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A technology for program maintenance: programming key researcher behaviors in a student housing cooperative.

Behavioral researchers play critical, but often unanalyzed, roles in the programs they develop. Unless they replace their key activities with standardized procedures, their continued participation may be essential to program success--a situation that is often not only impractical but may be prohibitively expensive and disliked by local staff. This study was conducted in a student housing cooperative that is dependent on close researcher supervision for its continued health and survival. A key activity of the co-op researchers was to provide public recognition for good job performance by co-op members. The purposes of this study were (a) to replace that idiosyncratic recognition with systematic procedures so members, instead of the researchers, would provide public recognition to each other for good job performance; and (b) to evaluate those procedures by comparing job performance when member-delivered recognition was provided and when it was not. When the procedures were in place, job performance increased and fines for poor job performance and complaining at meetings decreased. This study suggests that procedures can be developed to reduce program reliance on the researcher that are effective, inexpensive, sustainable, and acceptable to the participants--a first step toward developing a technology of program maintenance.

Activities of Daily Living

Use of an interactive teaching program to teach medical workers, about MUMPS programming.

The MUMPS computer language is widely and increasingly used for medical applications. It is useful for medical students and others in the medical environment to have an understanding of such languages that can help them perform their jobs well. The author is therefore making available an interactive teaching program to instruct such people in the MUMPS computer language. Use of the teaching program is reported for 19 novice MUMPS programmers and compared with results for two experienced programmers. Free-text comments by the novices emphasize areas in which they had difficulty. There is a considerable variation in the mean time taken by the novices to answer the questions, and in the number of questions repeated because of erroneous answers. Most novices found the teaching program very helpful. A copy of the Standard MUMPS teaching program and the QUEST driver on which it is based has been sent to 24 institutions, including six in Europe and one in Japan, for further use.

Allied Health Personnel

The diet, nutrition, and cancer program of the NCI National Cancer Program.

In November 1974, in response to a mandate in the revised National Cancer Act of 1974, a plan was introduced for the formation of a Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer Program. Dr. Frank J. Rauscher, Director of the National Cancer Institute, selected a group of scientists who defined the goals of the program and recommended the appointment of a program director and of an advisory committee. These recommendations were accepted, and an Advisory Committee, reflecting a cross-section of scientific expertise, has been selected. To recommend a well-balanced program, it will be necessary for the Advisory Committee to assess the current state of the art of nutrition in cancer etiology and therapy and to be apprised of current opportunities, needs, and resources. Toward this end, a literature survey project has been initiated and two specialized workshops have been held.

Diet

The Dentofacial Deformity Program of the University of Michigan: organization, analysis of data, and benefits of program.

The Dentofacial Deformity Program of the University of Michigan was established in 1984 to provide a consulting service for the diagnosis, treatment recommendations, and management of patients with dentofacial deformities. This program was designed as a service commitment for the patient, referring doctors, and the medical and dental communities. Educational and research aspects of the program provide benefits for orthodontic and oral and maxillofacial surgery graduate students, and the dental school faculty. The organization, data analysis, and education, research, and service benefits of this program are discussed.

Adolescent

Evaluating productivity in clinical research programs: the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP).

This paper outlines an approach to studying productivity in clinical research programs that incorporates environmental, organizational, provider, and patient specific factors in the model of production process. We describe how this approach has been applied to the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Community Clinical Oncology Programs (CCOPs). Next, a practical evaluative model of the productive process in CCOPs is outlined and its use in evaluation and monitoring performance in CCOPs is discussed. Each level of the model is described and a number of factors potentially affecting each level are explored. Finally, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this approach and show how management can use it to study and improve the productivity of clinical research programs.

Catchment Area, Health

Who is served by programs for the homeless? Admission to a domiciliary care program for homeless veterans.

Demographic and clinical data are presented on 4,138 veterans assessed in the 20-site Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans program during its first year of operation. More than two-thirds of the veterans who were screened had been hospitalized in VA medical centers during the year before assessment, and 34 percent were hospitalized at the time of assessment. Compared with veterans who were not admitted for residential treatment, veterans who were admitted were more likely to be previously involved in mental health treatment, literally homeless rather than at risk for homelessness, and without public financial support. Specialized service programs for the homeless such as the VA domiciliary care program may also be called on to play a broader role in the discharge and rehabilitative efforts of public mental health service systems.

Adult

Program evaluation research: an experimental cost-effectiveness analysis of an armed robbery intervention program.

An armed robbery alarm system was implemented in 48 different stores in two separate geographical areas for 6 months and 12 months, respectively. The alarms were placed in the two separate areas at different times and all alarms were eventually removed. Thus, multiple baseline and reversal strategies were used to evaluate program impact. A device planted in a cash drawer was triggered whenever "bait" money was removed from the drawer sending an alarm signal directly to police cars and headquarters. On-scene apprehensions of armed robbers within target stores were greatly increased even though the armed robbery systems did not deter robbery incidents nor influence the court disposition of the cases. There was also no crime deterrence, crime displacement, or increased apprehensions in either the immediate neighborhoods of target stores or on a city-wide basis. The cost effectiveness of the program was calculated to be poor even though the program is being maintained because of the absence of an alternative robbery apprehension technology.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

[A program for continuous infusion of cardiovascular agents (CIRCULATION)--how to derive the algorithm and how to use the mathematical formula in this program].

Recently, many cardiovascular agents came to be administered to serious or perioperative cases continuously, and difficult calculation became necessary. For continuous infusion of cardiovascular agents, we devised a personal computer program (CIRCULATION) to avoid difficult calculation for PC-9801 series (NEC) by a C language (Turbo-C, Version 2.0). It is easy to use the program, and it calculates the algorithm for many cardiovascular agents in a second. The program is very useful for anesthesiologists and for other doctors when they administer various cardiovascular agents.

Algorithms

Cardiovascular risk factor prevalence in African-American adult screenees for a church-based cholesterol education program: the Northeast Oklahoma City Cholesterol Education Program.

The status of selected cardiovascular risk factors was ascertained in a consecutive sample of 661 (222 men and 439 women) African-American adults who were screened for the Northeast Oklahoma City Cholesterol Education Program, a church-based cholesterol intervention program. Hypertension was present in 48.4% and 44.7% of men and women, respectively. Average systolic blood pressure levels were similar in men and women (132.0 vs 131.5 mm Hg, P = 0.40) although average diastolic blood pressure levels were higher in men (84.0 vs 81.1 mm Hg; P < .0001). A substantial proportion of the screenees were unaware of their hypertension, and blood pressure normalization (SBP < 140 and DBP < 90 mm Hg) was uncommon in drug-treated hypertensives. Average cholesterol levels were slightly higher in women compared to men (206.0 vs 199.6 mg/dL, P = 0.11). The majority of persons with elevated cholesterol levels (> or = 240 mg/dL) were unaware of their condition and were infrequently treated with cholesterol-lowering drugs. Overweight was highly prevalent, was more common with advancing age, and was related to the presence of hypertension in both men and women. In addition, a strong linear relation between overweight and blood pressure was present in both sexes. Overweight was more common in young men (< 35 years old) compared to age-matched women; however, women were increasingly more overweight than men after 35-44 years of age. In fact, by age 65, 90% of the women were overweight. These data indicate an excessive prevalence and high mean levels of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in these church-attending African-American adults. Because churches are a central institution in most African-American communities, and their congregations appear to have an excessive cardiovascular disease risk factor burden, churches may be appropriate sites for the implementation of community-based risk factor control programs.

Adult

Current and future perspectives regarding the framework for nurse anesthesia education: a freestanding academic program within a regionalized program framework.

In 1987, Pittsburgh's LaRoche College advanced its baccalaureate level nurse anesthesia program to the master's degree level. The coordinator of the didactic program collaborated with directors of two affiliated hospitals of nurse anesthesia to develop a program in which scientific concepts, theory and clinical applications have been well-integrated.

Curriculum

Educational program evaluation: the University of Vermont family nurse practitioner program.

Graduates of the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Program at the University of Vermont, Burlington, were surveyed to determine if the FNPs had enlarged their nursing roles following completion of the program. A sample of Vermont nurses served as a control group. Results of a questionnaire, used to obtain information about the nurses' training, functions, and attitudes, indicated that FNPs performed activities associated with an expanded nursing role more frequently than did their nonpractiioner counterparts. There was evidence that the two groups differed in their attitudes toward various aspects of their nursing roles. The evaluation is an ongoing study; as the number of program graduates increases, further characterization of their roles will be possible.

Attitude of Health Personnel

Readmission discount factors in program evaluation. An output value analysis of an adult psychiatry program.

The application of output value analysis, a type of benefit/cost analysis, to a psychiatric patient population is reported. A method for discounting the value of the program if a patient was readmitted within a year after discharge was introduced. The application of this discount factor reduces the value produced by the program and thereby reduces both productivity and effectiveness indices. When applied to groups known to differ in readmission rates, such as first admissions and readmissions or voluntary and involuntary admissions, the discount factor can accentuate group differences markedly. When selected diagnostic groups were compared, the discount factor could even reverse the relative standing of the groups.

Brain Damage, Chronic

Community support programs: program evaluation and public policy.

The plight of chronic psychiatric patients in the community has led to a major federal effort to resolve fragmented and disorganized care. The Community Support Programs (CSPs) recently funded by NIMH offer the promise of reducing these difficulties by creating comprehensive human service systems at the local and state levels. However, the author points out that these demonstration projects should be evaluated lest they continue to operate on the basis of rhetoric rather than fact. He presents an evaluation framework whereby indexes pertinent to each program goal of the CSPs can be measured and the resulting data used for public policy purposes.

Community Mental Health Services

[A pathogenic manpower program: the program for foreign domestics].

Every year, a special federal program arranges for the arrival of about 12,000 educated women to Canada to work several years in private homes as housekeepers. However, in order to meet the needs of the employer and the Canadian economy, these women are denied their fundamental freedoms and are deliberately kept in a precarious situation material and psychologically and with respect to their status. Because it exposes these female workers to such factors of instability and to the negative effects of key experiences, this program carries the seed of mental illness.

Canada

Prepayment with office-based physicians in publicly funded programs: results from the Children's Medicaid Program.

This paper is a report of the results of a demonstration designed to provide empirical evidence regarding the effects of alternative approaches to paying physicians for serving children in the Medicaid program: (1) visit fees set at twice regular Medicaid fees in return for physician agreement to manage utilization and (2) capitation and financial risk-sharing along with the same physician agreement to manage utilization. Participating physicians were assigned randomly to either of the two payment groups. Comparisons of utilization and expenditures were made between these two plans and the regular Medicaid program (fee-for-service, low fees). Results showed no adverse effect of capitation payments on primary care visits to office-based physicians. Capitation physician referrals to specialists decreased relative to all other groups studied, consistent with the theory that the financial incentives in capitation will lead primary care physicians to reduce referrals to specialists.

Child

Five-year findings of the hypertension detection and follow-up program. I. Reduction in mortality of persons with high blood pressure, including mild hypertension. Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program Cooperative Group.

The Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program (HDFP), in a community-based, randomized controlled trial involving 10,940 persons with high blood pressure (BP), compared the effects on five-year mortality of a systematic antihypertensive treatment program (Stepped Care [SC]) and referral to community medical therapy (Referred Care [RC]). Participants, recruited by population-based screening of 158,906 people aged 30 to 69 years in 14 communities througout the United States, were randomly assigned to SC or RC groups within each center and by entry diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (90 to 104, 105 to 114, and 115 + mm Hg). Over the five years of the study, more than two thirds of the SC participants continued to receive medication, and more than 50% achieved BP levels within the normotensive range, at or below the HDFP goal for DBP. Controls of BP was consistently better for the SC than for the RC group. Five-year mortality from all causes was 17% lower for the SC group compared to the RC group (6.4 vs 7.7 per 100, P less than .01) and 20% lower for the SC subgroup with entry DBP of 90 to 104 mm Hg compared to the corresponding RC subgroup (5.9 vs 7.4 per 100, P less than .01). These findings of the HDFP indicate that the systematic effective management of hypertension has a great potential for reducing mortality for the large numbers of people with high BP in the population, including those with "mild" hypertension.

Adult