Homelessness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Homelessness - Essay Example There are a number of factors that have contributed towards homelessness in the nation. The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), in this regard, identifies two dominant trends that have been responsible for the rise of homelessness: â€Å"a growing shortage of affordable rental housing and a simultaneous increase in poverty† (National Coalition for the Homeless, Why Are People Homeless?). Poverty and homelessness are interrelated as poor people very often are forced to sacrifice their desire for housing in order to meet other basic needs food, clothing and healthcare. Unemployment, unstable employment, low-wages, lack of affordable housing for the poor, excessive waiting lists for public housing, and decline in public assistance are other significant predictors for homelessness (NCH, Why Are People Homeless?). It is worthwhile to review the definition of homelessness and to identify the dominant demographic characteristics of homelessness in the nation. Homeless people are defined as â€Å"individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence;† this definition takes into account people who share the housing of others; people who live in motels or camping grounds; people who are in emergency or transitional shelters; abandoned children who await foster care placement; and migratory children (NCH, Who is Homeless?). Reviewing the demographic characteristics 39% of the homeless population comprised of children below the age of 18 whereas 25% of the homeless were individuals in the age category of 25 to 34 (NCH, Who is Homeless?). Similarly, males were more likely to be homeless than females. However, homeless families with children have considerably increased in the past decade. Regarding the ethnicity of homelessness, African-Americans form the majority of the homel ess population (49%) followed by Caucasian (35%), Hispanic (23%), Native American (2%), and 1% of Asians (NCH, Who is Homeless?). It has also been observed by NCH that

Implementation of Patient Centered Concepts In a VA Medical Center to Research Paper

Implementation of Patient Centered Concepts In a VA Medical Center to Improve Quality Outcomes - Research Paper Example Problem Background The U. S. has the most advanced healthcare delivery of most countries in the world. Per capita expenditure totaling to thousands of dollars annually, and more of her GDP is ranked relatively higher on healthcare than most countries in the world, at 18.5 percent of GDP in 2007. It has the most sophisticated teaching hospitals and medical research centers in the world yet it is not ranked in first position worldwide. Additional factors significantly impacting how healthcare expenditure is allocated include a few diseases that comprise the bulk of healthcare expenditures. Significant variations in spending can also be mapped by regional, race and socio-economic status. Even diet has a major impact since the US also happen to be the most obese nation on the planet and in essence, just throwing money at the problem will not fix it. Similarly, Information Technology has been applied in very sophisticated ways to deliver better care, but not in a way that makes the cost a nd decisions (as to when and how to deliver it) more efficient and transparent. This paper highlights one case study that demonstrate how health concepts can improve health quality (such as in a VA medical center), and how it can serve as a key component of effective healthcare delivery by creating the necessary data framework for practicing evidence-based medicine (EBM). EBM is gaining traction among providers for two major reasons: firstly, its promise as a tool to help contain continually rising healthcare costs and, secondly its potential to dramatically improve healthcare quality. Implementation of Patient centered Concepts According to Conway et al (2006), the healthcare industry in the United States is... The paper tells that the healthcare industry in the United States is operating at a level of quality and efficiency below the desired standards of patients’ healthcare professionals. The majority of concerns focus around access to care, quality of care, prevalence of incorrect medical diagnoses and rising costs. Furthermore, a solution for business problems can be attained by adopting return on investment (ROI) compared to value produced by addressing the problem and determining which solution is provided. Statistically, a considerable number of expensive health conditions accounted for almost half the total health care expenses, which was mostly chronic conditions and patients with multiple chronic conditions with up to seven times as much as patients with only one chronic condition. About a quarter of the total annual US expenditure on healthcare is spent on ineffective or redundant care. Healthcare premiums have arose by more than half within a decade for family premiums. T he U. S. spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other country. Similarly, organizational costs to acquire and implement electronic healthcare information systems are significantly; particularly to individual medical practitioners as most of the technology solutions currently available are not mature due to the lack of standards and other factors. Cumbersome workflows and ongoing training and maintenance costs are other barriers to acceptance. Misaligned cost burdens for individual practitioners are also an impediment to implementing electronic health information in the current environment.

Radiation Doses vs Patient’s Life Styles

Radiation Doses vs Patient’s Life Styles Radiation doses from 131I treated hyperthyroidism patients’ vs life style- A  survey A.S. Shah*, Hameedullah, F. Saeed, K.A.Shah, A. Khan, M. Rauf Khattak ABSTRACT The Radioactive Iodine is widely used for the treatment of various thyroid disorders. The patients  undergoing such treatments are advised to restrict their social and work related activities to limit  radiation exposures to others. The present work describes the results of a structured survey  conducted on patients visiting Institute of Radiotherapy and nuclear Medicine (IRNUM), Peshawar,  for the thyrotoxicosis treatment. The patients were asked about their housing conditions, family set  up, number of kids, travelling mode and time back home from the hospital. The radiation doses to the  other people with whom they might come in contact in their living environment were estimated. The  radiation doses to others at one meter from the patients were calculated as 0.76, 1.53, 2.29, 3.06, 3.82  and 4.58mSv. The results of the survey indicate that the radiation protection advice and other  regulatory requirements need to be reviewed keeping in view individual patientâ⠂¬â„¢s circumstances. INTRODUCTION The radioactive iodine (RAI) is widely used for the treatment of various thyroid disorders  since long. The differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is treated by admitting the patients in  hospital where as hyperthyroidism patients are treated on out patient basis in most of the  countries (1-4). The safety issues for the patients, their families, comforters, hospital staff and  the general public arise with either treatment approach. The radiation hazards are more in  case of hyperthyroidism treatment than the DTC treatment due to shorter effective half life  of the 131I in the later application. Therefore at the time of release of the patient from  medical confinement, the retained radioactivity in DTC patients is much lower causing low  risk of radiation exposure to other people. In case of thyrotoxicosis treatment the  administered radioactivity is much lower as compared to DTC treatment but radiation  doses to others are more due to high uptake of RAI by these pa tients (5-8). The patients  undergoing such treatments are advised to restrict their social and work related activities  to reduce radiation exposure to others when they return to their families in community (9-16). This radiation protection advice is usually based on residual activity or radiation exposure level and is not specific to an individual patient circumstances or socioeconomic  condition. These advices are usually formulated by the developed countries and are  adopted as such in most of the developing countries. In actual practice the compliance to the  protection advice depends on socioeconomic conditions and the life style of the patients. Therefore keeping in view this aspect of RAI treatments, an interview based structured  survey was conducted on patients visiting our hospital for the treatment of thyrotoxicosis. The patients were asked about their housing conditions, family/home set up, number of  kids, mode of travelling and travelling time to back home from the hospital. The radiation  doses to the other people with whom they might come in contact in their living  environment MATERIAL AND METHODS The patients were asked about their housing conditions, family set up, number of kids and  travelling periods back home. The total number of patients inducted in the present survey  was 419. The data collected was tabulated and reviewed for completeness. A calibrated  dose of 131I (185-1106MBq) was administered to the patients. The exposure rate from the  patient was measured at a distance of one meter from standing position with a hand-held  pressurized battery operated ÃŽ ² ÃŽ ³ survey meter, Victoreen Model 450P, calibrated from  secondary standard dosemetry laboratory, Islamabad. The dose rate was recorded in units  of ÃŽ ¼Svhr-1. The patients were instructed to sleep alone, drink fluids liberally and avoid prolonged close personal contact with others for the first 2 days. The patients and familymembers were told that they could resume normal activities thereafter (9-12). The estimated  radiation doses to the maximally exposed person were calculated using the form ula given in  equation 2 (14). RESULTS There were 385 (93%) patients residing in joint and 29 (07%) in separate family system  Table 1. It was found that 15.27 % of the patients were male and 84.73% females with age  wise distribution as shown in Table 2. The measured hospital leaving dose rate at one meter from the patients were 5.7, 11.0, 15.7,  18.7, 23.0 and 28.0ÃŽ ¼Svh-1 for administered RAI activity of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 29.9mCi  respectively. The corresponding radiation doses to others from exposure to the patient at  one meter using occupancy factor of 0.25 were calculated as 0.76, 1.53, 2029, 3.06, 3.82 and  4.58mSv Table 3. They survey showed that 4.77, 17.66, 22.91, 24.10, 12.66 and 17.90% patients had  accommodation consisting of one, two, three, four, five and more than five rooms  respectively Table 4. It was observed that 78.04% patients used public transport and 21.96% used private  transport for back home after RAI administration. The radiation doses to others during  travelling were estimated using occupancy factor of 0.1m and 1m distance plotted versus  travelling time of the patient from hospital to back home Figure 1 and Figure 2 respectively.   It was also observed that 1.67% of the patients had no sanitary arrangements at home and  they used open space in the fields as toilet. The patients residing in localities where there is  comparatively better sanitation arrangements had one (31.74%), two (36.04%), three  (17.42%) and more than three (13.13%) toilets available Table 5. In addition 11.93% of the patients had no kids where 10.74% lived in joint family system  and 1.19% as separate. The survey showed that 88.7% of the patients had kids and 82.33%  of these lived in joint family system where as 5.73% lived separate. The number of kids and  the family status showed that 17.18%, 31.50% and 33.65% patients had 1-3, 4-6 and more  than 6 kids respectively lived in joint family system while 2.86%, 1.91% and 0.95% patients  had 1-3, 4-6 and more than 6 kids respectively and they used to live in separate family  system Table 6. DISCUSSION The patients treated for thyrotoxicosis with RAI (131I) are advised certain restrictions on  behavior in order to ensure the radiation safety of all other individuals with whom they may  come into contact. Generally it is assumed that the patients are unlikely to create a hazard  to other persons. A dose limit of 5mSv and 1mSv had been recommended for these peoples  depending upon the nature and type of their interaction with the patient (17). The  compliance to the safety instructions depend upon patient’s literacy level, decision making  capacity, health education, grasping and understanding disclosure of treatment in general  and patient’s socioeconomic conditions and life styles in particular(18,19). The over all literacy level of the survey region is 37.26 % (20). Literacy level reflects the  ability of the patients to comprehend that they emit detectable levels of radiation for  specified period of time after their treatment which are hazardous for other peoples. It was  observed that 93% of the patients inducted in the survey used to reside in joint family  system and 07% lived in separate system Table 1. This aspect coupled with the low literacy  level puts emphasis on the patients receiving treatments to comply with the instructions  strictly to limit radiation exposure to others. The restriction on mode of travelling back to home is important factor in RAI treatment  especially when 78.96% of the patients used public transport to back home from hospital. It  is practically difficult to measure radiation doses to other passengers traveling in the same  vehicle. The measured hospital leaving dose rate at one meter from the patients suggest  that the time restrictions to travel by private transport (at 1m distance) are not required,  although they should not sit immediately adjacent to another passenger, accompanying  person or driver Table 3. Similarly restrictions would not be required for public transport (0.1m distance) for one  hour journey. It was observed that radiation doses to others at 1m and 0.1m with  administered 131I radioactivity of 185, 555 and 1106MBq increases linearly with the travelling time Figure 1 2. The patients needing greater travelling time back home should  use private transport after RAI administration. Therefore regulatory authorities need to  reassess the situation with respect to private or public mode of travelling while  recommending discharge limits for RAI treatments. The radiation doses from the exposure  to the patient to total decay (t=∞) at one meter using occupancy factor of 0.25 for RAI  administered were well within recommended dose limit of 5mSv for adult comforters Table  3. However for patients residing in single room accommodation, with kids and joint family  system, the dose limit of 1mSv is unlikely to be adhered. This aspect becomes more  important where a very large percentage of the patients (88.07%) had kids and 82.33% of  those used to live in joint family system as observed in the present survey Table 6. The  sanitary conditions of the patients at home are important to protect family members from  radioactive contamination and associated external radiation exposure. It was observed that  patients having better sanitation arrangements would not pose radiation related problems. However patients having no proper sanitation (1.67%) are source of concern for the  communities where they reside Table 5. The trends observed indicate that the patients with single room accommodation, having  kids and joint family system need strict compliance to radiation protection advice to restrict  radiation doses to the immediate family members. Therefore RAI treatments need to be  carried out keeping in view patient’s living conditions and life styles. CONCLUSION The radiation protection advice and regulatory requirements need to be formulated  keeping in view patient’s socioeconomic, life style and living conditions. It needs to be  reviewed depending upon individual patient’s circumstances. Table 1 Family Status (N=419) Status No of patients (%) Joint Family 390 (93) Separate Family 29(07) Table 2 Age and Sex Distribution of Patients Age No. of Patients (%) 17 to 28 36(8.59) 29 to 40 161 (38.42) 41 to 50 119 (28.4) 51 TO 60 67 (15.9) >60 33 (7.8) *15.27 % of patients are males ** 84.73 % of patients are females Table 3 131I administered Vs Average Radiation Doses S.No 131I activity (mCi) No. of patients (%) Average leaving dose rate at 1 meter (ÃŽ ¼Sv/hr) Average Dose* to others at 1 meter (mSv) 1 05 12 (2.88) 5.7 0.76 2 10 18 (4.3) 11 1.53 3 15 99 (23.62) 15.7 2.29 4 20 233 (55.6) 18.7 3.06 5 25 47 (11.21) 23 3.82 6 29.9 10 (2.3) 28 4.58 * Average doses to total decay (t=∞) to other individual exposed to the patient at one meter using  occupancy factor of 0.25. Table 4 Status of Patients in Relation to No. of Rooms in Joint/ Separate System No. of rooms in home No. of Patients (%) Patients living in Joint Family System Patients living in Separately 1 20(4.77) 18 2 2 74(17.66) 69 7 3 96(22.91) 90 7 4 101(24.10) 96 4 5 53(12.66) 46 4 More than 5 75(17.90) 71 5 Table 5 Sanitary Status of Patients No. of Toilets in home of Patients No. of Patients (%) Open without flush 07(1.67) With one flush 133(31.74) With two flush 151(36.04) With three flush 73(17.42) More than three flush 55(13.13) Table 6 Kids Status Vs Family System Figure 1 Radiation Doses (mSv) at 0.1m Vs Travelling Time (Hrs) Kids Status Joint Families (%) Separate Families (%) Without Kids 50(11.93) 45(10.74) 05(1.19) With Kids 369(88.07) 345(82.33) 24(5.73) Up to 3 Kids 4 to 6 Kids 7 and above 72(17.18) 132(31.50) 141(33.65) 12(2.86) 08(1.91) 04(0.95) Figure 2 Radiation Doses (mSv) at 1m Vs Travelling Time (Hrs)

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Its Time to Stop Laughing Essay -- Postma

Amusing Ourselves to Death: It's Time to Stop Laughing      Ã‚  Ã‚   The form of communication created by the television is not only a part of how our modern society communicates, but is has changed public discourse to the point that it has completely redefined it, argued Neil Postman in his convincing book Amusing Ourselves to Death. He viewed this as very harmful, and additionally so because our society is ignorant of it as they quickly becomes engulfed in its epistemology. When faced with the question about whether the television shapes or reflects culture, Postman pointed out that it is no longer applicable because "television has gradually become our culture" (79). What kind of culture is this? Postman warned that it is one in which we are instructed and informed through the form of entertainment, and that through such a medium, we are becoming dulled, ignorant of real issues, and amused right into a very possible culture death. Today, sixteen years after the book's publication, he would probably have a similar message (though possib ly more passionate) to say about our present culture, especially in the areas of education and the nightly news, which have grown progressively worse.    Taking two authors, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, he compared their views about the future of information. Orwell's view was that we would be overcome by a controlling force and books would be banned, leaving us without proper information or instruction. Huxley, on the other hand, suggested that the squelching of information would not be the problem. Instead, it would be the voluminous mass flooding our culture that would make us ignorant. We would have so much to choose from, both useful and worthless, that we would become indifferent t... ...information invades the living room, they wonder why they are being tricked and mislead. Or worse, they do not even realize it. We are not a culture known for its thinking. Perhaps we are best known for our entertainment. Only when we divide these two realms will we become more accurate informed. Neil Postman, comparing Orwell and Huxley's theories, said, "[Our threat of being deprived of proper information] does not watch us, by his choice. We watch him, by ours" (155). His point was that by our own choosing, we are being misinformed. In our "information age" we have intelligent books, newspapers, magazines, and other information sources that have not been greatly affected by the television culture. We just need to stop laughing and seek to be properly informed.    Works Cited: Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. New York: Penguin Books, 1985. Amusing Ourselves to Death: It's Time to Stop Laughing Essay -- Postma Amusing Ourselves to Death: It's Time to Stop Laughing      Ã‚  Ã‚   The form of communication created by the television is not only a part of how our modern society communicates, but is has changed public discourse to the point that it has completely redefined it, argued Neil Postman in his convincing book Amusing Ourselves to Death. He viewed this as very harmful, and additionally so because our society is ignorant of it as they quickly becomes engulfed in its epistemology. When faced with the question about whether the television shapes or reflects culture, Postman pointed out that it is no longer applicable because "television has gradually become our culture" (79). What kind of culture is this? Postman warned that it is one in which we are instructed and informed through the form of entertainment, and that through such a medium, we are becoming dulled, ignorant of real issues, and amused right into a very possible culture death. Today, sixteen years after the book's publication, he would probably have a similar message (though possib ly more passionate) to say about our present culture, especially in the areas of education and the nightly news, which have grown progressively worse.    Taking two authors, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, he compared their views about the future of information. Orwell's view was that we would be overcome by a controlling force and books would be banned, leaving us without proper information or instruction. Huxley, on the other hand, suggested that the squelching of information would not be the problem. Instead, it would be the voluminous mass flooding our culture that would make us ignorant. We would have so much to choose from, both useful and worthless, that we would become indifferent t... ...information invades the living room, they wonder why they are being tricked and mislead. Or worse, they do not even realize it. We are not a culture known for its thinking. Perhaps we are best known for our entertainment. Only when we divide these two realms will we become more accurate informed. Neil Postman, comparing Orwell and Huxley's theories, said, "[Our threat of being deprived of proper information] does not watch us, by his choice. We watch him, by ours" (155). His point was that by our own choosing, we are being misinformed. In our "information age" we have intelligent books, newspapers, magazines, and other information sources that have not been greatly affected by the television culture. We just need to stop laughing and seek to be properly informed.    Works Cited: Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. New York: Penguin Books, 1985.

Classroom Analysis Essay

1.Why is a classroom a miniature of a greater society? A classroom is a miniature of a greater society because it is where all basic and formal learning begins; where all the proper and acquisition of knowledge takes place. It is a part of the society that engages in promoting and preparing learners for more and broader task, role and obligation.The teacher or professor plays the role of the leader/monarch, while the students are the citizens. The citizens are supposed to follow the rules and laws of the society (class) that the leaders (teachers) set. In every classroom, there are different kinds of people: Those who work hard, those who play hard, those who do both, those who do neither. In society, you also get these kinds of people. There will also probably be little cliques, in this case, representative of small groups in society. Then there are the high class, those who fly past everything without hitches, the middle class who get by, and the lower class who are really struggling to keep up with the coursework. The teacher may offe r remedial sessions, which can be compared to any welfare packages that the government decides to hand out. 2.What are found in the classrooms that are similar to what can be observed in society? It can found there the leader that serves as the teacher and the people serves as the students. All they do are similar with what can we see in the society. The teacher led the students to know about a certain thing that builds them to become a better individual; the same within a society a president, mayor, or a Brgy. Chairman leads its people to build a harmonious relationship among others. The Discussion and interaction among the learners and the teachers in promoting knowledge; unity, cooperation and creativeness in accomplishing given task and responsibilities; having a harmonious relationship on each and every member of the class and the facilities and equipment for learning and development.

Field Observation of Middle School

Field observations of Middle School The favoritism, all once we have heard about the favoritism, but what exactly is? favoritism is defined as the inclination to favor more to some people than to others without assessing their merit or what is right. This is one of the most controversial topics in the institutes, elementary schools, universities, jobs even in the same family.There are several reasons why the favoritism is given, one is for the money, almost always see them as people with a good economic status can do what they want, from government up to schools, another reason may be the physical, that almost always occurs in women, among other things. In any of these cases can be harmful both to which is favored for which it is not, since helping one person, we do that does not strive for what they want and create for all are perfect, otherwise, low self esteem and it is to convince the person that it is useless.In the case of the school, I think we have all noticed or suspected th at there is some kind of favoritism of some teachers towards students, Millers teacher aren’t the exception in this case; never criticizing them, say that everything they do is good, or simply do nothing and still passed with very good rating.In these cases the damage affects the student who is favored since their performance is not brought to a limit or a high level of effort to gather the requirements of pass in already is a matter or more. Leading the favored student to create an atmosphere of comfort to her around and so accustomed to not avail themselves of their merits to get something in daily life. On the contrary, the student who is not favored, as I mentioned before, tends to have low self-esteem and even strives to be better.In my fifth time tutoring at Miller, I notice a little unusual, that many teachers probably doesn’t pay attention or they do it without realizing they are doing it, which was having one of the girls as her favorite student, she was pay m ore attention to this student, she was trying to talk to her more softly, and this student was as we can call it the right hand of the teacher. I am not opposed students being more helpful, but the problem is when students are being more control and yelled at any situation.The favoritism is evident in this situation. Today there was another incident at school, when we arrived at Miller, there was a teacher with male student, the teacher was furious and was demanding to call the police, and we were there for part of this whole situation waiting our turn to sing in. The teacher was screaming and angry at this student because the teacher forgot her bag in the classroom.When she returned to her classroom, she said there was missing her credit card, driver license, and social secure number card, I know some of these documents are very important for any individual, but when the teacher returned to class there was only a single students in classroom, and because he is male and most likely easy to get in trouble was blame for this indecent. I am not saying that this student was innocent, why blame only the last male student that was in class? Why not the whole classroom?Is it because maybe the teacher thinks that a girl student was incapable of stealing those important documents from her teacher; or is it easier to presume that it was a male student who stole those documents from her. I left the office before the whole indecent was fixed, I am not even shore if the teacher brought all of those documents she was saying was stolen from her gab, because when an instructor has to teach more than 30 students a day plus they have to do parenting at home as well, the responsibility becomes greater because of these a person do make mistakes as well, like forgetting those documents at home.