Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Early intervention strategies'

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2009.
Advisor: Juliann Woods, Florida State University, College of Communication, Dept. of Communication Disorders. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed on Nov. 10, 2009). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 46 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Young children with disabilities have better outcomes when their families are actively involved in supporting their child’s learning. This session will help Early Interventionists, private therapy providers, and other professionals working with young children with disabilities think about their interactions with the child's family and how those interactions strengthen a family’s ability to support their child’s learning. In this 90 minute session participants will: Learn about strategies to increase parent participation in their child’s Early Intervention home visits and/or therapy sessions Explore possible strategies that can be used to engage a deployed parent in home visits and/or therapy sessions Observe through video, professionals working with a parent to enhance the parent’s use of effective intervention strategies Explore the use of tools and strategies that promote reflection on practices being used to engage families

The problem of this study was first year student retention at a private university. The purpose of the study was to identify high risk students (dropout prone) by use of the Stratil Counseling Inventory -_ College Form (SCI-C) in order to initiate early intervention counseling and advising. Intrusive counseling was started within the first six weeks of the 1984 fall semester to facilitate the students' transition to college. The population of the study was first-time full-time freshmen students in attendance at Freshmen Orientation the week prior to the beginning of the 1984 academic year. SCI-C instrument consisted of six scales designed to elicit attrition-related information about the firsttime, freshmen students. The scales identified students who were in need of assistance, and they provided a profile of their problem areas. This information, available within ten days after the beginning of classes enabled Student Development personnel to select the students out of the freshman class who needed help and to refer them to university resources for assistance. The conclusions drawn from the analysis of the SCI-C data were: (1) students who needed assistance to integrate into the academic and social envrionment of the university were identified by the SCI-C; (2) students at Hardin-Simmons University value adult/student relationship outside of the classroom; (3) attitudes of caring service creates a "staying environment;1* (4) although the SCI-C indicates students' interests in support services, not all students who request assistance, avail themselves of the opportunities provided for them; (5) a relationship seems to exist between the intervention strategies provided particular freshmen and their succesful performance in the classroom (CPA of 1.60 or greater) and their persistence at the university for their second year; (6) the SCI-C provides attrition-related counseling information about students rather than predicting college academic success; and (7) the SCI-C i s a valid instrument to use to facilitate student retention at Hardin-Simmons University,

With accountability on the rise, educators are changing their focus to optimizing instructional strategies in the classroom. Their job performance depends upon their ability to show progress on child outcomes. One way teachers advance this process is by executing more evidence-based practices in their classroom. There is a lack of research in early childhood that report treatment integrity of the treatment package. This study utilized a multicomponent coaching intervention to increasing treatment fidelity of teacher implementation of naturalistic teaching strategies in an early childhood classroom. This coaching intervention could prove to be more efficient and practical for educators. This study added to the external validity and generalization of the findings in an early childhood classroom by using one-two year old children with social communication delays. This study found a functional relationship between training early childhood teachers through a multicomponent coaching intervention and the increase in treatment fidelity of implementing naturalistic teaching strategies with children with communication delays. The percentage of child responses per opportunity increased once the teachers implemented the strategies.

Early childhood caries (ECC) is the most common chronic disease condition in childhood and involves the presence of one or more decayed (noncavitated or cavitated lesions), missing (due to caries), or filled teeth in children under 72 months of age (American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, 2010a). ECC is a multifactorial disease that is preventable and requires intervention by the nurse. When teeth are discolored and damaged by dental caries, children may be reluctant to smile, have difficulty talking, miss school, or be unable to focus on studies due to dental pain. This "state of the science" article reviews the literature to determine the risk factors for ECC, assess the prevention strategies, and apply that information to enhance nursing practice. Computerized searches from MEDLINE, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library were used.

The prevalence of conduct problems in children impacts upon families, educational settings, and broader society within Australia. Conduct problems develop early in an individual's life and can lead to more serious problems including substance abuse and delinquency in adolescence and adulthood. Given the high incidence of conduct problems in children, the need for prevention and early intervention strategies to target the onset and development of this phenomenon is paramount. This thesis focuses on early intervention strategies for reducing the incidence of conduct problems in children and explores a multi-modal early intervention and prevention program targeting children and families at-risk of the development of conduct problems. A randomised controlled trial involving 455 children was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of this program. Participants were drawn from ten Education Queensland primary schools in the Mount Gravatt district of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The 455 children were randomly assigned to either experimental or control conditions for the purposes of the program's evaluation. From this initial cohort, an indicated sample of 1 52 participants was identified through a universal screening process. This sample included children who were considered more at-risk of conduct problems. Participants designated to experimental conditions engaged in the school component of the program, with 66 of the experimental group receiving an additional indicated component facilitated in the school setting. Further, a selection of parents of children in the experimental group participated in the home component of the intervention. The retention rate for families engaged in the study was high with 96% of participants remaining engaged in the study throughout the evaluation process. The findings that emerged from the study revealed significant differences between participants who engaged in the intervention program compared with those designated to control conditions. Positive changes in the behaviour of students reported at the school level were statistically significant. However, while some changes were identified in the home setting, the treatment effects of the program were not significant. These findings were sustained at the six-month follow up period. Conclusions drawn from this study were conceptualised within the framework of current advances in the social science literature that focus on conduct problems and early intervention and prevention. The outcomes of the research emphasise the significance of comprehensive interventions programs for children and families at-risk that focus on both school and home settings and that are easily implemented in, and cost-effective to, community populations. Recommendations from this research serve to inform ftiture research agendas in early intervention and prevention and specialists in the fields of psychology and education.

The prevalence of conduct problems in children impacts upon families, educational settings, and broader society within Australia. Conduct problems develop early in an individual's life and can lead to more serious problems including substance abuse and delinquency in adolescence and adulthood. Given the high incidence of conduct problems in children, the need for prevention and early intervention strategies to target the onset and development of this phenomenon is paramount. This thesis focuses on early intervention strategies for reducing the incidence of conduct problems in children and explores a multi-modal early intervention and prevention program targeting children and families at-risk of the development of conduct problems. A randomised controlled trial involving 455 children was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of this program. Participants were drawn from ten Education Queensland primary schools in the Mount Gravatt district of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The 455 children were randomly assigned to either experimental or control conditions for the purposes of the program's evaluation. From this initial cohort, an indicated sample of 1 52 participants was identified through a universal screening process. This sample included children who were considered more at-risk of conduct problems. Participants designated to experimental conditions engaged in the school component of the program, with 66 of the experimental group receiving an additional indicated component facilitated in the school setting. Further, a selection of parents of children in the experimental group participated in the home component of the intervention. The retention rate for families engaged in the study was high with 96% of participants remaining engaged in the study throughout the evaluation process. The findings that emerged from the study revealed significant differences between participants who engaged in the intervention program compared with those designated to control conditions. Positive changes in the behaviour of students reported at the school level were statistically significant. However, while some changes were identified in the home setting, the treatment effects of the program were not significant. These findings were sustained at the six-month follow up period. Conclusions drawn from this study were conceptualised within the framework of current advances in the social science literature that focus on conduct problems and early intervention and prevention. The outcomes of the research emphasise the significance of comprehensive interventions programs for children and families at-risk that focus on both school and home settings and that are easily implemented in, and cost-effective to, community populations. Recommendations from this research serve to inform ftiture research agendas in early intervention and prevention and specialists in the fields of psychology and education.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Psychology
Full Text

A qualitative approach was used to explore the perceptions of parents and therapists in early intervention regarding sensory diets and their efficacy, particularly their goodness of fit within family routines and occupations. Open-ended interviews were conducted with therapist and parent participants and analysis of the data resulted in a model depicting how sensory diets became a "way of life" for families. The Sensory Diet "Way of Life" Model revealed seven themes that illustrated how occupational therapists in early intervention enter the homes of the families they serve and establish a "partnership" with parents to address a child's needs. Once this "partnership" is established, knowledge is transferred to parents who then transform their "vision" of their child and are empowered to generalize knowledge of sensory processing and sensory diets to ever enlarging environments. Ultimately, the sensory diet became a "way of life" for these families. Implications for the field of occupational therapy were given following the presentation of the model.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1998.
Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2938. Abstract appears on leaves 2-3. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Magister Educationis - Med
The purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation of a Literacy Intervention Programme with Grade One isiXhosa speaking learners in one primary school in the Western Cape. The study was motivated by the persisting low literacy levels in the Foundation Phase which have been reported in the Annual National Assessment (ANA) reports since 2011. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Provincial Departments of Education have designed many intervention programmes to assist teachers in teaching literacy to young learners. These programmes include teacher development workshops and the supply of literacy materials in schools. Schools also have their own intervention programmes to support learners who struggle with reading and writing. Despite these efforts, there is no significant improvement in learners' literacy levels. Therefore, this study investigated how the literacy intervention programme for Grade one was implemented in one township school in Cape Town.

En les últimes dècades un moviment internacional provinent de diversos països ha desenvolupat diferents recursos comunitaris per l’atenció de persones grans amb crisis complexes de salut a partir d’intervencions complexes. En la primera part de la tesi s’ha realitzat una revisió de la literatura per tal d’analitzar les principals característiques de diversos models d’hospitalització domiciliària en les persones grans, basada en dues modalitats/estratègies principals: Evitació d’Ingrés (per tal de proveir atenció substitutiva a l’hospitalització i prevenir complicacions relacionades amb l’hospitalització) i Facilitació d’Alta (per tal d’escurçar la durada de l’hospitalització i facilitar la reinserció comunitària després d’un ingrés hospitalari agut). Després de comprovar que disposem de sòlides evidències en intervencions d’hospitalització domiciliària en poblacions d’edat avançada, tant per la modalitat de Facilitació d’Alta com per la d’Evitació d’Ingrés, es va dissenyar, en base a la literatura revisada, una intervenció complexa centrada en la persona a partir de l’Avaluació Geriàtrica Integral (AGI), per a la provisió d’atenció de crisis de salut en persones grans vulnerables que necessitin atenció hospitalària. Un programa integrat d’atenció, anomenat d’Hospitalització Domiciliària Integral (HDI), es va pilotar i avaluar en una àrea urbana del nord del Barcelona, per un equip multidisciplinari de base geriàtrica. El programa va ser analitzat per mitjà d’un disseny quasi experimental, amb comparació dels resultats de la intervenció realitzada en una unitat d’hospitalització domiciliària vinculada a un servei de geriatria, amb els dels pacients aparellats atesos contemporàniament pel mateix servei en la trajectòria convencional d’hospitalització, en diferents processos de salut (mèdics, ortopèdics i ictus). En les dues modalitats, Facilitació d’Alta i Evitació d’Ingrés, el programa domiciliari es va comprovar que era eficient en la consecució de resultats clínics de resolució de crisis i de recuperació funcional, per les diferents trajectòries (mèdica, ortopèdica i ictus). Globalment, els resultats clínics foren comparables als de la trajectòria d’hospitalització convencional. En rehabilitació de processos aguts discapacitants la intervenció s’associà a favorable resolució de la crisi, comparant-la amb l’atenció habitual. En la modalitat de Facilitació d’Alta, en crisis mèdiques i ortopèdiques, la intervenció es va associar amb una estada hospitalària més curta. En la modalitat d’Evitació d’Ingrés en crisis mèdiques, es van evidenciar millors resultats al finalitzar la intervenció, a més d’una tendència no significativa a tenir taxes més reduïdes de reingrés als 30 dies. En l’atenció dels processos ortopèdics, es va evidenciar una reducció significativa en els costos directes de l’atenció. La creació del programa integrat d’HDI va suposar l’adaptació dels models d’hospitalització domiciliària geriàtrics a una població local adulta en el Sud d’Europa. Van identificar-se diversos factors clínics, provinents de l’AGI feta a l’ingrés a la unitat d’hospitalització domiciliària, com a relacionats amb resolució favorable de les crisis de salut ateses, com ara que el diagnòstic principal sigui ortopèdic, presentar una puntuació de més de 40 en l’índex de Barthel d’ingrés, o no presentar nafres per pressió. La recerca clínica presentada en aquesta tesi pretén contribuir a la implementació d’un model d’hospitalització domiciliària geriàtric, adaptat al sistema d’atenció integrat català, a partir de diferents consideracions de recerca futures que es descriuen en la discussió.
In the last decades, an international movement worldwide has developed different schemes in the community to provide care to older adults in complex health crises based on complex interventions. In the first part of this thesis, a literature review was done in order to analyse the main characteristics of several models of hospital-at-home care in older adults, based on two main modalities/strategies: Admission Avoidance (for providing hospital admission substitution and preventing hospital-related morbidities) and Early Supported Discharge (for shortening length of hospitalisation and facilitating community reinsertion after an acute admission). After knowing that there is a strong international evidence on hospital-at-home interventions for several processes of care in older populations, both on Early Supported Discharge and Admission Avoidance modalities, we designed a patientcentred complex intervention, by using Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), based on the reviewed literature, to provide care of health crises in vulnerable older patients in need of hospital care. The Hospital-at-Home Integrated Care Programme (HaH-ICP) was piloted and evaluated in an urban area in the north of Barcelona, by a geriatrician-led multidisciplinary team. The programme was analysed using a quasi-experimental design, by comparing the results of the intervention provided in a hospital-at-home unit, linked to a department of geriatrics, with the results of contemporary matched patients that were attended by the same department in a hospital-based trajectory for several disabling health processes (medical, orthopaedics and stroke). In both, Early Supported Discharge and Admission Avoidance modalities, the homebased scheme was found efficient based on clinical outcomes of health crisis resolution and functional resolution, in several trajectories (medical, orthopaedic and stroke processes). Overall, the clinical results were comparable to the hospital-based trajectory. In the rehabilitation process of the disabling health crises, the intervention was found associated with favourable crisis resolution, compared to usual care. In the Early Supported Discharge trajectory, in medical and orthopaedics crises, the intervention led to shortening of acute stay. In Admission Avoidance in medical crises, better functional results at discharge were evidenced, and a non significant trend in lower readmission rates up to 30-day follow-up was observed. In orthopaedic processes, a significant reduction in direct costs was evidenced. The HaH-ICP was an adaptation of geriatrician-led hospital-at-home models of care to a local older adult population in Southern Europe. Several clinical factors from CGA at admission, such as suffering an orthopaedic process, having Barthel Index score higher than 40 points at admission, and not having pressure ulcers at admission, were found factors related with favourable crisis resolution. The clinical research presented in this Doctoral Thesis pretends to contribute to future implementation of the geriatrician-led multidisciplinary hospital-at-home model in the Catalan integrated care system, based on future research lines summarised in the discussion section.

This simple quantitative descriptive case controlled research compared cases (subjects at risk for acute confusion) with controls (subjects without the attribute); comparison was made on the exposure to potential contributing factors suspected of causing acute confusion, for example, heavy smoking, or the number of alcoholic drinks consumed per day. Case-control studies were also retrospective, because they focused on conditions in the past that might have caused subjects to become cases, rather than controls. The basic purpose of this research design was essentially the same as that of experimental research: to determine the relationships among variables. This report demonstrates that, with relatively good adherence by the nursing team, proactive screening using a structured risk assessment protocol can be successfully implemented for medical patients. This assessment was associated with a statistically significant 50 per cent reduction in the incidence of acute confusion in the intervention group, compared with usual care retrospectively. Reduction in acute confusion was not associated with shortened length of stay, but length of stay was often predetermined by protocol or critical pathway. Correlation analysis demonstrated that risk screening appeared most effective in preventing or reducing acute confusion in patients without preadmission dementia or ADL impairment. In patients with significant preadmission impairment, the stress of hospitalisation may be sufficient to precipitate an episode, despite otherwise optimal management. Less-impaired patients may require additional insults to precipitate acute confusion, some of which are avertable by risk screening and subsequent early intervention. Determined risk indicators were consistent throughout the four year timeframe set for this research project. This demonstrated that although there were multiple patient types presenting to this clinical area, they were consistently the same over a longitudinal timeframe. It meant they were reproducible, which gave this research additional strength. Also, based on the descriptive statistics, this research has shown that in this clinical area where intervention was introduced the combination did have a positive impact on annual numbers of acute confusion. In summary, these findings suggest that without risk screening and the direction for appropriate management the likelihood of an episode can more than double. In the three subgroups expected to pose the greatest challenges for the risk assessment (i.e. those 70 years or older, those with suspected drug dependency, and those with symptomatic infection), risk assessment retained excellent sensitivity, (a) (d) specificity, and relevant correlation with reduction of episodes. This research has demonstrated throughout that high risk screening and associated intervention based on the risk indicator can decrease the annual number of actual episodes of acute confusion. Interventions to prevent or reduce an episode of acute confusion, as outlined by Wakefield (2002) and this research, definitely increases as a result of high risk screening. Beyond doubt, from both the literature reviewed and the findings of this research, is that risk screening does need to be adapted to the individual clinical setting and cannot be generic.

Parents and caregivers spend the most time interacting with young children during their first years of life when development in many areas is happening at an incredible rate. It is important for all these adults to understand what typical development looks like, to know some strategies for supporting children’s development, and to know where and when to get help if the child’s development needs to be supported. This report serves as an all-inclusive guide for parents and caregivers to help in understanding typical development and in identifying when young children need additional help to achieve important developmental milestones.
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Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2013.
Domestic violence is rife in South Africa and the negative impact thereof is brought by survivors into their homes, communities and workplace settings. Trauma counsellors often take on the work responsibility of intervening in cases of domestic violence to meet the needs of the survivor. Adopting a qualitative research design, the researcher explored the perceptions of trauma counsellors in their workplace setting regarding intervention strategies used when providing services to survivors of domestic violence. Purposive sampling was used to identify 13 adult lay trauma counsellors, both male and female employed by a non-government institution operating as a 24-7 hour Crisis Hotline in the Johannesburg Metropolitan area. The researcher gathered data by conducting personal, semi-structured interviews with research participants. Data analysis took the form of Thematic Content Analysis. The researcher identified that the participants seemed not to be aware of workplace systems and procedural guidelines, and tended to adopt a personalized approach in dealing with survivors of domestic violence. Most participants managed cases utilising ‘early crisis intervention models’ as a once-off trauma intervention strategy although they did not perceive it as being effective. It is thus recommended that such stand-alone intervention strategies should not be implemented unless further follow-up or after-care support is offered to the survivors of domestic violence.

In this mixed-methods study I report on a three-part investigation related to reading intervention at Grade 1 in one Ontario school board during the 2009-2010 school year. First, I report the results that Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) had on the reading outcomes for all Grade 1 students (n = 436) in terms of sex, aboriginal status, and at-risk status. Second, I use progress monitoring benchmark data to show how students unresponsive to instruction may have benefitted from additional instruction generated from monthly data-informed In-School Team meetings. Third, I report on educators’ perceptions of how monthly data-informed In-School Team meetings influenced their knowledge, confidence, and willingness to plan additional reading interventions for students persistently at-risk for reading failure. Findings indicate that compared to previous years, when PALS was not used, students in this study made significantly greater gains in reading scores. Boys made similar gains to girls, First Nations students made similar gains to non First Nations students, and at-risk students closed the achievement gap slightly with their typically-achieving peers. For students who did not make adequate progress in reading throughout the year a logistic regression analysis of the data indicates that the best predictor of at-risk status is not a student’s sex or First Nations status, but their letter sound fluency and word identification fluency scores at the beginning of the school year. Findings also indicate that the slope of improvement in reading scores for nonresponders begins to increase once In-School Team meetings begin. Educators’ perceptions of how the monthly In-School team meetings influenced practice differed according to the perceived role that each held of his or her position, and according to the level of involvement, training, and access that each had to the data used in this study. The more professional development that educators had in the theory, use, and application of progress monitoring data the more likely they were to report that they were willing to use it to inform their practice. Likewise, the more access that educators had to the data in terms of collecting, viewing, and interpreting it, the more likely they were in reporting knowledge, confidence, and willingness to use it to plan additional interventions for students.
Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-13 10:03:09.664

Master thesis titled Parents' reaction to a birth of a child with a disability deals with the process of coping with a birth of a disabled child and strategies that can help the family. In the first chapter, the function of a family and roles of parents in comparison with families with disabled children were defined. Reactions of parents when a disabled child is born in comparison with reactions of other social groups is discussed in second chapter. Third chapter focuses on factors which can help the parents to cope with the aforementioned situation. The last fourth chapter then depicts five families that shared their individual stories. The thesis also describes specific phases of dealing with difficult life situations including children born with disabilities. The thesis aims to analyse how parents reacted to birth of disabled child and which factors helped them to accept this reality. A research method in the form of an interview has been used. A confirmation of the hypothesis and thus achieving the thesis goal has been achieved be means of evaluation of answers from five respondents. The results have shown that such a childbirth is an unexpected situation for the parents, followed by a shock. The parents also have negative experience with doctors when delivering the diagnosis. Specific...