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PubMed2006

Collaborative goal technology: theory and practice.

Goal striving promotes hope and enhances motivation, which is important for psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery. The Collaborative Goal Technology (CGT) is a new goal striving intervention that is used to support the autonomy and recovery processes of the person with a psychiatric disability. The CGT protocol and its utility are outlined. Theory and research from goal striving, motivation and mental health recovery domains that informed the development of CGT are described. A case example is also provided.

Case Management↗
PubMed1993

Analytical goals for accuracy and precision of plasma creatinine determinations evaluated by reference method measurements.

Using approaches based on "medical needs" and biological variation, goals for analytical accuracy were assessed to 0.072-0.15 expressed as relative deviations, and goals for analytical precision were estimated to 0.022-0.14 expressed as relative standard deviations. A representative clinical method was evaluated using a reference method. On this basis, it is concluded that accuracy goals are fulfilled at high but not at low levels, and that precision goals are met according to medical needs but not with respect to biological variation.

Chemistry, Clinical↗
PubMed1993

Analytical goals for P-bilirubins.

Analytical goals for P-Bilirubins (total) were assessed on the basis of biological variation and "medical needs". Goals for analytical accuracy were from 0.01 to 0.18 expressed as relative deviations. Goals for analytical precision were 0.11-0.12 expressed as relative standard deviations. Using a reference method, we found that the average values of clinical laboratories deviated from 0.03 to 0.10 from reference method values. The average intra-laboratory precision was 0.088, i.e. within the goal limits.

Bilirubin↗
PubMed1980

Treatment goals of alcohol-dependent and drug-dependent patients.

At the time of admission to treatment, 450 alcohol-dependent patients and 198 drug-dependent patients were asked to complete a brief questionnaire regarding their interest in 26 treatment goals. An analysis of the goal questionnaire data revealed that from the total sample of patients more than 70 percent wanted assistance, in addition to help with substance dependency, with medical problems, psychological problems, school or job counseling, and recreational guidance. Between alcohol- and drug-dependent groups, statistically significant (p less than .05) but small differences were found for numerous goal items, with drug-dependent patients wanting assistance for more goal items than alcohol-dependent patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Self-reported weight, weight goals, and weight control strategies of a midwestern population.

OBJECTIVE: To elicit from individuals in a population their current weight and height, weight goals, and weight control strategies to aid in design of effective interventions to prevent and treat obesity. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: By random digit dial telephone survey, 1224 adult residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, were contacted between February 28 and May 5, 2000. They self-reported weights and weight goals and described physical characteristics associated with their desire to lose weight. RESULTS: Among the 1224 respondents, 65.6% of men and 47.9% of women reported that they were overweight (body mass index [BMI], 25.0-29.9 kg/m2) or obese (BMI, > or =30.0 kg/m2). Only 0.4% of men and 3.7% of women reported that they were underweight (BMI, <18.5 kg/m2). Of the respondents 72.6% of men and 85.1% of women reported that they were either trying to lose or not gain weight. The average weight loss goal for individuals trying to lose weight was 23.4 pounds for men and 28.0 pounds for women. Only one third of individuals trying to lose weight and one fifth of individuals trying not to gain weight reported using the recommended approach of combining energy restriction with at least 150 minutes of exercise per week. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the population and the underutilization of combining both restricting energy intake and exercising at least 150 minutes per week for weight control is high. Like the majority of people in the United States, the majority of people in Olmsted County desire to control their weight. The community has responded with plans to help residents meet their goals, although efficacy and outcomes remain to be determined.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

The career goals of nurses in some health care settings in Gauteng.

In nursing, purposeful career planning is essential if nurse practitioners want to make the right decisions about their work in order to strive towards and accomplish a meaningful quality of working life. Nurses should identify their career goals to be able to investigate their different career opportunities in their field of interest and direct their work according to a work strategy for years ahead. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the career goals of post-basic nursing students with the aim of describing management strategies to guide the future career of post-basic nursing students in climbing the career ladder effectively and obtaining their set career goals. An explorative, descriptive, qualitative design was selected where the researcher worked inductively to explore and describe the needs (goals) and future planned actions of the participants regarding their career management as viewed for a period of five years. The researcher purposively and conveniently identified the sample as all the post-basic nursing students, namely 250 students, who were registered for the first, second and third year of nursing management courses in that period at a South African residential university. Two structured, open questions were developed. Each participant received the questions in writing and was asked to answer them. The QSR NUD*IST program was used for the qualitative management (categorization) of data. The results of the research questions related to five categories, namely becoming empowered, being promoted, being educated and professionally developed, partaking in research and taking up new projects.

Aspirations, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

[The relationships between the difficulty of goal attainment and interpersonal attraction].

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the goal attainment difficulty upon interpersonal attraction for the partner. Eighty female undergraduates participated the experiment. They were given tasks with one of four different goal attainment level (very easy, easy, difficult, and very difficult). Each subject solved it with partners of one of three ability levels (superior, similar, inferior to the subject). After the completion of the task, all subjects were requested to evaluate the three partners' instrumental and emotional attractiveness. The main results were as follows: (1) The subjects evaluated the more capable partner as more attractive on the instrumental attraction dimension. (2) The subjects in easy and difficult goal attainment conditions evaluated the superior partner as most attractive on the emotional attraction dimension. While the subjects in very easy and very difficult goal conditions evaluated the similar partner as most attractive on that dimension. These results were discussed in terms of the relationship between the reward value of interaction partner and the task environment.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Effects of task goal on movement kinematics and line bisection performance in adults without disabilities.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated (a) whether the kinematic profile of a reaching-for-an-object movement would differ depending on the goal of the reaching task and (b) the effect of task goal on attentional carryover. METHOD: Twenty-four adults without disabilities performed a horizontal line bisection task under three conditions: (a) a natural condition (pressing the ringing lever of a desk bell), (b) an impoverished condition (touching the ringing lever of a desk bell), and (c) a control condition (bisecting a line only). Only the natural and impoverished conditions used the reaching task (i.e., pressing or touching the ringing lever of the desk bell). The kinematic profile of reaching for the bell was established with the OPTO-TRAK system, a quantitative kinematic analysis measure. The line bisection task was performed immediately after the reaching task, which was located adjacent to the left of the line to be bisected. RESULTS: The natural condition elicited better quality of reaching movement than did the impoverished condition. It produced significantly shorter movement time and higher peak velocity. A less impressive effect was found for percentage of reach where peak velocity occurs. Bisection performance under the two experimental conditions was leftward biased relative to the control condition, and the magnitude of leftward bias in the natural condition was greater than that for the impoverished condition. CONCLUSION: Results supported one core assumption of occupational therapy: goal-directed and functional tasks can be used to enhance human performance. If the results hold for clinical populations, manipulations of functional goals may enhance movement performance of persons with disabilities and remediate left neglect often seen in clients who have had a stroke.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Patients' perspectives on the self-identified goals assessment.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate patients' perspectives of the validity of the Self-Identified Goals Assessment (SIGA), which is designed for use by occupational therapists working in subacute rehabilitation and skilled nursing facilities. The SIGA has two primary purposes: (a) to help the patient identify personally meaningful occupational goals to be addressed in therapy and (b) to evaluate changing levels of patient-defined success in desired occupations. METHOD: Participants (20 women, 10 men) were patients with varied diagnosed conditions at a hospital-based subacute facility. Their mean age was 73.4 years (SD = 12.2). The SIGA was administered by the patients' regular occupational therapy practitioner after admission and before discharge; a graduate student followed up each administration of the SIGA by asking participants fixed-alternative and open-ended questions about the usefulness of the assessment. Fixed-alternative questions were analyzed as simple dichotomies, and open-ended questions were analyzed through categorization into convergent and divergent themes across participants. RESULTS: Twenty-nine of the 30 participants confirmed the personal meaningfulness of goals identified in the SIGA admissions interview, and 28 reported that they thought the SIGA helped the therapist realize what was personally important to them. On admission, 9 participants reported difficulty quantifying their performance on the 0-to-10 scale; however, 27 reported that their scores were accurate self-assessments. Participants' perspectives of the SIGA tended to be particularly positive at discharge. CONCLUSION: Given the lack of efficient, structured approaches to the measurement of self-identified goals in subacute and skilled nursing facilities, the SIGA tentatively is recommended for use in these settings, pending future research.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Looking to the future: nursing as a career goal.

Career paths selected by completing nursing students are of significant interest to educators and professional agencies. This paper presents part of a larger study which investigated students' influences and motivations for selecting nursing as a career path. The aim of this study was to identify career goals of completing nursing students, what factors influence these goals, preferred areas in which to work and if aged care is considered a career option. The study employed a cross sectional approach utilizing Ford's (1986) taxonomy of human goals as a theoretical framework. A questionnaire was administered to 25 students in the final semester of their nursing degree. Preliminary findings showed goals for future practice were limited to midwifery and paediatrics whilst elder care was not perceived as a viable career option. Negative images of nurses continue to prevail and implications for nursing are considered. Despite the small sample, the study provides evidence that to provide suitable care for all members of the community it is essential that all career options within the profession are positively promoted.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health behavior goals of cardiac patients after hospitalization.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the types and influences of health behavior goals self-selected by post hospitalized cardiac patients. METHODS: Subjects participated in a trial assessing the effectiveness of a health behavior change program. RESULTS: Nearly 95% of smokers and 89.7% of patients with elevated weights selected a smoking and/or dietary modification goal, respectively. Only 43.8% of physical activity goal patients started a rehabilitation program. Although no consistent relationships were found between patient characteristics and type of goal(s) selected, significant improvements in readiness to change levels occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Many patients can make health behavior progress consistent with behaviors needing improvements by clinical criteria.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Increasing the quality of patient care through performance counseling and written goal setting.

Patient care scores of staff nurses in seven Veterans Administration hospitals who used a performance counseling protocol that required written goal setting, coupled with head nurse modeling and support to achieve goals (experimental), were compared with scores of nurses who continued with usual practice (control). Staff nurses chose their own goals. One goal was to improve patient care and the other was to improve staff nurse professional competence. After six months, experimental group scores were higher on five patient care scales, one significantly. After 12 months, scores shifted in favor of the control group, one significantly. Experimental group scores were higher on patient interview questions after six months and made additional gains after 12 months. Experimental nurses generally were more satisfied with their nursing careers and described working relationships more positively. Some progress the experimental nurses made after six months was lost after 12 months. Nurses who received high patient care scores from outside observers described the hospital working environment in more positive terms. Relationships of three instruments that measure quality of patient care are presented.

Achievement↗
PubMed2001

Nicotine dependence, depression, and the moderating role of goal cognitions.

The authors examined the moderating role of goal cognitions in the process of nicotine dependence in young adult smokers. A college sample of 85 male and 78 female smokers completed measures of nicotine dependence and psychological distress. They also provided cognitive evaluations for goals related to smoking cessation on scales measuring self-efficacy, value, planning, self-reward, self-criticism, self-monitoring, social comparison, and positive and negative goal-based arousal. As has been previously established, depression had a direct and significant effect on nicotine dependence. Moreover, significant interactions between goal cognitions and depression provided evidence for the hypothesized moderating effect.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Tower of Hanoi: evidence for the cost of goal retrieval.

Past research on the Tower of Hanoi problem has provided clear evidence for the importance of goal-subgoal structures in problem solving. However, the nature of the traditional Tower of Hanoi problem makes it impossible to determine whether there is any special cost associated with storing or retrieving goals. A variation of the Tower of Hanoi problem is described that allows one to determine separately if there is an effect of how long a goal has to be retained on storage time or how long ago it was formed on retrieval time. This paradigm provides evidence for an effect of retention interval on retrieval time and not on storage time. An ACT-R (Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational) simulation of these data is described, which treats goal memory as no different from other memories.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Dissociable contributions of the human amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex to incentive motivation and goal selection.

Theories of incentive motivation attempt to capture the way in which objects and events in the world can acquire high motivational value and drive behavior, even in the absence of a clear biological need. In addition, for an individual to select the most appropriate goal, the incentive values of competing desirable objects need to be defined and compared. The present study examined the neural substrates by which appetitive incentive value influences prospective goal selection, using positron emission tomographic neuroimaging in humans. Sated subjects were shown a series of restaurant menus that varied in incentive value, specifically tailored for each individual, and in half the trials, were asked to make a selection from the menu. The amygdala was activated by high-incentive menus regardless of whether a choice was required. Indeed, activity in this region varied as a function of individual subjective ratings of incentive value. In contrast, distinct regions of the orbitofrontal cortex were recruited both during incentive judgments and goal selection. Activity in the medial orbital cortex showed a greater response to high-incentive menus and when making a choice, with the latter activity also correlating with subjective ratings of difficulty. Lateral orbitofrontal activity was observed selectively when participants had to suppress responses to alternative desirable items to select their most preferred. Taken together, these data highlight the differential contribution of the amygdala and regions within the orbitofrontal cortex in a neural system underlying the selection of goals based on the prospective incentive value of stimuli, over and above homeostatic influences.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Does setting specific goals and providing feedback during training result in better acquisition of laparoscopic skills?

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether setting specific goals and providing feedback stimulates trainees to improve their laparoscopic skills. Two groups of eight fourth-year medical students practiced on a MIST-VR trainer, a black box laparoscopic suturing trainer, and computer-based training modules for 30 minutes, twice a week for 3 weeks. A precourse assessment of laparoscopic and open suturing skills and performance of MIST-VR tasks was obtained. Students in group A were given specific goals to achieve and were provided feedback. Group B was given no specific goals or feedback. At the end of the course, seven different tasks and skills were evaluated and subjectively scored during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in an animal laboratory. A higher number of students in group A completed 10 or more repetitions in the MIST-VR than in group B. The groups showed no difference in final MIST-VR or overall scores in the animal laboratory. The only different scores between groups were for the use of the nondominant hand (NDH). The initial scores in the acquired cut task (ACT) in the MIST-VR correlated well with the performance in the animal laboratory. Setting goals and providing feedback tended to motivate students to practice more compared with the self-directed group. There was no difference in final MIST-VR scores or the performance in the animal laboratory, except for the NDH. The best predictor of performance was initial ACT score.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1984

Operative goals of intercollegiate athletics: perceptions of athletic administrators.

Ninety intercollegiate athletic administrators from across Canada participated in the study which investigated their perceptions of the operative goals of intercollegiate athletics. The operative goals included in the study were 1) Entertainment, 2) National Sport Development, 3) Financial, 4) Transmission of Culture, 5) Career Opportunities, 6) Public Relations, 7) Athlete's Personal Growth, 8) Prestige, and 9) Achieved Excellence. The rankings of these nine objectives were analyzed by subgroups based on sex of the respondents, size of the university, and the conference membership. In addition, the relationships between respondents' ratings of these objectives, and their attitudes toward athletic scholarships, recruitment practices and eligibility were also examined. The results showed that the various subgroups of athletic administrators were relatively homogeneous in ranking Transmission of Culture, Athlete's Personal Growth, Public Relations, and Prestige as the most important set of operative goals. It was also found that the administrators from the Non-central region (Maritime and Western Provinces) were more in favor of athletic scholarships than the administrators from the Central region (Ontario and Quebec). Also, higher ratings of Public Relations, Prestige, Entertainment, and Financial Objectives were associated with stronger support for athletic scholarships, and unrestrained recruitment. It was noted that administrators' goal orientations, while congruent with those of students from selected universities, were contrary to the prescriptions and proscriptions of prominent educators.

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMed1984

Planning for continuing education: goal setting and self-assessment.

The American Dietetic Association placed the responsibility for professional growth and development on individual dietitians when the membership voluntarily accepted registration in 1969. One goal of registration was to improve individual competency of dietitians through their participation in continuing education activities. Such participation, to be effective, requires self-assessment of needs, formulation of goals, and the setting of priorities for learning. A recent study revealed, however, that only 20% of registered dietitians desire to assess their own learning needs and to plan their own continuing education experiences to meet those needs. This discrepancy between the goals of the professional association and the behavior of individual members may be a result of members not knowing about ways to plan effectively for their own professional growth. The "Well-Dones" method is presented as a tool for dietitians to use in planning their own learning by determining needs, setting goals, and assessing achievements. Professional concern over the improvement of competency through continuing education should be a matter of importance for each registered dietitian.

Dietetics↗