imagination and vocabulary are not as developed as they should be. Overall they fail to develop to their full potential because reading comprehension strengthens our brain by making it active. When children’s brains are not at their fullest potential when they get older, it could lead to a lot of problems.They can receive poor grades, have a difficult time when completing assignments, have a low self-esteem and behavior problems, become shy and get easily frustrated. If a whole generation of children grew up to have these issues, it could lead to many problems in society as a whole. â€Å"A book requires that we think, and that is the great adventure to reading. † When we read a boo k, it forces us to use or brains. It requires us to take every element in the story such as the characters, plot and setting and putting them together to create a theme. Putting together these elements enhances our creativity and forces us to use our intelligence.While reading a book one imagines in their mind what is going on with the story. This visual then enhances our creativity. It also forces us to use our intelligence. The vocabulary and solutions to the problems makes us think. Personally, I think one of the best things about reading something that you enjoy is the adventure that you have while reading. I forget about my everyday issues and enter into a world where my mind can just explore a whole other world that I cannot physically experience myself. The combination of these aspects makes reading an exciting experience.

Healthcare Finance in The United States of America

In United States the Congress had passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 or MMA and with this imposed a stoppage for 18 months on the starting of new physician owned specialty hospitals. At the same time, they also wanted to know the position regarding certain matters of physician owned heart, orthopedic and surgical specialty hospitals through MedPAC. The team visited sites, made legal analysis and met the share owners in these hospitals and finally presented a report to the Congress. It had also gone through the cost reports received from Medicare and inpatient claims of 2002, which was the most recent at that time. This will naturally form the basis of such hospitals being permitted or not. (Physician-owned specialty hospitals) The findings of this committee showed that:- Physician owned hospitals generally treated patients who had less severe problems and concentrated on specific diagnosis related groups and the reason for both of this was that these were expected to be more profitable than other patients. These hospitals do not treat as many Medicaid patients as community hospitals. Regarding the costs of patients in these hospitals for the patients, the Medicare patients did not get benefits of lower costs though the inpatients had shorter periods of stay. There was no appreciable impact of physician owned specialty hospitals on the community hospitals as seen in 2002, and there was also no impact on the financial performance of the community hospitals. Most of the differences in profitability can be rectified by improving the prospective patient system for inpatients that are made by Medicare. Thus according to the findings there are not major differences between the community hospitals and physician owned specialty hospitals in terms of costs or capability for services. (Physician-owned specialty hospitals) Differences among types of hospitals: We shall make comparison of the hospitals in India and USA. In India, apart from the government hospitals, there are a number of large hospitals run by trusts or large corporations. In the city of Bombay or Mumbai, the hospitals named Jaslok or Hinduja are run by trusts and Wockhardt Heart Hospital is run by a major pharmaceutical company. Even when the hospital has been promoted by a physician, still the hospital is run like a corporation as is seen in the case of Apollo Hospitals. There is now a new hospital named as Asian Heart Hospital in Bombay which has been promoted by a physician team and they have a large stake in the hospital. The team of physician is led by one Mr. Panda who is now the CEO of the hospital. These physicians have all invested their own funds, and to get more funds, they have even asked for more contributions from other physicians who are now not resident in India. The hospital is the result of a plan by these physicians in 1993-94. The hospital took about 10 years to complete. Thus one should realize that a hospital takes a long time to take shape up. (Doctors in arms) The biggest problems in the management of hospitals come from physicians and renowned physicians are sought for empanelment by hospitals. The physicians then continually force the hospitals to upgrade their infrastructure and also charge heavy fees from the patients. At the end of the services by the physicians, it is they who get the biggest returns. It is also difficult to retain the physicians as they leave at the earliest opportunity, and this statement is from one of the promoters of the hospital, GW Capital. They are now investing money in the concept of physician managed private hospitals. This resulted in its investment of Rs 150 million or about 3 million dollars in buying a 26 percent stake in another hospital group in Hyderabad, in 2000 called the Care Group. That group has expanded very fast and now has over a 1000 beds in its operations in six centers. (Doctors in arms) Thus the costs of the hospitals will require about 12 million dollars for a 1000 bed operation. At the same time, not all hospitals are made with money in mind and there are hospitals in Chennai or Madras in India which have 150 physicians, 500 nurses and 371 Para-medical staff. The entire team works within a budget of Rs 120 million or 2.4 million dollars. (Healing Ministry of the Madras Diocesan Medical Board) This hospital is run by a religious mission and its objective is to provide service to the people and this hospital does not want to make money, but run at break even costs. In United States, during 2002 there were 48 hospitals found to be physician owned hospitals. Of them 12 were heart hospitals, 25 were orthopedic hospitals and 11 were surgical hospitals. These hospitals are generally very small with average capacities of orthopedic hospitals being 16 beds, the surgical specialty hospitals being 14 beds and heart hospitals are the largest with average capacity being 52 beds. The general conditions of these hospitals are not full fledged as they do not have emergency departments, whereas 93 percent of the community hospitals have emergency departments. The reason for existence of these hospitals is the physician control over the hospitals. (Physician-owned specialty hospitals) At the same time, one of these hospitals has been named as one of country's top 100 heart hospitals. (Parkwest Medical Center) Financial position of private hospitals: According to available reports, the private hospitals are in a position to take on patients who are capable of paying for them, and not take on patients who have to depend on managed care organizations. This increases the incomes of the hospitals by 20 to 50 percent. This reduces the cost of a bypass surgery at one of the hospitals in India, Care to about Rs 80,000 or $1,700. The cost in India is higher by about 30 to 40 percent in corporate hospitals. Even the new hospital, Asian Heart has predicted a cash break even during the second year of operations, and by the end of the second year it expects to pay a 15 percent dividend to the investor. Thus on an investment of $50 million, the returns would be $7.5 million from the second year. (Doctors in arms) The position in United States is the same, and in spite of some private specialty hospitals not having made any distributions to stockholders, the study showed that the margin in these hospitals was about 13 percent in 2002 as compared to 3 to 6 percent that was seen for community hospitals. (Physician-owned specialty hospitals) The advantages of physician owned specialty hospitals: To find this aspect out, there were discussions with the physicians who were investing in these hospitals. The cardiologists and surgeons want to admit their patients, perform the required procedures and have the patients recover with minimum disturbance. They believe that community hospitals cannot match their services as those hospitals have a variety of services and missions that they have to undertake. The direct control by the physicians help to increase productivity through less disturbances to the schedules in operating room which come from the emergency cases that come about, decreasing the down time between operations between two different surgeries and this is due to cleaning the operating room more efficiently, increased ability to work between two operating rooms even when the operating rooms are blocked due to some other work and better efficiencies through direct control of operating room staff. As mentioned earlier, they also like to form specialty hospitals as they have increases in income. There is some increase due to productivity, but they are able to collect a share of the profits from the facility for themselves and other associated physicians. They concentrate on providing services that are profitable, on treating patients who are less sick and thus more profitable. (Physician-owned specialty hospitals) Even in India the same situation exists and most of the physicians who have now started developing hospitals have been working together earlier, and one of the main aims is to remove the pressure from managed health care systems that they have to face otherwise. There is now a distinct change in the formation of hospitals and new hospitals are being formed by physicians. The total costs have been discussed to some extent, but without the participation of physicians, the hospitals are unlikely to be successful.