Importance of Technology in Education Research Paper

Importance of Technology in Education - Research Paper Example From the discussion it is clear that access to technology opportunities and devices assists in learning factors of time and place that make mobile learning as an important tool for lifelong knowledge. Education by using technology allow for the use of electronic devices, desktop and smartphones that assist in developing education both for teachers and for students. Technological education provides access to a large broad of selected research in technology and structures organized by technology. Students and technology organize relevant resources that perceive various developments and research for the various completion topics learned using technology in education.As the report discusses wide educational spectrum increases attention by policy makers in making technological education relevant in various aspects. Traditional roles open opportunity for education and learners for quality teaching by allowing the use of technology to assist in developing education standards. Professors in universities and colleges promote the use of technology into various train individuals such as public accountants, armed forces, physicians, and nurses because technology gives them as an easy time to comprehend various aspects of education. Students have various excitements concerning internet technology as subsided to considerable extents.  The role of education based on education promotes curriculum development as an instructional delivery system for students.

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 52

Reflection - Essay Example In this regard, the vocabulary learning process becomes easy for scholars. Memorizing vocabulary words is another way of ensuring students learns the English language with ease. According to Echevarria and   Graves (2003), the strategy utilizes memory power in intellectual development. Additionally, the strategy enables students utilize their short-term and long-term memory and attain higher mental power. Mnemonic methods are appropriate in case some students fail to memorize vocabulary words and their meanings. Sheltered instruction concept helps English language learners to practice English skills. The practice of the skills acquired in English lessons makes the students relate the English language with other disciplines of study. In this regard, the students appreciate the English language and the vocabulary used. The teachers are able to accommodate the English language learners through introduction of new concepts into their learning lives. According to Echevarria and   Graves (2003), sheltered instruction creates diversity in the learning process. As a result, students develop their knowledge and skills on a wide array of subjects. The sheltered instruction strategy incorporates all skills of learning, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Grammar and vocabulary are also involved in the sheltered instruction learning. Video use is also indispensable in the learning process. It promotes recall of ideas and concepts, and betters students’ inception through teamwo rk and teacher

Selling Crack In El Barrio Sociology Essay

Selling Crack In El Barrio Sociology Essay Society sets standards for us to strive toward, and offers a limited set of accepted means through which we can reach these standards. Unfortunately, the means accepted by society are not available to everyone. The lack of equal opportunity in our society compels certain groups to resort to deviant behavior in order to achieve their goals, or even just to survive. Deviance or deviant behavior is behavior that goes against accepted formal and informal social norms. Crime falls into the category of deviance that goes against formal social norms, or written laws and regulations. Groups that engage in deviant behavior are generally stigmatized by society, and in turn, are subject to marginalization. One such group is the immense subculture of drug dealers. A subculture is a group that has cultural values and behavioral patterns distinctive of a particular group in a society. In his account titled In Search of Respect, ethnographic researcher Philippe Bourgois goes into the depths of this subculture and examines why drug dealers live the way they do and how their occupation is a not just a personal choice, but a product of society. In addition to illustrating the social production of blocked opportunities for residents in Bourgoiss ground breaking book, he also provides an interesting new insight into the street culture found in New York City by examining the effects of illegal drugs on a minority group. Specifically, the book focuses on the experiences and lives of Puerto Rican crack cocaine dealers and users as well as their friends, families and girlfriends, each of whom Bourgois depicts as victims of circumstance. In doing so, the author vividly details and analyzes the effects of structural inequality and social marginalization in the United States. Bourgois, with his wife and child, moved into a tenement apartment in a small neighborhood in New York City named East Harlem in 1985. To residents, this neighborhood was simply known as El Barrio. To conduct his study, Bourgois and his family spent the next five years living among the harsh realities of the ghetto streets. The purpose of this was to infiltrate, assimilate, and participate in the daily workings of the community as much as possible to gain a better understanding of the circumstances these poor and suffering Puerto Rican residents faced. As such, the ultimate goal was to gain entrance to a network of Puerto Rican crack dealers as well as their network of relatives and acquaintances. During his five year stint in El Barrio, Bourgois engaged in intensive participant observation among the informants who allowed him to penetrate the secretive culture of the underground economy. He provides the reader with verbatim narratives taken from his conversations with drug dealers, police officers (who occasionally mistook him for a drug addict), and drug users Bourgois uses the account of his subject and friend named Primo to illustrate the circumstances of drug dealers and the reasons they resort to illegal jobs. The norms of drug dealers include street sales, drug houses, violent crime, and respect associated with the status of a drug dealer. Having the identity of a drug dealer attributes a sense of power and pride to a man, even if it is just in his neighborhood. It prevents him from having to bear the humiliation of being degraded or belittled by a superior while working at a legal job. Bourgois book focuses on a relatively unexamined section of the drug industry, the local dealers, some of whom are, or have been drug users. He notes that most of them started out in legitimate work, often prematurely by truanting from school, not a difficult thing to do in the inner city. However their entrepreneurial skills have not enabled them to escape from the most vulnerable wage sector. The poorest jobs fail to satisfy them while their backgrounds make it impossible for them to sustain contact with more promising possibilities. Still they are unwilling to lie down to the system. They have made the most of their limited opportunities by finding a niche in the illegal drug market. Although nobody is more aware than they are of the ultimate hopelessness of this, nevertheless in the meantime it gives them the buzz, the status and the income their yuppie contemporaries find a few blocks away in Wall St. very well-written, as the author uses a plain, easy-to-read and understand style. He is arguing that answers to societys most pressing issues are a lot more than mere blame-the-system or blame-the-victim approaches. It is far too common for liberals and conservatives, respectively, to blame society or to blame pathological, flawed individuals for social problems. As Bourgois shows in this book, the truth is often a combination of the two. Even his informants admit that they blame no one else but themselves for the situations they are in. The book starts off with Bourgoiss own experience of how there is an apartheid present in New York working against his subjects The amount of poverty in this portion of our country is much higher than that in most other areas. Bourgois argues that this neighborhood, which is well known for high rates of violence, does not have widespread violence occurring amongst all of its members. The higher crime rate, argues Bourgois, occurs for the most part within the factions of the underground economy. Some insight into this economy would explain the reasons for higher rates of violence. This book is a summary of the events that occurred during Bourgois stay in El Barrio. The original purpose of the book was to write a first-hand account of poverty and ethnic segregation in the heart of one of the worlds largest cities. Bourgois was swept into the area drug economy because of the abundance of information from the dealers and their families who all lived within the immediate area. The problem was so prevalent that the focus of th The amount of drug dealers or crack houses is an indirect result of the lost jobs in Harlem. Bourgois states that many of the unemployed in the inner-city are not successful in finding work because they lack the skills of working efficiently with people that they dont already have an every day relationship with, something that factory jobs provided. Factory jobs that moved out of the inner-cities left the large minority groups without a collective workplace where everybody knew their task and how to complete it. The current availability of jobs within the inner-city is mostly within the service sector. These jobs are individualized jobs where independence is required rather than a group effort. The jobs pay little and arent generally respected. This tends to lead many people within this community to become involved in the drug economy. Bourgois argues that, to reduce the violence within the drug community, we should consider the decriminalization of drugs. This would force small time dealers out of business, eliminating the need for them to commit violence amongst themselves, while making the s Bourgois states that there is a strong feeling of community among the people living in El Barrio. Those people not involved in the drug market rarely encounter violence themselves because the dealers have nothing to fear from them. Bourgois states that, during the day, children are safely left to play in the streets unattended by their parents. At night, when the legitimate working force of the community is eating dinner or asleep, is when the brunt of violence takes place Bourgois portrayal of the dealers and their families makes it difficult for the reader not to feel sympathy and compassion towards them. His argument is well defined and persuasive due to the fact that he moved his family to the area in which he was studying and had the courage to get in and really interact with the people of this community. The way in which he writes also compliments his argument by drawing the reader in and making him feel like he himself were there. Many may not agree with the solution that Bourgois suggests, but everyone who reads the book will re-think their own views before discussing t This is an incredibly well written ethnography, its very accessible and could be read by anyone. Really illustrates the problems of people in ghettoised areas, with restricted access to the job market and a stigma attached to them. Stigma is a mark of infamy or reproach. Drug dealing is stigmatized because norms of drug dealing completely clash with the norms of society, most obviously by going against written laws. Consuming or possessing illegal drugs is a crime, but the The only jobs that provided enough money for the Harlemites to survive on, with out having to engage in some other illegal activity, are high risk construction jobs, which were ran by racist mafia backed unions (ch. 4 pg. 162), or entry level jobs in the F.I.R.E. (finance, insurance, or real estate) sector (ch. 4 pg.142), where the impoverished Puerto Ricans did not have enough cultural capital or the proper ethnic background to survive in the positions being offered. Although the world of the underground economy is very chaotic, it all seems to revolve around one thing, crack. Everyones daily life, that is anyone who is not a member of the poor legal working class, is organized around crack, whether one is fighting rival crews for a spot to sell, or just hanging out at the local crackhouse waiting for a handout. It is prevalent on both the violent and non-violent spectrums of the culture. Obviously, the dealers had the most respect of everyone, and were looked up at by youngsters. To survive financially outside of mainstream society, one must manipulate all of ones available resources to make a livable income. So, in the underground economy this can mean any thing, from taking advantage of the welfare office, to selling drugs, or robbing people, all of which were employed by most of the subjects in this book. The only act that stood out to me, as being a ritual was the act of getting high. While getting high served two fold, it served as a method to deal with the reality of not being able to be in control of any part of ones life, and it severed as a way of opening up the lines for communication, as most of all the testimonials occurred over liquor and some sort of drug. What caught the eye of the youngsters were their nice shoes and the respect everyone had for the dealer. So at the earliest time possible, the young kids would try and emulate what they have seen as an acceptable, and viable way to get money and respect. Selling drugs, being violent, and robbing people, all were skills that they learned at school (ch.4pg.194). Bourgois eventually found his way to a storefront called the Game Room where video games provided a cover for the sale of crack cocaine. It was the manager of this establishment, Primo, who became Bourgoiss friend and primary informant about life in El Barrio. Through this intimacy, Bourgois seeks to tell us some things about the symbols and symptoms of urban ghetto life, the Achilles heel of the richest industrialized nation in the world by documenting how it imposes racial segregation and economic marginalization on so many of its Latino/a and African-American citizens. (Bourgois: 1995a; 14) Bourgois painstakingly records and analyzes the exploits of these elements of Puerto Rican diaspora. The culmination of such fieldwork is collected in ethnography about the urban underground economy and social marginalization Speaking fluently the minority language, he lived for five years in El Barrio and also travelled to Puerto Rico to trace the connections between there and Amerikay. His analysis starts in Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island at the end of the Cuban ±Dominican chain and therefore of strategic importance to the United States. Colonization by the US has The concentration of Puerto Rican immigrants in East Harlem has access mainly to the poorest service jobs in New York City. East Harlem is a classic ghetto which no self respecting New Yorker would think of even driving through. Yet, as Bourgois notes, the majority of East Harlem inhabitants have nothing to do with crime, far less drugs. It is the removal of all local industry, e.g. garment making, which has exposed a social infrastructure that is too weak to support the present massive levels of unemployment and casual labor.

Dr. Jonas Salk :: Biographies Medicine Papers

Dr. Jonas Salk An American hero once said, "Many wise individuals have had no formal education.... They possess a powerful intuitive faculty and are able to learn from experience, from what they observe" (Pamplin, Jr. and Eisler 127). Although not entirely indicative of his own past, this American hero was Dr. Jonas Salk and he believed that education was not always the key to success. The great innovator believed that the answers to life are often found in an individual's experiences rather than buried among the pages of a textbook. Indeed, the ideas that formed the foundation of Salk's greatest accomplishment–the first effective polio vaccine–were not found in any fancy college textbook, but came to light because he did not believe that some established scientific theories were the only way that problems could be solved. More specifically, as a young medical student in 1936 sitting in a lecture for a course entitled Bacteriology and Immunology, Salk recalls an experience that altere d the course of his life (Sherrow 31): I remember very vividly all the details about where I was sitting and what was happening, almost as if the light was turned on and everything became clear....We were told that one could immunize against diphtheria and tetanus. In the next lecture, we were told it was not possible to immunize with a chemically treated or noninfectious (killed) virus vaccine, so that struck me as rather odd. How could both statements be true? And I remember the answer we were given was that the cells of the inoculated individual that were involved in a virus infection had to go through the experience of the infection itself. Why should that be, when the cells going through that experience were thus destroyed? How could that immunize cells that did not experience infection? Something's wrong here, I thought. For me, what came together was the question: Is it true you need a live virus for a safe, effective vaccine? And if it's not true, then what can be done with viruses, as can be done with a toxin, to render them harmless while retaining their effectiveness for immunization? This encounter stayed with Salk throughout his life and helped to determine the path along which he would conduct his life's work. As stated in the opening quote, this intuitive ability that he possessed did not come from spending hours learning from his textbooks, but simply came from the ordinary experience of attending a lecture for class.

Hardware and software report Essay

This logo is attractive as it advertises its name in its logo and so it is a useful selling point, this is unlike other logos such as the Apple logo where there is no text. Secondly logo uses two colours and therefore it looks clean and professional and unlike other logos such as the old Fanta logo (which is cluttered and not colour coordinated). Thirdly this logo is a definite improvement for previous BA logos, such as the one released on the Queen’s Birthday in 1991. However the logo hasn’t been updated for just over fifteen years, certainly there have been modifications and improvements, and however BA hasn’t changed it completely. A report done by The Economist shows this could be why BA’s sales have been dropping gradually over the past decade. This logo represents the British based airline; Monarch. This logo uses two complementary colours, which are purple and yellow. The crown image is very clever because it matches the name of airline. The colours are used to great effect on the crown, the middle part of the crown is filled in with a golden yellow, and the two sides match the purple font. The crown is in a bold shape of an â€Å"M† so that people will notice that it belongs to Monarch Airways. It is extremely simple but also very clever and unique Ryan Air is an Irish Airline company who specialise in cheap flights. This logo is simple and quite plain and dull. The writing is big and bold so that people can read it from a long distance and so that it stands out and it has a short slogan underneath persuading potential customers to fly with them. It also has a small image of a golden harp but it’s not on the subject of flying, planes, or holidays. The Ryan Air logo is far too plain and doesn’t use the beautiful two colours to effect. 2. 2 My Logos 2. 3 My Final Logo Mr Jones chose this logo, because he believed this logo represents the ethos and nature of the company. This is one of the only logos to have the slogan of the company underneath. He believed that this was an essential marketing point, which reflects the company. After research of existing logos (both travel and non-travel) and their colour scheme, I chose brow, yellow, and black. He chose the computer designed logos because they look more professional and pleasing to the eye. Another factor that was imperative to my chosen design is the survey I carried out (see Appendix C for completed survey). 2. 4 Task Evaluation How did you choose what features to include in your logo? I looked at three different logos and evaluated the good and the bad things about each logo, and then created each of my own logos and trying to include all of the good features that I had spotted, to make it as effective as possible. I also created a survey on what customers wanted to see in a logo which has given me more of an insight into customer’s needs. What hardware and software did you use? To create these particular logos I used: Hardware Dell Dimension DM 051 Software Microsoft Publisher 2007 Microsoft Word 2007 Corel Graphics Designer Internet Explorer 7 (www. logomaker. com) Suggest an alternative way for completing the task and what other hardware or software could you have used? For this task I could have used different programs or I could have edited my drawn designs on the computer Software Microsoft PowerPoint 2003/7 Adobe Photoshop CS2 Hardware Apple Mac (OS 3. 0 Beta) How well did this task work? Overall I think I did quite well on this task, as I managed to use different programs and explore the different features of them, also I looked at the differences in the features between Microsoft Word 2003 and Microsoft 2007, I feel this has benefited me greatly. My logos look professional and smart, and I am pleased and the end result, however I feel I could’ve put a slogan on all of the logos, not just one.

Trader Joe’s

Economical, technological, demographics, economical, political, and socio-cultural trends taken into consideration by Trader Joe's and help lead to their continuing success. When it comes to economic factor, Trader Joe's has performed well in all economic conditions. The company performs well in a weak economy because they offer low prices. In strong economy the company offers unique products which help them perform well. Consumers are very price conscious, the are always looking for reasonable deals with healthier food. Trader Joe's carry quality products at reasonable prices which is rare. It has been seen that during economic downturn, people tend to shop more at grocery stores. When gas prices are high people have less disposable income but when gas prices are low they have more disposable income and are willing to try new items at grocery stores. Increase in income is resulting an increase in disbursal thus spending more on wide range of products which is helping Trader Joe's attract more customers. However, with the outstanding performances Trader Joe's adapted with the economic trends, they have shown slow progress in technological trends. The company is yet to adapt to new technologies trends. Trader Joe's does not utilize any social media platforms, applications, web based services, or loyalty programs. Since, self-checkout and advertising through mobile apps are getting more common the company has not taken these trends into considerations. Utilizing technological trends to advertise and connect with consumers may positively influence Trader Joe's. Demographic trends were taken into account in Trader Joe's strategy to note the population they are targeting. The population continues to grow and because the population is growing this means that it will have an impact on food consumption. Since, more and more immigrant move into the country it increases the population, and increase the needs and wants for food selection. Also, people in the current economy who are getting extra income chose to spend it on food that is organic, natural, and healthy for them. With competitive market, the trend is moving toward healthy products and low price options. The socio-cultural factors of health consciousness, population growth, and age all have an impact in the trends of food consumption, which directly affect the way Trader Joe's carries out business. The government not only makes sure food is safe but also if it is regulated properly. Legal and political trends have educated people about more sustainable lifestyles and healthier eating habits. The increasing consumer concern over the purity and safety of food has led to the demand for organic and natural food. Trader Joe's attracts consumers by offering quality products cheaper than its competitors. Trader Joe's has many strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The company offers a unique shopping atmosphere will helps attract customers. The employees are seen wearing Hawaiian shirts and hand out samples of food and drinks to customers. Trader Joe's are known to have low turnover rates compared to their competitors because they offer good working conditions. The company prides itself when it comes to its employees. Trader Joe's employees help strengthen the brand and image. The company select employees who are positive, enthusiastic, and who help convey the company's image to its consumers. However, with incredible strengths that the company portrays, there are some weaknesses. The company's poor social media presence, lack of advertising, and limited product selection, has lead to concerns. Many opportunities can be implemented to overcome these weaknesses. Expanding advertising to social media outlets can help target new customers and potentially increase profits. Also, international expansion may be an opportunity for the company. Alongside opportunities that Trader Joe's can implement there are many threats that have surfaced. The company is faced with old and new competitors. One specific competitors of Trader Joe's being Whole Foods Market, who aim to have more accessible prices for their private label brands, target more price sensitive customers as well as health conscious customers. It is known that the Trader Joe's has been profitable. However, there is still some area of concerns. Using Porter's five forces Trader Joe's can better understand the competitiveness of their business environment. The five forces can help identify the company's potential profitability. The following will discuss Trader Joe's using the five forces model to determine how market forces may affect their company. Forces can help assist the companies to gain a broader picture of what affects the profitability of the organization and how to fix it. Also, by understanding the forces, Trader Joe's can shape these forces in their favor. Industry Rivalry – Competitive rivalry looks at number and strength of competitors. For Trader Joe's industry rivalry risk is medium to high since the number of competitors is growing. Several grocers have developed over the past years and having a low level of product diversity can also increase competition. Trader Joe's core competitors have large numbers of capital as well as economies of scale. Threat of New Entrants – Potential threat of new entrants is low to medium. Since there is extreme cost and capital requirements it is harder for other entrants to join. Finding cheap or health conscious suppliers would be difficult. Getting good quality food for cheaper price is hard to deliver but it is not impossible. However, a brand name like Trader Joe's which took many years to build, would be difficult for entrants. Also, given that Trader Joe's is a specialty grocery store, makes the threat of new entrants lower and because the company uses absolute cost advantages in many aspects of its business operations. Threat of Substitutes – There is a medium to high threat of substitutes products from other industries in the market since customers have a variety of other places to shop at. Although, supermarkets are gaining market share and similar products are found elsewhere, Trader Joe's has an advantages since they have their own branded products. Power of Suppliers – The power of suppliers is determined by how easy it is for your suppliers to increase their prices. Trader Joe's power of suppliers is moderately low. There is high competition amongst suppliers. Trader Joe's have an advantage because of their non-disclosure which makes it undetectable to consumers if they changed their supplier. Trader Joe's never disclose their manufacturers or suppliers hence it allows them to get a better deal with respect to its competitors. Power of Buyers – The bargaining power of buyers the ability in which buyers can drive prices dow or the quality up. Buyer's power for Trader Joe's is moderately high because of the large number of customers who have control over the price and quality of the products. Buyers are looking for the best products available but at the lowest price possible which can put pressure on the company's profitability in the long run. The more powerful the buyers, the higher the bargaining power of the customers. In order to continue its success, Trader Joe's needs to consider the following alternative strategies regarding the concerns facing the company, such the lack of advertising, the minimal selection of products, and lack in social media presence. The clearest strategy to implement in order to offset the lack in advertising is to create a effective advertisement by knowing the audience, deciding on a target location, planning a budget, thinking about the message the ad will send, and highlighting competitive advantages. Advertising in magazines, radio stations, or even television programs would be a good place to start. This strategy formulation will not only help Trader Joe's reach a large audience, but will attract new customers. If done correctly, advertisement can be a key investment for businesses including Trader Joe's. The second concern that Trader Joe's faces is the little selection of products which can be overcomed by testing new products at certain stores across the country. This can be done by studying competition, targeting ideal customers, researching the market, proper pricing, and developing a list of potential buyers. Having diversity in products is a key concept in maximizing profits. For example, Trader Joe's can consider providing its customers with healthier food items. Since, government regulations and society's are pushing toward healthy diets to help fight the obesity rates, people are more likely to pursue a healthy diet. Lastly, a crucial strategy formulation for Trader Joe's to consider involve incorporating social media presence in the company that can help diversify themselves from competitors. Creating official pages on social media outlets, is inexpensive and mostly free. Trader Joe's can promote from within which will help them better connect with customers and will allow them to advertise. Absence in social media has prevented the company from realizing its benefits that would come from online shopping. Its competitors such as Walmart and Safeway provide customers the option of online shopping on their application and web page along with in-store outlets. The company can create an app with flyers of weekly store sales, promotions, and online check-out options. Having a presence online whether it be a webpage or an application, will help provide the convenience of shopping from home as well as attract from traffic. The popularity of social media is a perfect opportunity for Trader Joe's because it allows them to become more active at minimal cost. The value chain analysis, five forces, and swot analysis help provide Trader Joe's an insight of the supermarket industry. The company's competitive advantage and current opportunities and threats can either help or harm the company's competitive sustainability in the future. Additionally, Trader Joe's can set themselves apart from their competitors by developing social media outlets, by increasing advertisement, and innovating new products in their stores. The company has successfully created a brand for its company using various strategy compared to their competitors. However, to continue growth Trader Joe's needs to implement the following strategies which will ensure competitive advantages. Without these planned initiatives, other competitors can easily purloin these strategies and move ahead of Trader Joe's. Trader Joe’s Economical, technological, demographics, economical, political, and socio-cultural trends taken into consideration by Trader Joe's and help lead to their continuing success. When it comes to economic factor, Trader Joe's has performed well in all economic conditions. The company performs well in a weak economy because they offer low prices. In strong economy the company offers unique products which help them perform well. Consumers are very price conscious, the are always looking for reasonable deals with healthier food. Trader Joe's carry quality products at reasonable prices which is rare. It has been seen that during economic downturn, people tend to shop more at grocery stores. When gas prices are high people have less disposable income but when gas prices are low they have more disposable income and are willing to try new items at grocery stores. Increase in income is resulting an increase in disbursal thus spending more on wide range of products which is helping Trader Joe's attract more customers. However, with the outstanding performances Trader Joe's adapted with the economic trends, they have shown slow progress in technological trends. The company is yet to adapt to new technologies trends. Trader Joe's does not utilize any social media platforms, applications, web based services, or loyalty programs. Since, self-checkout and advertising through mobile apps are getting more common the company has not taken these trends into considerations. Utilizing technological trends to advertise and connect with consumers may positively influence Trader Joe's. Demographic trends were taken into account in Trader Joe's strategy to note the population they are targeting. The population continues to grow and because the population is growing this means that it will have an impact on food consumption. Since, more and more immigrant move into the country it increases the population, and increase the needs and wants for food selection. Also, people in the current economy who are getting extra income chose to spend it on food that is organic, natural, and healthy for them. With competitive market, the trend is moving toward healthy products and low price options. The socio-cultural factors of health consciousness, population growth, and age all have an impact in the trends of food consumption, which directly affect the way Trader Joe's carries out business. The government not only makes sure food is safe but also if it is regulated properly. Legal and political trends have educated people about more sustainable lifestyles and healthier eating habits. The increasing consumer concern over the purity and safety of food has led to the demand for organic and natural food. Trader Joe's attracts consumers by offering quality products cheaper than its competitors. Trader Joe's has many strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The company offers a unique shopping atmosphere will helps attract customers. The employees are seen wearing Hawaiian shirts and hand out samples of food and drinks to customers. Trader Joe's are known to have low turnover rates compared to their competitors because they offer good working conditions. The company prides itself when it comes to its employees. Trader Joe's employees help strengthen the brand and image. The company select employees who are positive, enthusiastic, and who help convey the company's image to its consumers. However, with incredible strengths that the company portrays, there are some weaknesses. The company's poor social media presence, lack of advertising, and limited product selection, has lead to concerns. Many opportunities can be implemented to overcome these weaknesses. Expanding advertising to social media outlets can help target new customers and potentially increase profits. Also, international expansion may be an opportunity for the company. Alongside opportunities that Trader Joe's can implement there are many threats that have surfaced. The company is faced with old and new competitors. One specific competitors of Trader Joe's being Whole Foods Market, who aim to have more accessible prices for their private label brands, target more price sensitive customers as well as health conscious customers. It is known that the Trader Joe's has been profitable. However, there is still some area of concerns. Using Porter's five forces Trader Joe's can better understand the competitiveness of their business environment. The five forces can help identify the company's potential profitability. The following will discuss Trader Joe's using the five forces model to determine how market forces may affect their company. Forces can help assist the companies to gain a broader picture of what affects the profitability of the organization and how to fix it. Also, by understanding the forces, Trader Joe's can shape these forces in their favor. Industry Rivalry – Competitive rivalry looks at number and strength of competitors. For Trader Joe's industry rivalry risk is medium to high since the number of competitors is growing. Several grocers have developed over the past years and having a low level of product diversity can also increase competition. Trader Joe's core competitors have large numbers of capital as well as economies of scale. Threat of New Entrants – Potential threat of new entrants is low to medium. Since there is extreme cost and capital requirements it is harder for other entrants to join. Finding cheap or health conscious suppliers would be difficult. Getting good quality food for cheaper price is hard to deliver but it is not impossible. However, a brand name like Trader Joe's which took many years to build, would be difficult for entrants. Also, given that Trader Joe's is a specialty grocery store, makes the threat of new entrants lower and because the company uses absolute cost advantages in many aspects of its business operations. Threat of Substitutes – There is a medium to high threat of substitutes products from other industries in the market since customers have a variety of other places to shop at. Although, supermarkets are gaining market share and similar products are found elsewhere, Trader Joe's has an advantages since they have their own branded products. Power of Suppliers – The power of suppliers is determined by how easy it is for your suppliers to increase their prices. Trader Joe's power of suppliers is moderately low. There is high competition amongst suppliers. Trader Joe's have an advantage because of their non-disclosure which makes it undetectable to consumers if they changed their supplier. Trader Joe's never disclose their manufacturers or suppliers hence it allows them to get a better deal with respect to its competitors. Power of Buyers – The bargaining power of buyers the ability in which buyers can drive prices dow or the quality up. Buyer's power for Trader Joe's is moderately high because of the large number of customers who have control over the price and quality of the products. Buyers are looking for the best products available but at the lowest price possible which can put pressure on the company's profitability in the long run. The more powerful the buyers, the higher the bargaining power of the customers. In order to continue its success, Trader Joe's needs to consider the following alternative strategies regarding the concerns facing the company, such the lack of advertising, the minimal selection of products, and lack in social media presence. The clearest strategy to implement in order to offset the lack in advertising is to create a effective advertisement by knowing the audience, deciding on a target location, planning a budget, thinking about the message the ad will send, and highlighting competitive advantages. Advertising in magazines, radio stations, or even television programs would be a good place to start. This strategy formulation will not only help Trader Joe's reach a large audience, but will attract new customers. If done correctly, advertisement can be a key investment for businesses including Trader Joe's. The second concern that Trader Joe's faces is the little selection of products which can be overcomed by testing new products at certain stores across the country. This can be done by studying competition, targeting ideal customers, researching the market, proper pricing, and developing a list of potential buyers. Having diversity in products is a key concept in maximizing profits. For example, Trader Joe's can consider providing its customers with healthier food items. Since, government regulations and society's are pushing toward healthy diets to help fight the obesity rates, people are more likely to pursue a healthy diet. Lastly, a crucial strategy formulation for Trader Joe's to consider involve incorporating social media presence in the company that can help diversify themselves from competitors. Creating official pages on social media outlets, is inexpensive and mostly free. Trader Joe's can promote from within which will help them better connect with customers and will allow them to advertise. Absence in social media has prevented the company from realizing its benefits that would come from online shopping. Its competitors such as Walmart and Safeway provide customers the option of online shopping on their application and web page along with in-store outlets. The company can create an app with flyers of weekly store sales, promotions, and online check-out options. Having a presence online whether it be a webpage or an application, will help provide the convenience of shopping from home as well as attract from traffic. The popularity of social media is a perfect opportunity for Trader Joe's because it allows them to become more active at minimal cost. The value chain analysis, five forces, and swot analysis help provide Trader Joe's an insight of the supermarket industry. The company's competitive advantage and current opportunities and threats can either help or harm the company's competitive sustainability in the future. Additionally, Trader Joe's can set themselves apart from their competitors by developing social media outlets, by increasing advertisement, and innovating new products in their stores. The company has successfully created a brand for its company using various strategy compared to their competitors. However, to continue growth Trader Joe's needs to implement the following strategies which will ensure competitive advantages. Without these planned initiatives, other competitors can easily purloin these strategies and move ahead of Trader Joe's.

Interventions For Substance Abuse Amongst Young People The WritePass Journal

Interventions For Substance Abuse Amongst Young People INTRODUCTION Interventions For Substance Abuse Amongst Young People , 20,688 young people accessed substance misuse services, with the majority of this number accessing services for abuse of cannabis (64%) or alcohol (29%) (National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, 2012). Over half of the users were aged 16 to 18 (53%), whilst the rest were aged under 16 (National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, 2012). About two thirds (64%) of the young people who accessed specialist substance misuse services in 2010-11 were male.   Overall, females accessing substance misuse services for young people are younger with 19% of males aged under 15 years compared to 27% of females. Almost   half   of   the   young   people   entering   specialist   substance   misuse   services   are   recorded   as   being   in mainstream   education, such   as   schools   and   further   education   colleges,   followed   by   a   further   19%   in alternative   education, such   as   schooling   delivered   in   a   pupil   referral   unit   or   home   setting.   A further 19% are recorded as not in education or employment.   However, it should be noted that education   and   employment   status   was   reported for only new   young   people   entering   specialist   services   during the year. Therefore, the total will be lower than that of all young people (National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, 2012). Referrals to drug and alcohol treatment services commonly come from youth offending teams, although around 14% of referrals come from mainstream education institutions and 7% are made up of self-referrals. Perhaps surprisingly referrals from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health service (CAHMS) make up only 3% of referrals (National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, 2012). These figures paint a perhaps surprising picture. For example, more young people are referred to specialist drug and alcohol services from mainstream education than specialist educational centres, suggesting that substance abuse could be far rifer amongst young people as might be expected. It could be argued that failure of school authorities to take a more effective preventative approach to drug and alcohol abuse may be contributing to the overall problem. These figures also suggest that immediate attention and intervention must be offered to young people to reduce negative outcomes associated with such high drug use. The statistics reveal that there is a high rate of drug and substance abuse among young people in the UK. The high of level concern about the use of illicit drugs and substances has an effect on health, educational and political discussions in the UK. The government’s national strategy for ten years on drug misuse views young people as a critical priority group in need of quick prevention and treatment intervention (Keegan and Moss, 2008) and recognises the need to improve our understanding of the role played by illicit drugs and substances in the lives of such young people. Educators, health practitioners and policy makers should have comprehensive understanding when it comes to discussions involving the abuse of illicit drugs. For example, the Government must take into account factors such as a lack of understanding amongst young people as to the laws that govern different classes of illegal drugs. Abuse of alcohol and other drugs leads to the destruction of cognitive and emotional development in young people and exposes them to an increased possibility of accidental injury or even death. Finally, there is also a risk of users becoming drug dependent. Abuse of drugs and alcohol by young people can also lead to such negative consequences as coronary heart diseases, lung cancer, AIDS, violent crime, child abuse and unemployment (Gurnack, Atkinson Osgood, 2002). As a result, individuals indulging in the use of alcohol and other drugs incur tremendous costs in their individual lives, their family lives and even their future careers. Society is also not exempt as it pays a price in different ways. For instance, society incurs extra costs in health care, drug and alcohol treatment, law enforcement and supporting the seriously affected families who have been rendered helpless by the situation. There are many reasons why young people become involved in substance abuse. From a sociology perspective it has been argued that the recreational abuse of drugs has become ‘normalised’ (Parker, Measham and Aldridge, 1995) among certain groups of young people. However, Shiner and Newburn (1997) have argued that this theory is reductionist and simplifies the reasons behind a young person’s choice to abuse drugs. In reality, the reasons as to why a young person may begin to abuse drugs can range from having poor adult role models who may also use drugs and alcohol as a way of coping or even a genetic predisposition toward poor self-regulatory behaviours (Spooner and Hall, 2002). Evidence shows that adolescent alcohol and drug abuse is not influenced by a single factor but a large number of factors which are not necessarily confined to any single part of the an adolescent’s world (Connors, Donovan DiClemente, 2001). Environment The environment in which a person lives is very instrumental when it comes to the kind of life that people lead, especially young people. If the environment is for example characterized by pronounced unemployment then young people in such an environment will indulge in activities that make them forget even for a moment the realities of the unemployment situation. If, for example, in their immediate environment young people face the situation of a large supply of drugs and everyone around them is abusing drugs or alcohol, then it is easy for such young people to adopt this kind of lifestyle and become drink or drug abusers. The above explanation shows that the kind of environment a young person stays in has a very direct influence on the habits that are finally adopted by this group of young people. Curiosity Young people naturally have the tendency to try new things and to find out how it feels doing something new.   Young people in the United Kingdom are not an exception and most of them usually try drinking and drugs just to explore and find out what the experience is like. This however results in the young people becoming victims of the consequences that follow (Woo and Keatinge, 2008). The Defence Mechanism A good number of young people use drugs specifically to assist them in easing trauma that may result from unsatisfactory relationships and also physical or emotional abuse that may arise from families or homes that lack happiness. Promotion and Availability There is always a great amount of pressure from advertisement of alcohol over the media. The colourful nature of these promotions is often very enticing and mostly misleading. In the promotions or commercials, alcohol is glamorised hence the young people are influenced to indulge and as a result end up facing the dire consequences. This review will analyse the different interventions utilised when working with young people who abuse drugs and alcohol. These include those carried out by mental health workers, religion-orientated interventions, community based interventions and more psychiatric, medication based interventions. Motivational based interventions are also discussed. Aims and Objectives The aim of this project will be to review and critically evaluate the literature regarding different interventions for young people who abuse drugs and alcohol in the UK. To achieve this aim the project has set the following objectives: To critically examine the interventions for young people (aged 16 to 21) who use drugs and alcohol in UK, with the aim of providing recommendations to improve the care given to the youths who are addicted or at risk of substance abuse. To use secondary data to identify the importance of different interventions in dealing with young people (age 16 to 21) who use drugs and alcohol in the UK. Rationale Interventions for young people aged 16 to 21 who use drugs and alcohol has elicited varied opinions from professionals involved in their care. This has been a result of the often complex and varied needs of young people with substance abuse issues, such as mental health issues (Weaver et al., 2003), social exclusion (Fakhoury and Priebe, 2006) and involvement with the criminal justice system (Hamdi and Knight, 2012; Lundholm et al., 2013). Therefore, there is often disagreement on where the intervention should focus primarily. Various strategies have been advanced to address the involvement of young adults in drugs and substance abuse. For example, medication by mental health nurses in cases of addiction (Bennett and Holloway, 2005). However, due to the variety of interventions available for treating young people with substance abuse disorder, it is important to continuously review the literature in this area and pin point the most effective interventions for treating this group of individuals. [Client must write some words here on why they have chosen this topic (this is essential according to the assignment brief).] SEARCH STRATEGY In preparation for this critical literature review, a number of sources including journals, articles and health text books were used. The search was conducted using computerised databases which enabled access to literature on interventions for young people who abuse drugs and alcohol. Examples of such databases are given below: The Department of Health NHS Evidence (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, 2012). PsycINFO (American Psychological Association, 2013). PubMed (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2013). Google Scholar (Google, 2013). net (EMAP Publishing, 2013). Nursing and Midwifery Council publications (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2010). Royal College of Psychiatrists useful resources (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2013). Royal College of Nursing library services (Royal College of Nursing, 2013). These databases contained numerous useful sources such as journal articles, recommendations, guidelines and reviews that were used to gather evidence relevant to interventions for young people who abuse drugs and alcohol. Search terms used included; ‘drugs and substance abuse’, ‘alcohol abuse’, ‘effects of alcohol abuse’, and ‘intervention measures for drugs and substance abuse[1]’. It was not uncommon for a search to produce many results. Therefore, for any search that produced more than 50 results, the first 50 results were observed to pick out the most relevant and interesting studies. The remaining results were not looked at because of time constraints[2]. In addition to searching for relevant sources through online databases, reference lists within articles were also utilised to search for other relevant sources. Inclusion Criteria For an effective review of the subject area, there was a need to select relevant articles to achieve the set objectives. Therefore, only sources relevant to intervention for young people who abuse drugs and alcohol, papers published in the English language and papers published after the year 1999 were selected. Although sources pertaining to studies carried out in the USA were still considered relevant, a priority was given to sources from the UK. If a source had used an adult sample but was still considered relevant and useful then it was considered for inclusion. Exclusion Criteria General papers on drugs and substance abuse not specific to youths, papers published in languages other than English and published before the year 1999 were not included. An example search strategy when using one of these sources, the British Nursing Index, is given below. Search Strategy Example: British Nursing Index (BNI). Through citing the term ‘intervention for young people who abuse drugs and alcohol’, 5,000 articles were gathered without limiters. Limiters such as ‘role of mental health nurses’ and ‘only book and journals concerned with drugs and substance abuse’ were applied to the second search, which reduced the output to 2,034 books and journals. In the third search, additional limiters such as year of publication (2000-2012) were applied, which then reduced the number of books and journals to 734. After all further limiters were applied, such as articles that only used an age group of 16 to 21 years as participants, 70 journals and books were chosen for further analysis. Only 23 articles were considered relevant for this review and analysis due to their in depth exploration of the subject and their meeting of inclusion and exclusion criteria. LITERATURE REVIEW Interventions for substance abuse serve a number of purposes including reducing use of illicit or non-prescribed drugs and curbing problems related to drug misuse, including health, social, psychological and legal problems and last but not least tackling the dangers associated with drug misuse, including the risks of HIV, hepatitis B and C and other blood-borne infections and the risks of drug-related death. Prevention and intervention are usually categorised into primary (direct prevention), secondary (early identification of the problem and subsequent treatment) and tertiary levels (late identification and treatment). Furthermore, interventions are now often categorised into population wide interventions, selective interventions aimed at only high risk groups and early interventions for at-risk groups (Cuijpers, 2003). The nature of interventions has also evolved over the years. Twenty to thirty years ago the emphasis was on providing young people with information and buffering moral values whereas in the more modern era, a social dimension has been added and young people are taught resistance skills to avoid peer pressure (Gilvarry, 2000). Alcohol related deaths are rife in the UK, with 8,748 alcohol related deaths in the UK in 2011 (Office for National Statistics, 2013). However, there were 1,883 noted drug related deaths in 2010, a decrease of 299 from 2009 (Ghodse et al. 2012). These statistics reflect the importance of interventions for drug abusers, which could be protecting some individuals from the most extreme consequence of substance abuse. Mental Health Interventions Research has evidenced that Major Depressive Disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) is often co-morbid in young people who abuse drugs and alcohol (Sutcliffe et al., 2009; Marshall and Werb, 2010; Marmorstein, Iacono and Malone, 2010). Due to the potentially devastating effects of depression at both the individual (Galaif et al., 2011; Petrie and Brook, 2011) and societal level (Sobocki et al., 2006), substance abuse is viewed as something that must be dealt with swiftly and effectively. This co-morbidity of mental illness and substance abuse means that mental health nurses are often involved in interventions with young people. Mental illness is a psychological anomaly that is generally associated with distress or disability that is usually not considered to be a component of an individual’s normal development (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2008). Despite the fact that standard guideline criteria are used all over the world to define mental illness, diagnosis and i ntervention is often incredibly complex, especially when substance abuse is also a factor. Community services are offered to people with such problems through assessment by different psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, or sometimes social workers. All these professionals use methods of observation and inquiries through asking questions to help establish any given patient’s condition. Mental health nurses are often at the front line in providing care and support in both hospitals and the community. In the United Kingdom, mental health nurses play a great role in taking care of young people with mental disorders and mental illnesses that may have developed as a result of substance abuse (Department of Health, 2012). They offer counselling services in order to help people focus on their goals or outcomes; help people develop strategies that support self-care and enable individuals and their families to take responsibility for and participate in decisions about their health. They provide a range of services including education, research and knowledge sharing and e vidence informed practices. They also perform the role of addiction counsellors in order to provide intake co-ordination, assessment, treatment and follow-up care for youths with addictions, mental illness and mental health problems using common assessment tools. They can provide health promotion, prevention and early detection of problematic substance use; use core competencies and knowledge in addictions and a full range of withdrawal management services including detoxification services using best practice treatment protocols, outreach, prescribing, counselling, and harm reduction However, mental health nurses are often faced with challenges that hinder them from successfully achieving their goals. Challenges include non co-operation of the patients’ families and also the complex nature of patient problems (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2008). In a comprehensive review, RachBeisel, Scott and Dixon (1999) found that there was a much higher prevalence of substance abuse amongst individuals with mental illness and that the course of mental illness was significantly negatively influenced by the abuse of illegal substances. These findings highlight a key issue in mental health interventions for young people who abuse substances, namely that it is important to determine the relationship between the substance abuse and mental illness before allocating a suitable intervention. For example, if a young person has developed a mental illness as a result of abusing substances, a mental health focused intervention may not be appropriate as it would not be treating the root of the problem or the reason why the young person started to use illegal substances in the first place. Psychiatric and Medical Interventions Psychiatric and medical based interventions refer to the treatment of substance abuse in a young person by a psychiatrist who is medically trained and able to provide an additional dimension of treatment than a psychologist or mental health worker is able to. An example of this is the prescription of methadone, a synthetic opiate that is used to help young people withdraw safely from heroin use. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2007) recommend a psycho-social approach when treating individuals with substance abuse disorder and advocate the use of medication. However, use of medication with young people who are suffering from substance abuse disorders should be used with care due to the risk of dangerous side effects (Webster, 2005). Motivational Interventions Motivational interventions are brief interventions used by professionals to enhance a young person’s motivation to change and stop abusing substances (Tevyaw and Monti, 2004). In a review of the effectiveness of motivational interviewing (Smedslund et al., 2011) it was found that although motivational interviewing techniques were more effective at reducing the extent of future substance abuse when compared to no intervention, the technique was no more effective when compared to other types of intervention. For example, motivational interviewing was no better at reducing extent of substance abuse that simply assessing a patient and providing feedback. The authors reviewed 59 studies that had been accessed from a range of online databases. This is a reasonable number of studies as the body of literature on motivational interviewing as an intervention for substance abuse is quite limited. However, the authors failed to collect evidence on other measures of efficacy such as a redu ction in future criminal prosecution for drug offences or improvement in overall quality of life. The efficacy of motivational interviewing has been studied in young people in particular by McCambridge and Strang (2003). 200 young people from inner city London were randomly allocated to either a motivational interviewing condition or a non-intervention education control condition. All participants were aged between 16 and 20 and were using illegal drugs at the time of the study. The motivational interviewing intervention consisted of a brief, one hour face-to-face interview and self-reported changes in the use of cigarettes, cannabis, alcohol and other drugs was used as the outcome measure both immediately after the interview and at a three month follow up point. It was found that in comparison to the control group, young people who received motivational interviewing as a brief intervention reduced their use of cigarettes, alcohol and cannabis. Although these results initially seem in favour of motivational interviewing as an intervention for young people who have substance abuse issues, it should be noted that self-report measures are very open to bias and it is possible that the reported reduced use of drugs and alcohol was much higher than the actual reduction in use. This was reflected in a follow up study by the same authors 12 months later (McCambridge and Strang, 2005) where it was found that the difference in reduction in substance use between the experimental and control groups found after three months had completely disappeared. This result suggests that although motivational interviewing may be an effective short term intervention for treating young people with substance abuse issues, it has no enduring effectiveness over a long period of time. This may be due to a lack of follow-up support for young people and the brief nature of the intervention. Community-Based Interventions Community drug and alcohol services offer interventions such as comprehensive assessment and recovery care planning, support and care co-ordination,   advice and information, stabilisation, counselling and relapse prevention and motivational interviewing (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2008). Hepatitis B vaccinations, Hepatitis C testing and referral to treatment for these diseases, are also essential due to the risk of infections through needle sharing. Like most interventions, these community services are aimed at promoting recovery from addiction and enabling the achievement of individual goals, helping individuals to remain healthy, until, with appropriate support, they can achieve a drug-free life. This may involve stabilising service users on prescribed substitute medication to improve withdrawal symptoms and to reduce cravings. In their review of community-based interventions, Jones et al. (2006) found a limit on the effectiveness of such interventions, especially when it ca me to long term and enduring effect for reducing substance abuse. The results suggested that a change in community-based interventions was needed. Morgenstern et al. (2001) found a very high level of satisfaction among community based substance abuse counsellors who had received training in delivering cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to clients. This suggests that perhaps one way of increasing the effectiveness of community-based interventions would be to equip community-based workers with a wider range of skills with which they can help young people suffering from substance abuse. Supporting this recommendation was a study by Waldron and Kaminer (2004) who found that use of CBT was associated with clinically significant reductions in substance abuse amongst adolescents. Religious Interventions Some interventions are religious in nature. For instance, the United Methodist Church follows a holistic approach which stresses prevention, involvement, treatment, community organization, and advocacy of abstinence. The church could be argued to have a progressive role by offering a spiritual perception on the issue of substance abuse. Another popular religious based approach to tacking alcohol abuse in particular is the 12-step program offered by Alcoholics Anonymous. Individuals are commonly encouraged or possibly even required cut any acquaintances with friends who still use alcohol.  The 12-step programme motivates addicts to stop consuming alcohol or other drugs and also it helps to scrutinize and modify the habits related to their  cause of addiction. Numerous programs accentuate that recovery is a long-lasting process with no culmination. For drugs which are legal such as alcohol, complete abstinence is recommended rather than attempts at  moderation which may cause rel apses. Fiorentine and Hillhouse (2000) found that participants in a 12-step program stayed in future treatment for a much longer period of time and were much more likely to be able to complete a 24-week intervention programme. It was also found that a combination of a 12-step program and an alternative substance abuse intervention was more effective than either treatment alone. This suggests that providing young people with interventions in isolation may not be the most effective way of helping them overcome their substance abuse. However, literature on religious based interventions tends to focus on adults and although still applicable to the treatment of young people in many ways, young people may be put off by the religious nature of these 12-step programmes and may be intimidated by the group nature of the treatment. In support of this criticism, Engle and MacGowan (2009) found that only two out of 13 adolescent group treatments of substance abuse could be categorised as showing potential efficacy in treating young people with these problems. Family-Oriented Interventions It has been argued that the family has a central role in both increasing and reducing the risk of problem behaviours in young people such as substance abuse (Vimpani and Spooner, 2003). A review by Velleman, Templeton and Copello (2005) echoed this view that the family can have both a positive or negative impact on a young person’s risk of substance abuse. Kumpfer, Alvarado and Whiteside (2003) have identified that support for families based within the home, family education and skills training, improving parental behaviour and time-limited family therapy are all highly effective forms of family-based interventions for young people with substance abuse issues. However, as research has shown that the family can also play a role in increasing risk of substance abuse, professionals must be confident that family therapy is suitable and not run the risk of worsening a young person’s relationship with their family and in turn worsening their substance abuse. School-Based Interventions Education about the use of drugs and alcohol within schools has been advocated as a preventative intervention for young people at risk of substance abuse disorder. Fletcher, Bonell and Hargreaves (2008) found that interventions focused around encouraging a positive school environment and improving young peoples’ relationships was associated with a reduction in risky substance abuse. However, part of this conclusion was based on the review of observational studies, which are open to bias and subjectivity. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS This essay has reviewed a number of sources regarding the efficacy and suitability of certain interventions for young people with substance abuse issues. A key limitation of much of the literature is the tendency to put emphasis on drugs as a generic material with very little distinction is made between different types of illicit substances. With the very varied effects of different drugs on the user, it could be argued that the specific reasons for a young person’s drug usage will have an impact on the effects that a drug has. For example, stimulant drugs will most likely be used for nervous system arousal, while other drugs such as alcohol and cannabis are sedatives and cause nervous system depression. These kinds of drugs can be termed as instrumental drugs since the reasons behind their usage correspond to the effect of the different kind of drug that is used (Brick, 2008). Therefore, it might be useful for professionals to base their interventions on the types of substanc e abused. From the above literature review it is evident that there is need for mental healthcare especially to help young people who are adversely affected by the use of drugs and other substance abuse. Some youths suffer from psychiatric disorders as a result of indulgence in drugs and substance abuse. Others experience mental problems that need serious rehabilitation measures taken in order to counter such problems hence emphasis should be laid on the care that is to be given to the young people affected by any of the above problems caused by the abuse of drugs and other substances. Therefore, mental health interventions remain an important intervention for young people. A number of recommended adjustments in healthcare to cater for young people struggling with abuse have been identified. For example, there should be an increased application of various musical strategies in helping patients suffering from various mental health conditions as a result of substance abuse (Connors, Donovan DiClemente, 2001), as this kind of intervention appears to be lacking in use with young people. Another main limitation in research that aims to measure the effectiveness of intervention measures is the lack of control that researchers have. It would be considered unethical if young people with drug abuse problems were randomly allocated to intervention procedures, especially if one was chosen as a control condition and was not believed to be effective in treating substance abuse issues. This means that it can be difficult to compare intervention methods. Another limitation lies in the types of measure researchers’ use to measure effectiveness of intervention methods. For example, a self-report measure may be used to assess whether young people have either stopped or at least reduced their intake of illicit substances. This type of questionnaire may also be used to see if the young people are seeing a positive result from receiving an intervention. However, self-report measures are open to social desirability bias meaning that many young people may fabricate their answer s in order to either please the professionals who are involved with helping them or to conceal ongoing substance abuse. The review has also emphasized the causes or triggers of alcohol and drug abuse among young people in the United Kingdom showing that the environment a young person stays in is one of the greatest factors that lead to indulgence in alcohol, drug and substance abuse. Other factors like enjoyment, peer pressure, promotions in the media and rebellion are also causes of alcohol, drug and substance abuse among the youth in the United Kingdom (Gurnack, Atkinson and Osgood, 2002). More focus on these root causes could help improve prevention and reduce the need for later intervention, which has a poor track record of success. Finally, there is need according to the literature review to improve media perception of mental health patients in order to help alleviate the conditions of psychiatric disorders that are caused by the indulgence of young people in alcohol, drug and substance abuse (Berglund and Thelander, 2003). This doesn’t indicate failure in the mental nursing services but it just implies that mental health workers and psychiatrists need reinforcement in order to positively contribute to successful intervention (Califano, 2007).   This suggestion is based on the need for a more holistic approach when it comes to treating young people with substance abuse issues, where the effect on all areas of their life including their mental health must be taken into account during intervention. Strengths of this Critical Literature Review Secondary data was reviewed in this project, which provided larger scope on choices of information for the project. In addition this review was able to identify key areas for improvement of health condition interventions for youths affected by substance abuse. Limitations of this Critical Literature Review This literature review was small in scale, since word and time limits were set. Although 23 articles were selected for review, this number could have been improved. This could have provided a greater depth of understanding of the study area. In addition, limited time implicated how the review was to be carried out. The review was to be carried out in a period of less than three months during which time more than 23 articles were to be accessed and critically analysed. REFERENCES American Psychiatric Association, 1994. DSM-IV. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. American Psychological Association, 2013. PsycINFO. [online] Available at: apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/index.aspx [Accessed 26 March 2013]. Bennett, T. and Holloway, K. (2005). Understanding drugs, alcohol and crime. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Berglund, M., Thelander, S. and Jonsson, E. (2003) Treating alcohol and drug abuse: An evidence based review. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. Brick, J. (2008) Handbook of the medical consequences of alcohol and drug abuse. New York: Haworth Press. Califano, J. A. (2007). 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APPENDICES Appendix A Search Term: â€Å"Drugs and substance abuse.†    Source Number of Relevant Hits Department of Health 0 NHS Evidence 5597 PsychINFO 22 PubMed 2337 Google Scholar 1,070,000 Nursing.net 4435 Nursing and Midwifery Council 59 Royal College of Psychiatrists 477 Royal College of Nursing library services 1,753    Search Term: â€Å"Alcohol Abuse.†    Source Number of Relevant Hits Department of Health 0 NHS Evidence 6893 PsychINFO 92 PubMed 87,995 Google Scholar 1,480,000 Nursing.net 1760 Nursing and Midwifery Council 138 Royal College of Psychiatrists 629 Royal College of Nursing library services 1,654 Search Term: â€Å"Effects of alcohol abuse.†    Source Number of Relevant Hits Department of Health 0 NHS Evidence 5476 PsychINFO 31 PubMed 21,363 Google Scholar 1,430,000 Nursing.net 8502 Nursing and Midwifery Council 40 Royal College of Psychiatrists 531 Royal College of Nursing library services 2,590    Search term: â€Å"Intervention measures for drugs and substance abuse.†    Source Number of Relevant Hits Department of Health 0 NHS Evidence 3169 PsychINFO 3 PubMed 215 Google Scholar 174,000 Nursing.net 7672 Nursing and Midwifery Council 23 Royal College of Psychiatrists 302 Royal College of Nursing library services 3,250       Appendix B    Title First Author Publication Year 1 Drug treatment and twelve-step program participation: the additive effects of integrated recovery activities. Fiorentine 2000 2 A critical review of adolescent substance abuse group treatments. Engle 2009 3 Co-occuring severe mental illness and substance use disorders: A review of recent research. RachBeisel 1999 4 Statistics for young people in specialist drug and alcohol services in England 2011-12 National Drug Treatment Monitoring System 2012 5 Substance abuse in young people. Gilvarry 2000 6 The efficacy of single-session motivational interviewing in reducing drug consumption and perceptions of drug-related risk and harm among young people: results from a multi-site cluster randomised trial. McCambridge 2004 7 The role of the family in preventing and interviewing with substance use and misuse: a comprehensive review of family intervention, with a focus on young people. Velleman 2005 8 School effects on young people’s drug use: a systematic review of intervention and observational studies. Fletcher 2008 9 A review of community-based interventions to reduce substance misuse among vulnerable and disadvantaged young people. Jones 2006 10 Motivational enhancement and other brief interventions for adolescent substance abuse: foundations, applications and evaluations. Tevyaw 2004 11 Motivational interviewing for substance abuse. Smedslund 2011 12 On the learning curve: the emerging evidence supporting cognitive-behavioural therapies for adolescent substance abuse. Waldron 2004 13 Testing the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral treatment for substance abuse in a community setting: within treatment and posttreatment findings. Morgenstern 2001 14 Family-based interventions for substance use and misuse prevention. Kumpfer 2003 15 Deterioration over time in effect of Motivational Interviewing in reducing drug consumption and related risk among young people. McCambridge 2005 16 Drug misuse: psychosocial interventions: full guideline. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence 2007 17 Substance abuse treatment and the stages of change: Selecting and planning interventions. Connors 2001

The Best Way to Run a Creative Ideation Workshop

The Best Way to Run a Creative Ideation Workshop Every business, product, project, campaign, blog post, and plan starts with an idea. Bringing an idea to life can be a long and challenging process. But arriving at a good idea can be a challenge as well. You could brainstorm 100 ideas and find that none of them seem worth pursuing. Or you could arrive at a handful of good ideas, only to be faced with the difficulty of choosing which idea to pour your time and resources into. The aim of a creative ideation workshop is to optimize the brainstorming process. The problem is, if your ideation workshop isn’t focused and structured, you can end up wasting a lot of time. That’s where this guide will help you. After you’ve read and implemented all the strategies in this post, sign up for a free trial. It’s the best way to plan and manage all your projects. From project to-dos, workflow planning, and team management, it’s got all the features you need to make your projects feel like organized heaven†¦ But First†¦ Download These Creative Brief Templates A creative brief is a great way to get everyone on the same page before any new project takes off. Steal one of these templates to make the process as easy as can be.Identify the Goal of Your Workshop There’s no such thing as a bad idea, right? I’ll leave that one up to you. But there are definitely ideas that aren’t relevant enough to be prioritized. In order to come up with relevant, viable ideas, you need to identify a clear goal from the get-go. Specifically, you should identify a particular metric or product feature you want to impact. The first step of any creative workshop is to identify the goal. For example, say you wanted to do a blog content ideation session. Rather than simply ask, â€Å"What are some new topics for blog content we can do?† hone in on a more specific goal. Your goal could be something like â€Å"to increase conversions on this particular landing page† or â€Å"to get more people to use this feature of our product.† Having a specific metric you want to impact  will help you come up with focused ideas. This will also help you eliminate (or backlog) any ideas that don’t directly impact that metric. If you’d like a more detailed guide to identifying key metrics, check out this growth strategy guide. Now let’s talk about the dream team you’ll need to assemble for your creative ideation workshop. Pick the Right People For Your Workshop Time to assemble your dream team. GIF Source To gather the best ideas, make sure you have the right people participating in your workshop. Generally speaking, it’s helpful to have a group of people with varied perspectives participating. Think: who on your team knows the most about the metric you want to impact? Who has worked on similar projects in the past? Who might be able to offer an important perspective? Get Multiple Perspectives Returning to the blog content brainstorming example, you would certainly want to include members from your content team. But depending on the metric you want to impact, you may also want to include a member or two from another team. For example, say you were brainstorming content ideas with the goal of promoting a new product feature. It could be useful to include a member of your customer support team in the workshop. They interact with your customers on a daily basis and will know first-hand what kinds of problems they face. Or say your goal is to brainstorm a new product feature. Not only would you want engineers in the workshop, but also someone from customer support to help you identify customer problems. Or someone from your Marketing team, who would be familiar with your competitors and be able to identify differentiators. Use a Structured Ideation Technique If you want to maximize your time and effort in your creative ideation workshop, you need to follow a structured approach. That’s why you should create a framework to ideate, narrow down and prioritize ideas. A quick search will yield hundreds of different ideation techniques  you could use. The key is to use a framework that allows your team to come up with a pool of focused ideas, which you can then narrow down to select the best contenders. Here are some tried and true ideation techniques you can use. Across all of these ideation techniques, it’s a good idea to give your team some homework prior to the workshop. Every participant should come to the workshop equipped with some knowledge of the problem so that their ideas will be informed. All of these ideation techniques will require a facilitator to be appointed. They’ll be in charge of leading the workshop and making decisions about which ideas to prioritize. Idea Sprint (from the book Sprint) This the method is very effective. It’s typically used for both product and marketing ideation. This method was adapted from the Google Design Sprint outlined in the book Sprint, which takes place over five days. We condensed the framework down to a  shorter version that can be completed in a 1-2 hour creative ideation workshop. Step 1: Intro (15 minutes)  Communicate any key information participants should know before they dive in. For example, if you’re doing a product ideation workshop, then you will need to share your product vision. There may also be specific user pain points you want to address, a particular challenge you want to overcome, or any requirements the final solution must contain. You may also want to offer some examples of competitors’ solutions. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses they present. Step 2: Crazy 8’s (10 - 20 minutes)  Crazy 8’s is a fast sketching exercise that challenges each member to sketch 8 distinct ideas in 8 minutes (roughly 1 idea per minute, unless you want to a lot more time). The goal is to push participants to come up with a wide variety of ideas. Each participant should take a piece of paper and fold it into 8 sections. Instruct them to sketch one idea in the first rectangle. When the time sounds, tell them to move on to sketching a new idea in the second rectangle, and so on. Here’s a template you can use: Use This Template Step 3: Storyboarding (20 minutes)  Instruct each participant to take the best idea from their Crazy 8’s session and create a thorough solution sketch in storyboard form (305 screens with annotations). They should explain how the solution directly addresses the goal of the ideation workshop. These don’t have to be beautiful but they should be coherent and easy to understand. Step 4: Dot Voting (10 - 20 minutes)  This step follows a heat map-style approach to review solutions. Every participant should be given dot stickers. Let the participants walk around and vote for which features of a solution, or which solutions in their entirety, they like by placing the do stickers beside them. Popular solutions and features will become apparent when they have multiple dots clustered around them. Step 5: Summarize Voting and Discuss as a Group (10 -15   minutes)  Group any similar solutions. Then, allow participants to explain and promote any solution that couldn’t be adequately explained in a sketch. After the Sprint:  Once the sprint is over, it’s time to pick and prioritize. The ideation workshop facilitator and/or project manager should decide which ideas are worth testing. [Tweet "The best step-by-step process for running an idea sprint." #marketing] Rapid Ideation The aim of this framework is to come up with as many unfiltered ideas as you can, without fear of judgment. Then, you can narrow it down from there. Step 1: (5-10 minutes) First, go over what the goal of your ideation session will be and who your main audience is. Step 2: (10-20 minutes)  Discuss the scope and parameters of your project. What timeframe will you be working in? What’s the budget? This will help you Step 3: (30-40 minutes)  Have each participant individually brainstorm ideas. Set a goal of approximately an idea a minute, to encourage them to think quickly and freely. Step 4 (20 minutes)  Ask participants to pick their top 3-5 ideas and present them to the team. Then, eliminate the ideas that aren’t viable or relevant enough. Once you’ve picked the idea (or few ideas) you want to prioritize, you can further flesh them out. Starbursting Starbursting is a creative ideation technique that spurs participants to ask questions, rather than trying to come up with instant solutions. This can be an effective approach when you’re trying to prioritize a new project, product feature, or content strategy. Start by drawing a 6-point star and write the questions Who,  What,  Where,  When,  Why and  How  at the tip of each point. In the center of the star, write the metric you want to impact.

Cynodictis - Facts and Figures

Cynodictis - Facts and Figures Name: Cynodictis (Greek for in-between dog); pronounced SIGH-no-DIK-tiss Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Epoch: Late Eocene-Early Oligocene (37-28 million years ago) Size and Weight: About two feet long and 5-10 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Long, narrow muzzle; low-slung body    About Cynodictis As has happened with so many other once-obscure prehistoric animals, Cynodictis owes its current popularity to its cameo appearances on the BBC series Walking with Beasts: in one episode, this early carnivore was shown chasing away a juvenile Indricotherium, and in another, it was a quick snack for a passing Ambulocetus (not a very convincing scenario, since this walking whale wasnt much bigger than its presumed prey!) Until recently, it was widely believed that Cynodictis was the first true canid, and thus lay at the root of 30 million years of dog evolution. Today, though, its relationship to modern dogs is more dubious: Cynodictis seems to have been a close relative of Amphicyon (better known as the Bear Dog), a type of carnivore that succeeded the giant creodonts of the Eocene epoch. Whatever its ultimate classification, Cynodictis certainly behaved like a proto-dog, chasing down small, furry prey on the boundless plains of North America (and possibly digging them out of shallow burrows as well).