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Biomedical subjects

A E MacEachron

Publications and source records attributed to A E MacEachron.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1985

Institutional reform, adaptive functioning of mentally retarded persons, and staff quality of work life.

In a previously reported, one-year field experiment of institutional reform, higher adaptive behavior among residents who lived in more normalizing residences was found (MacEachron, 1983). The main hypothesis of the present study was that staff quality of work life (job design, influence in decision-making, and leadership style of the immediate supervisor) may explain the effectiveness of institutional reform as well as staff satisfaction and motivation to perform effectively. Only greater staff influence in decision-making could explain the effectiveness of institutional reform, although all quality-of-work-life perspectives were associated with staff satisfaction and motivation to perform effectively.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1985

Self-preservation ability and residential fire emergencies: replication and criterion-validity study.

In a previous study MacEachron and Janicki (1983) used the National Bureau of Standards approach to measuring self-preservation ability to estimate the prevalence of such skills in the New York State service population of 47,000 developmentally disabled persons. In the present study we replicated their results in another state serving 8,000 developmentally disabled persons. Moreover, we found that the operationalized National Bureau of Standards' measurement was a good predictor of a criterion measure of self-preservation ability. These results suggest the general feasibility of using these measurements to estimate prevalence, focus intervention strategies and capital expenditures to specific areas of need, and provide information to facilitate appropriate residential placement.

Accident Prevention↗
PubMed1983

Self-preservation ability and residential fire emergencies.

Perske's concept of risk from the perspective of fire safety was examined for approximately 46,000 developmentally disabled persons. The National Bureau of Standards measurement of self-preservation ability was used to define individual risk, resulting in the Evacuation Assistance Score. Environmental risk was measured by grouping residences according to fire safety standards described in the National Fire Protection Association's Life Safety Code. Results indicated that: (a) the Evacuation Assistance Score is best thought of as a single variable that measures any risk that might impede a resident's safe evacuation in a fire emergency, (b) the majority of the developmentally disabled individuals receiving services in New York were totally capable of self-preservation, (c) resident demographic characteristics were not strong predictors of Evacuation Assistance Scores, and (d) the match between individual and physical environment risk vulnerability was not strong.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Institutional reform and adaptive functioning of mentally retarded persons: a field experiment.

The effectiveness of institutional reform was examined in a one-year field experiment. Institutionalized residents were randomly assigned to live in either 15 new residences designed to be more normalizing or in 14 older institutional buildings designed for more custodial care. Results indicated that: (a) the physical and social aspects of the new residences were more normalizing, (b) the adaptive functioning of residents in the new residences was higher after a year's time, and (c) the social aspects of normalizing environments were the best predictors of higher adaptive functioning.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Competitive employment training for mentally retarded adults: the supported work model.

The supported work model designed to train mentally retarded persons for competitive employment, was initiated as a pilot program in 1979. The placement rate was 50 percent. In order to investigate the predictors of placement, we conducted an empirical analysis using the theory of work adjustment perspective. Results indicated that the participant's work behavior and job skills, ability to meet the requirements of the jobs, and employment reinforcements were predictors of competitive placement.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Mentally retarded offenders: prevalence and characteristics.

The range of prevalences rates for retarded offenders reported in the literature varies from 2.6 to 39.6 percent. This wide variability appears to be due to the use of different population bases and to the way intelligence is measured. When these issues were explored empirically, prevalence rates for retarded offenders in two northeastern states were found to be only slightly higher than the prevalence rate of mental retardation in the general population. A second issue in the literature is identification of the predictors of offenders' offense severity, sentence length, and past recidivism. Results of this study showed that social and legal variable are better predictors than is intelligence, although no predictors were particularly strong.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Supervision in tribal and state child welfare agencies: professionalization, responsibilities, training needs, and satisfaction.

Although tribal child welfare and family services have expanded substantially since the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, little is known about tribal child welfare services or their personnel. This exploratory study compared supervisors from 11 tribal child welfare agencies and one state child welfare agency. Tribal and state supervisors reported similar levels of supervisory professionalization and satisfaction, but they differed in their ethnicity, their supervisory tasks, and their training needs. The results were interpreted from a systems perspective of ethnic-sensitive agency practice.

Adult↗