Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Leadership in the Movie Wolf of Wall Street Assignment

Leadership in the Movie Wolf of Wall Street - Assignment Example He starts a brokerage office on the Wall Street where he runs his daily crimes. Using a great convincing power, Jordan together with his employees manages to lure unsuspecting people into their game. They are great brokers and thus assure those willing to invest with them a jackpot kind of returns. Actually, many people end up losing all their life savings with the hope of getting a nice package after the agreed period. Having realized that he is greedy, he openly dismisses this claim by encouraging the employees not to be greedy. This is a smart way to cover up his plans. Leaders play a key role in shaping the culture (Hansel man, 2014) of the company. This movie clearly shows how the leader cultivates a dangerous culture. He involves every employee in the habit of drinking and abusing illegal drugs. In addition, most of the employees end up being sex addicts because of the culture that their own boss cultivates in them. While Jordan sounds like a great leader by giving all the necessary advice and guidelines he as well makes it clear to the employees what he considers right and wrong. With this said, his administrative power diverts the energy of the employees into a bad culture. While most of them were fearful at the first time, he takes the courage to drive them into the dirty business. He reminds them that nothing can be done by itself until they take action. This is evident when he requires them to make calls and convince the customers. While most of the employees least suspect the game behind the brokerage business, they show commitment and will ingness to attain the goals. They are motivated by how their boss runs his life. They see him as a successful person worth admiring. On the contrary, Jordan is a great advisor. He gives his best imagination on how to run a successful business.  

Monday, October 28, 2019

Demographics And Epidemiological Transition Health And Social Care Essay

Demographics And Epidemiological Transition Health And Social Care Essay Bangladesh is experiencing the third phase in demographic transition that has produced a big number of youthful population and increasing population of older population (Razzaque et al., 2010). At present, the population of Bangladesh is 152518015 million, where percentage of the 60+ elderly populations is more than 6.7 (BBS, 2010). The median age is 23.3. The life expectancy at birth is 70 years for the total population (Index Mundi, 2012). Epidemiologic transition generally refers to the shift from acute, infectious and deficiency diseases to chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This is usually reflected in the mortality and morbidity pattern. A study done at Matlab, a rural area of Bangladesh by Karar et al. (2006) found that in 20 years (1986-2006), there has been a massive alteration in mortality profile from acute infectious and parasitic diseases to NCDs, degenerative and chronic diseases. During this period there was great reduction in mortality due to diarrhea and dysentery and respiratory infections (except tuberculosis) and increase in mortality due to NCDs such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and malignant neoplasms. It has been predicted further that the mortality due to NCDs will increase greatly in the next two decades whereas number of deaths due to communicable diseases will decrease. The reduction in the child and infant mortality was explained by improvement in maternal education, primary health care services, water and sanitation practice, use of oral rehydration solution and high immunization coverage. The rise in mortality due to NCDs was explained by possible change in diet and lifestyle (Karar et al., 2006) Due to demographic and epidemiologic transitions, elderly population has rapidly increased and so has their morbidity (Biswas et al.,2006). As Bangladesh is going through both epidemiologic and demographic transitions, there are being reductions in fertility and mortality rates that have resulted in increased life expectancy among the population. This means there are increase in older people in the population and increase in prominence of chronic conditions among these elderly. Chronic diseases usually accumulate with ageing and are presented as multiple morbidities. Multimorbidity in the same person refers to co-occuring of various harmful medical conditions. Khanam et al( 2011) found higher prevalence of multimorbidity among elderly (>60years old) in a rural place in Bangladesh called Matlab. It was around 53.8% among the study population. Arthritis and hypertension occurred the most commonly. Multi-morbidity was higher in women than men and in non-poorest (Not poorest. Socio-econo mic status was divided into two parts: poorest and non-poorest). The same study found that multimorbdity can also be affected by living and working environment, lifestyle pattern, socio-economic status, behavioral risk factors and gender. From the prevalence rate, one can estimate the real burden in the general rural population. It shows every elderly in the population is suffering from at least one chronic condition. This means the health sector of Bangladesh should be prepared to deal with the increasing NCD cases. Through improved diagnostic facilities and better referral system, NCD patients can be helped. Health policy should be updated accordingly to allocate bigger budget to facilitate health services for the elderly (Karar et al, 2009). Formal and informal care Study by Biswas et al. (2006) focused on strategies elderly people use to cope in case of illnesses. As perception of ill health and severity of illness varied from one elderly to another, this study revealed that elderly people avoided visiting a qualified doctor until severity of illness deteriorated because of the associated cost. Even in situations when these qualified doctors are consulted, there are rare follow up visits, again due to the financial barrier. Therefore, elderly people often prefer going to traditional healers (eg. Kobiraj). Huge trust is placed on this type of healers treatments. Often when these treatments bear no result, trust is not lost and the lack of result is often attributed to ill fate (Biswas et al., 2006). On the other hand, if the disease is assumed to be of low severity, self-care is practiced, that is home remedies are undertaken and drugs are bought over the counter at the drugstore by a family member. However decision making process comes into play if severity of the disease increases and is influenced by various factors such as decision about where to take the patient, who to go with the patient and how to manage money. Out of all these factors, the financial issue grabs the bigger priority. Usually a service provider that can ensure flexibility in the treatment cost and payment options is picked. Payment is done with the help of savings, loan from adult children, friends or relatives or sometimes NGO and selling of livestock and poultry (Biswas et al,2006).. In Bangladesh, elderly people depend largely on care provided by the family members. Its a common practice for family members to look after elderly persons. Sometimes even when theres a will, family members cannot take proper care of the elders due to financial constraints. Furthermore, adult children of that family often migrate somewhere else to find work, leaving the elderly behind. In urban areas, this scenario is worse. Along with the men of the family working, theres womens participation in labor force due to which the elderly are also neglected. (Jesmin Ingman, 2011). There is stigmatization of Older women who visit male doctors (who arent direct family members) due to which women stay back home even when they are ill and suffer even more. From the governments side there is meager amount of Old Age allowance and pension for the elderly. This amount hardly covers up treatment costs. There are institutional cares provided by the NGOs in different parts of Bangladesh. But this are being unable to meet the increasing demands of increasing number of the aged people (Hossain et al, 2006). We can see that modernization and urbanization results in migration of young adults and inclusion of women labour force. Elderly people are neglected. There is poor health care service for them. Financially they become weak. They begin to lose their functional ability with age and become dependent on others. But ageing is a natural process for which they are not responsible. Therefore its our duty to provide them with utmost care, respect and security. Ageing population and functional ability: When we talk about functional ability of elderly population, we mean if the elderly person is functionally able to perform daily tasks. We draw conclusions based on physical and cognitive incompetence. But we often neglect the context to which the person belongs. Its environmental and socio-cultural factors. Urban and rural areas vary highly in terms of these factors. There are also gender differences as to certain tasks performed by men and women are bound by social norms and generally dont overlap. Domestic work typically belongs to womens domain and public chores belong to men (Kabir et al., 2001). If we picture a rural context, we can understand how environment plays a role as a barrier to functional ability. Toilets are usually placed outside the home, at a distance and water source is far from toilet. An elderly person has to go a nearby pond or have someone carry the water to them (Ferdous et al., 2009b). Older women who visit male doctors (who arent direct family members) are stigmatized (Biswas et al.,2006). Therefore theres a tendency of women staying home and not seeking help. As a result, with time, they become more ill and functionally disable to perform daily activities. Studies have shown elderly women to have higher prevalence of illness then elderly men (Kalam et al., 2006). Studies done on nutritional status of elderly people have found nutrition to play a vital role in performing daily activities. Elders with poor nutritional status have more limitations in their physical function than elders who are well nourished. Good nutritional status has been associated with better cognitive function as well. (Ferdous et al., 2009a). As the elderly population is increasing in number, its our responsibility to see how they can achieve healthy ageing. There can be many suggestions like having high nutritious diet, improved infrastructure like building ramps in hospitals, treatment at early stage etc but whether these can or will be implemented is highly d ubious. Bangladesh is poverty stricken country and inspite of National Elderly Policy being present, its goals of protecting elderly are inactive (Unnayan Onneshan, 2011). Poverty is beyond our control but policy is something we can take care of. Policies incorporating elderly issues should be implemented and our approaches towards the ageing population should be in such a way that this population is benefited, secured and meets demand of basic needs. The Prevention of Diabetes, Bangladesh Program from life course perspective In the developing countries, there is a growing concern and awareness of the increasing incidence of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) (Darton-Hill et al., 2004). More than 40% of all people with diabetes in least developed countries live in Bangladesh (Novonordisk, 2012). Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is highly preventable and its occurrence can be delayed. The main focus of prevention of this disease is mostly on modification of lifestyle patterns of adults. Behavior such as unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity particularly receives high attention. But there is huge evidence now that supports the fact that a lot of the risks associated to T2DM arise during fetal stages of life. At this stage, these factors are characterized by maternals nutritional status, presence or absence of diabetes and fetal and post-natal environment. This indicates that disease process advances throughout life course. There are also evidences showing that these risks begin during fetal stage and p rogresses till old age (Darton-Hill et al., 2004). A study on genetic changes has revealed high chances of diabetes being activated in the womb. As environmental, genetic and biological factors can be passed from generation to generation, a life course approach is therefore critical to lessen this intergenerational transmission of diabetes. (IDF, 2011a). The primary prevention of diabetes, Bangladesh is a program by the World Diabetes Foundation, partnering with Diabetes Association of Bangladesh (DAB). The program ran for 4 years 10 months (January 2007-October 2011).The objective of the program was to  define and pilot strategies for lifestyle intervention in the primary prevention of diabetes in Bangladesh and to develop guidelines for a long term National Diabetes Prevention Programme (http://www.worlddiabetesfoundation.org/composite-1144.htm). The program will be elaborately discussed from a life course perspective in the following sections. The main focus of this program was on lifestyle interventions. They produced six leaflets that described steps of prevention of diabetes at different levels of society. The levels targeted were individual, family and friend, social/cast level, health service provider, employer and media. Messages about risk factors of diabetes were recorded and used during training sessions. Folk singers, school teachers and religious leaders were involved in delivering messages. Doctors, community counselors, employees and employers were trained in diabetes awareness and lifestyle interventions. Around 87 students took part in diabetes educator program (where the students got trained on educating others about diabetes and the associated life style interventions). All these activities suggest that the focus has been on adults. Though it has not been mentioned which risk factors this program considered, but hoping they have included the three most common behavioral risk factors such as obesity, lack o f physical activities and smoking. Numerous studies have shown these risk factors to be associated with type 2 diabetes. From Fig. 1 (Annex) it can be seen that in adult life, the risk is the risk that accumulates from fetal life, infancy and childhood, adolescence. This accumulated risk is a cumulative risk, which means the consequences are even getter and detrimental. The figure also shows that the risk actually begins before conception of the life. Therefore, interventions should be focused on mothers planning to conceive, alongside focusing on every stage of the life of a person from fetal to adult. This program has not focused on pregnant mothers, let alone pre-conception stage. For preconception phase, the women could be educated that pregnancy can act as a risk factor for the development of diabetes. They could be advocated to take balanced nutrition and refrain from smoking. They could also help their partners to stop smoking. In pregnancy phase, there could be intervention regarding uptake of appropriate nutrition. There could be intervention regarding management of gestational diabetes to lessen the transference of T2DM to the fetus. Mothers with gestational diabetes and the ones with child of low birth weight could also be suggested to have follow-up check-ups (IDF, 2011b) There were no interventions for infancy and childhood period in this program as well. As part of this program, exclusive breastfeeding could be promoted for the first six months. Mothers could be educated and supported on appropriate nutrition for their infants. For school going children, exercise and healthy eating could be promoted (IDF, 2011b). This program also didnt incorporate interventions targeting the adolescence. Adolescents are important group of people who practice unhealthy eating, physical inactivity and lead a sedentary life style. Smoking among adolescents is very popular among Bangladesh. They also should have been a target of this prevention program. Studies have shown that the age of onset of diabetes has shifted from working age group to adolescents. Therefore more women that belong to reproductive age group are having diabetes and their pregnancies are being complicated by diabetes (International Diabetes Federation, 2011b). Therefore lifestyle interventions shou ld have been applied to this population. Healthy diets and awareness about smoking could be promoted at schools and through educational programs. Alongside anti-smoking programs, awareness regarding illicit drug use and alcohol could be built up as well. Adolescents could be well informed about the consequences of consuming alcohol. To combat drug use, children and adolescents could be informed about the physical, psychological and social effects of using drugs. Both adolescents and adults could be taught ways to build confidence and self esteem, which can empower them to say no to drugs (WHO, 1999). At every stage of life, there could be strong emphasis on physical activity. Lack of it, along with other factors, can predispose an individual to T2DM. It has also been shown to reduce gestational diabetes (Dornhorst et al., 1998). The program could encourage physical exercise in children by accommodating it in the school curricula and family activities. Also supportive environments could be helped to be built for all ages to engage in physical activity. Some life course factors such as socio-economic cannot be changed. Behavioral risk factors can be changed. This program should have aimed at all the stages of life course model to be able to cover wider population and reach greater success in preventing diabetes.

Friday, October 25, 2019

How Is Waste Management Affected By Socioeconomic Factors? Essay

How Is Waste Management Affected By Socioeconomic Factors? Summary. One of the most pressing environmental issues facing the world today is the issue of waste management and disposal. This problem crosses all international borders and touches the lives of all of the world’s peoples. Waste management encompasses everything from collection and handling to disposal by incineration, landfill and other methods, and recycling. Also included are the serious associated implications for the health of people and the environment. As waste producing activities proceed and intensify, the world community will be faced with hard choices on how to best manage and dispose of wastes. These decisions should be based on hard science and sound management practices. However, there are geopolitical dimensions to be found in the decision-making process of waste management and disposal. The purpose of this study has been to determine how geopolitical factors affect waste management on global and local scales. Specifically, this investigation has been guided b y looking at how social and economic factors affect global and national waste management practices. By looking at the various aspects of waste management, this investigation has determined that decision-making is greatly affected by socioeconomic factors. Waste disposal practices are shown to be directly associated with the extent to which a nation or region is industrialized, or developed. This study presents evidence, both statistical and anecdotal, that waste disposal, incineration, landfill site selection, and many of the other areas of waste management are indeed associated with ethnic, racial, regional and national considerations. This study concludes that internatio... ...t. Lee, G., A. Jones-Lee (1998). â€Å"Addressing Justifiable NIMBY: A Prescription For MSW Management.† Landfills and Water Quality Management. W2. â€Å"Japan Blamed For Coercing Thai Incinerator Purchases.† http://ens.lycos.com/ens.html. W3. â€Å"Medical Waste Incineration Banned In Argentinean Capital.† http://greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details W4. â€Å"Highest Dutch Court Calls Ship ‘Toxic Waste,’† (2002). http://greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details W5. â€Å"Greenpeace Intercepts European Ship Attempting to Illegally Dump Toxic Waste In Turkey,† (2002). http://greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details Mitchell, D. (1998). â€Å"Lives of the Saints: The Loneliest Shipper.† New York Magazine. Suro, R. (1998). â€Å"Pollution-Weary Minorities Try Civil Rights Tack.† The New York Times. Brown, P. (2000). â€Å"What A Waste!† The Guardian.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Aboriginal Quality of Life in Canada Essay

The state of health and health care for Canadian Aboriginal people is currently not improving, â€Å"Canadian Aboriginals tend to bear a disproportionate burden of illness; an outcome linked to their economic and social conditions [and] oppression† (Newbold 1998). European contact would forever change the course of life for the Aboriginals and their communities in Canada. It was only after the encounter between the old world and new world that two completely separate ecosystems had interaction between each other. Both worlds changed in radical ways through people, plants, animals, varmints and pathogens, this is known today as the â€Å"Columbian Exchange†. The New pathogens introduced to the Indigenous people who had no immunity, caused major depopulation up to 80 – 90% during the 1500’s. See more: Recruitment and selection process essay This completely changed the Indigenous people and posed as a massive threat to extinction of their population and culture. Contact between the Canadian Aboriginals and European voyagers brought in a mass amount of deadly and infectious diseases. Some of the diseases included smallpox, typhoid, the bubonic plague, influenza, mumps, measles, whooping cough, and later on cholera, malaria, and scarlet fever. Smallpox was a virgin soil epidemic, meaning that it was the first outbreak ever to the population that has had no previous experience with it. The Aborigines of the new world had no immunity to smallpox and the entire population was in danger of extinction. At around that time smallpox had a very high mortality rate which broke down the Aboriginal communities social mechanisms. This brought forth the break down of social the devices which were built within the Aboriginal culture, because the people were unable to hunt and gather food for the elders. This caused great knowledge loss as the elders in the Aboriginal community would perish from the disease. The greatest example of this is when Spanish explorer Cortez defeated the Moctezuma at Tenochtitlan. Cortez, had only 500 soldiers going up against the Aztec population of 200,000. When the battle began Cortez surely should have been defeated but it was not the strength of his army but the diseases they had brought with them that defeated the Moctezuma. Smallpox and the other various diseases brought over from the old world to the new world contributed to millions of deaths, severely diminishing communities, and it some cases erasing populations and communities completely. The disease was not controlled until the 1870’s when vaccination campaigns were introduced and implemented. After the epidemic of contagious diseases had slowed the Canadian Aboriginals were in the midst of assimilation, residential schools were established in the mid 1850’s to the 1990’s. Residential school were implemented by the Canadian government to assimilate Aboriginal people into the dominant society. The Aboriginal children removed from their communities and placed in the Residential schools. â€Å"Children as young as three to age eighteen were removed from their homes, mostly forcibly, and placed in boarding schools, where they stayed isolated from their family, community, culture, and the rest of Canadian society† (Barton, Sylvia S., Thommasen, Harvey V.,Tallio, Bill ,Zhang, William, Michalos, Alex C. 2001 pg. 295). Residential schools assimilated Aboriginal populations, however in doing so drastically reduced the health of the children being forced to attend these schools. Children were beaten, raped and starved while attending these schools leaving them p hysically and mentally scarred for life. â€Å"Children who attended these schools, in particular, suffered from the loss of culture, identity, and language as residential school life altered the traditional ways of Aboriginal peoples and broke up traditional ways of Aboriginal family life. In addition to physical, sexual, mental, emotional, and spiritual abuse, many children who attended residential schools were exposed to unhealthy environmental conditions, as well as malnutrition. Low self-esteem and self-concept problems emerged as children were taught that their own culture was inferior and uncivilized, and it is believed that as a result, many residential school survivors suffer from low self-respect, and long-term emo- tional and psychological effects† (Barton, Sylvia S., Thommasen, Harvey V.,Tallio, Bill ,Zhang, William, Michalos, Alex C. 2001 pg. 296). The main aspect of the Residential schools was to make the children abandon their heritage and traditions taught to them by their Aboriginal communities. This is the most significant reason why today’s Aboriginal youth is confused about their culture and heritage. If the children were not separated from these traditions the Aboriginal youth may not have been so vulnerable to substance abuse and other from of health constraints. Canada in its present day does not have diseases like smallpox to destroy. Aboriginal populations, also Residential school have been eliminated and no longer assimilate the Aboriginal youth. Still, the deteriorating health conditions for the Aboriginal community are dangerously high. This is mainly because of poor quality of living conditions, very limited access to doctors or healthcare centers, and the major diseases that affect the modern world today. The Aboriginals that live in highly populated urban areas still have poor quality living standards. Nearly two thirds of the Aboriginal population lives in the western part of Canada, the majority being in 4 or 5 cities. The issues that are considered social detriments to Aboriginals in these regions are education, health care, employment, Aboriginal status, social exclusion, unemployment rates and job security. Society’s negative attitude towards Aboriginal people has been a significant link between their living conditions and the overall quality of life. As stated by Hanselmann â€Å"In spite of the size of the urban Aboriginal population†¦[the] discussion about treaties, self-government, finance, housing, and other issues focus exclusively on First Nation communities and rural areas†. This is a problem because the majority of the Aboriginal population is left out of the equation, â€Å"it ignores the urban realities†¦ [and] an acute public policy [should] therefore exist for broadening of perspectives to include not just on-reserve Aboriginal communities but also urban communities† (Hanselmann 2001 pg. 1). The Canadian Aboriginal populations living in urban areas have been exposed to worse living conditions, also â€Å"aboriginal families are over twice as likely to be lone parent families, and more likely to experience domestic violence† (Hanselmann 2001 pg. 4). Lone parents tend to have lower living conditions, therefore lowering the quality of health for Aboriginals. Emotional stress and poverty are common factors among single parent families; these cause children to have lower social capital because they are unable to be active to develop social skills. Consequently, children with a single parent will likely be subject to psychiatric disorders, social problems, and academic difficulties, which all can lead to further health problems and issues. Another major aspect regarding health and the quality of life of Canadian Aboriginal communities is education. In a study done by Michael Mendelson he states â€Å"The category â€Å"less than high school†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the Aboriginal population fared much worse than the total population, with at least 54 percent failing to complete high school compared to 35 percent in the population as a whole† (Mendelson 2006 pg. 10). Urban populations of Aboriginals have more individual without the education of grade 12 then the rest of the country. Education is important to the quality of life for Aboriginal communities because â€Å"Aboriginal males and females contingent on whether or not they earn a high school diploma, attend technical school or go to university†¦results show that an Aboriginal male who drops out gives up over $0.5 million†¦[and a] female can earn over $1 million by obtaining a high school diploma† (Mendelson 2006 pg. 8-9). This can better the quality of living for Aboriginals through better health care and living conditions . Living conditions as stated before can severely decrease the health and quality of life of Aboriginal communities, but it is not the only factor. Aboriginal people have a high susceptibility to chronic diseases and HIV/AIDS causing a higher mortality rate, higher suicide rate, and the reason for high alcohol and drug abuse. The Aboriginal people of Canada â€Å"bear a disproportionately larger burden of disease and die a decade earlier than the average population†. This is a shocking reality but not more then knowing the mortality rate for children of Aboriginal decent, â€Å"the infant mortality rate for Aboriginals is double the national average†¦they experience high rates of infections, diabetes, substance abuse, renal disease, mental illness, and suicide† (Sin, D., Wells, H., Svenson, L., & Man, P. 2002) . The two leading diseases that are currently affecting the Aboriginal population are cardiovascular disease/tuberculosis and diabetes. Cardiovascular diseases like tuberculosis among Aboriginal people are â€Å"more at risk than other Canadians of getting [a tuberculosis] infection. Some of the root causes are related to poor socio-economic conditions where they live† (Health Canada 2010). This is because Aboriginal people have significantly higher rates of smoking, glucose intolerance and obesity. Type 2 diabetes is a major problem among the Aboriginal youth and is increasing at a rapid rate. Health Canada says, â€Å"First Nations on reserve(s) have a rate of diabetes three to five times higher than that of other Canadians. Rates of diabetes among the Inuit are expected to rise significantly in the future given that risk factors such as obesity, physical inactivity, and unhealthy eating patterns are high† (Health Canada 2011). A reason for the high levels of diabetes in Aboriginal communities is because there is low participation in physical activities and traditional food is not consumed as much. Cardiovascular/Tuberculosis disease and diabetes considerably decrease the health and quality of life of the Aboriginal population. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are a very dangerous and major health concern for the Aboriginal population. HIV if left untreated will cause AIDS. HIV attacks the immune system, as the illness progresses it results in chronic and deadly infections. Health Canada states â€Å"HIV severely weakens the immune system, leaving people vulnerable to many different types of infections and diseases. HIV is transmitted through: unprotected sexual intercourse, needle-sharing and pregnancy/delivery through birth† (Health Canada 2010). Due to the lower level living conditions, low grade incomes, and under developed education are more probable to be exposed to HIV/AIDS. Aboriginal women in Canada are at higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDS â€Å"Aboriginal women constituted 49.6 percent of newly diagnosed HIV cases among Aboriginal people while Non-Aboriginal women comprise 20 percent of newly diagnosed† (Ship, Norton 2001 pg. 25). Injection of drugs is the major contributor to contracting HIV/AIDS for Aboriginal women, which stages the affects of drug use and disease and how it negatively affects the Aboriginal populations health. Substance abuse, such as drugs and alcohol, has been documented as having harmful affects to the human body. Aboriginal communities have been exposed to the addiction of these substances and have cause significant deterioration of the individual’s health and social attributes, ruining relationships within their families and community. As more and more Canadian Aboriginals become addicted to the substances the more the degradation of the community and weakening of the quality of life within the community. Aboriginals are more exposed to substance abuse then others. This puts them at risk of being introduced at a young age and taught it is a social norm. â€Å"My father was a chronic alcoholic. His parents had seven children and five died of alcoholism, including my father. My mom drank also and I started drinking at age eight. I was in and out of group homes and foster care and by the age of fifteen I was ordered to attend AA. I started on IV drugs at sixteen† (Chansonneuve, Deborah 2007). With the combination of alcohol, drugs, and smoking the Aboriginal population is seemly wasting away. The leading issue occurring today is the age at which Aboriginal youth are beginning to abuse substances. The use of these substances only enhances chance that youth will not complete their high school diploma, will be at greater risk for criminal offences, and will only get lower grade incomes. Aboriginals being highly vulnerable to disease as mention before (Tuberculosis/CVD, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS) add with the substance abuse, the Aboriginal population have greater health care needs then that of the Non-Aboriginal population. Bruce Newbold explains the greater need to access physicians for healthcare and needs for greater funding. â€Å"Analysis reveals that geographic location, as compared with Aboriginal identity, appears to have a large impact with respect to health status and use of physician services. On-reserve Aboriginals, for example, reported a lower likelihood of having seen a physician and were more likely to rank their health as fair or poor. Location also influenced perceived community health problems and solutions. Self-identified problems included drugs, cancer and arthritis, while corresponding solutions included education, counseling and service access. Although the problems and solutions were relatively consistent across space, they too varied in their importance. In general, the results tend to reinforce the determinants of health framework, suggesting that the provision of health services is insufficient to remove health disparities on its own. Instead, broader social-welfare provisions must be considered.† (Newbold 1998 pg. 59) It seems that Aboriginals who consider themselves of good health are considered to be actually of low health by the rest of society. From a Geographically view, Canadian Aboriginals on reserves do not have the same access to physicians as urban communities do. This causes Aboriginals on reserves to travel, which reduces the chance of them using a physician. The quality of proper health care is out of reach for most Aboriginal communities, mostly because of geographical isolation, cultural barriers and jurisdiction disputes by the federal and provincial government. Improving health conditions and the quality of life for Aboriginal people of Canadian current issue that solutions are being reviewed and implemented annually. The task is not easy because of the substance abuse and low education levels of the Aboriginal youth. Government politics play a huge role in the funding and improving the health care system for the Aboriginal communities, but over time the aboriginal people will have to look to themselves to improve their quality of life. Both Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal people need to be more educated of the health risks concerning the Canadian Aboriginal population. The health of Aboriginals has not been treated in the proper manner Bruce Newbold explains â€Å"past attempts to improve aboriginal health status have tended to focus upon a narrow definition of health as the absence of disease or illness†¦this focus neglects a much broader range of determinants, including poverty, living conditions and education†. The government needs to put into prospective that â€Å"Improvements in health will likely depend on the improvements in the socioeconomic conditions faced by Aboriginals†¦by the direct participation of Aboriginals in the health reform process† (Newbold 1998 pg. 70). Therefore, to improve health condition in Canada for the Aboriginal population the people and the government cannot be narrow minded, every aspect that being social, financial or physical must be addressed. The major improvement of the Aboriginal financial economy and social conditions is needed to repair the deteriorating health and quality of life of the Aboriginal population. Aboriginal Health in Canada has drastically deteriorated since the first contact with European decedents. The early contagious diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis have threated to destroy Aboriginal populations and now have become chronic diseases like CVD, diabetes and HIV/AIDS for existing Aboriginal communities. Substance abuse among youth and seniors mixed with low level education and poor living conditions are advancing the decline for the quality of life in Aboriginal communities in Canada. The Government and Aboriginal communities must work together and not have a narrow mind when solving these issues and implementing them in society. Improving the socioeconomic conditions in the regions of Aboriginal communities along with health care issues is the start to improve the quality of life for Aboriginals in Canada.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Writing and Comprehensive Form

Description of Reading and Writing Measures Standardized Test Description KTEA II Reading comprehension and Written Expression The Reading comprehension and written expression subtests were given and scored. The Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition is an individually administered measure of academic achievement for ages 4 and a half through 25. The test is available in two versions: the Brief form which assesses the achievement of reading , mathematics, written expression; and the Comprehensive Form which covers a wide range of achievement domains and an analysis of students’ errors.The Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Comprehensive Form, Second Edition represents a revision of the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement Comprehensive Form. The KTEA –II Comprehensive Form has an expanded age range and has retained the five subtests from the original KTEA and has modified to allow for testing of children and adults from preschool-age through co llege-age. Nine new subtests have been added to allow for assessment of a broad range of achievement domains and skills. KTEA-II Comprehensive Form age norms are provided for ages 4 and a half through 25, and grade norms are provided for Kindergarten through Grade 12.KTEA III Comprehensive Form is curriculum-based it provides norm-referenced and error analysis systems, criterion-referenced assessment in reading, mathematics, written language, and oral language. The KTEA-II Comprehensive Form has two independent , parallel forms (A and B) and the KTEA-II Brief Form norms at ages 4 and a half through 90. These three non-overlapping batteries make the KTEA II useful for measuring student progress. The KTEA II Comprehensive Form make it an important tool for assessing academic achievement.The KTEA II measures achievement in reading, mathematics, written language, and oral language and allows the examiner to administer a single subtest or a combination of subtests to assess achievement i n one or more domains. All seven specific learning disability areas identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendment of 1997 (IDEA,1997)are measured: basic reading skills, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, mathematics, reasoning, oral expression, listening comprehension, and written expression.The KTEA Comprehensive Form like the KTEA was developed from a clinical model of assessment. Curriculum experts defined specific sub skills measured by each subtest and the different types of errors students are likely to make on each subtest. Standardization data guided the final error analysis System. KTEA-II Comprehensive Form content has undergone bias reviews to ensure that students of either sex and ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds can be assessed. The KTEA II Comprehensive Form was normed using two separate representative, nationwide standardizations, one in the fall and one in the spring.The procedure accurately measures students’ perform ance both at the beginning and end of he year. The KTEA-II Comprehensive Form is conformed with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition. The KTEA II Comprehensive Form is a reliable, valid measure of academic achievement. The KTEA II allows the examiner to observe the student’s test taking behavior, motivation, and visual-motor coordination. The two parallel forms make it an ideal instrument for longitudinal studies. KTEA II Written Expression subtestDescription of writing task Students are administered an item set based on their grade. (3rd Grade) Following assessment directions from the KTEA II manual and easel, I provided the Level 3 booklet and a pencil to my student. The written expression booklet is titled Kyra’s Dragon. I explain to my student following the provided directions from the easel that this story is about a girl named Kyra and the dragon she has to find. As we go through the story, you’ll write some of the words and sentence s. This is similar to the â€Å"cloze† technique that was used in the informal assessment, The McLeod Assessment of Reading Comprehensions. ) I tell my student to write the best words and sentences he can and not to worry if he doesn’t know how to spell a word – spelling won’t count. The first item we starts with is #31 I say â€Å" Let’s start by writing your full name here† and I point to the to of the booklet. The next item #32, my student writes the sentence â€Å"The dragon carries people away. † That I dictate. Tets: Writing SkillsOn item #3 my student has to write one word to complete the sentence â€Å" The king says to Kyra, â€Å"Finding the dragon_____________ save us all. † For item #34, my student has to write one good sentence to complete a part of the story, â€Å" Kyra’s Dragon. This fill in the blank interactive story goes on with similar tasks inserting words, sentences, combining sentences, proper word usage of specific words and punctuation into the story booklet until my student gets item # 49. Item #49 is where my student must complete a timed retell of the entire story, pretending my student is the king’s scribe.My student must retell the story of Kyra’s dragon so that his grandchildren will know how people came to live in their new town. He is given 10 minutes to complete his retell. My task as administrator of this test is to follow the script on the easel, read the prompts, and point to the correct place for the student to write his answers. This took about 25 minutes to administer. I am allowed to repeat story segments and item instructions if necessary. I may also tell a student how to spell a word if they ask, since spelling is not scored in this subtest, but only if examinee asks for assistance.