Search results

Abstract
Adult safeguarding is characterised by competing debates related to core concepts including policy and legislative frameworks. In some countries, to reconcile the dualism of agency and structure, conflict and ambiguity are legislated for through the introduction of adult safeguarding legislation (ASL). This study set out to explore how the absence of ASL in the Irish context impacts safeguarding processes. A qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews (N = 14) and focus groups (N = 2) with social workers, explored variables from adult safeguarding cases that contribute to positive outcomes in the absence of ASL, and where legislation could have helped, using a critical incident technique. Four themes emerged: practices and processes; coercive control and undue influence; information sharing and multiagency cooperation; and inability to access services. Whilst in the majority of cases existing policy and legislation achieved successful outcomes, legislative powers such as a duty to cooperate, to share information and powers of entry were deemed necessary. This study suggests limits to safeguards and protections within current policy. It illustrates the dualism that often exists between the agency of social workers to act to safeguard adults at risk and the structural rules, relationships and resources that can restrict the context of action in absence of legislation.

This paper aims to improve residential preparation for natural disasters and their aftermath by identifying the critical capabilities for adaptation in one highly resilient U.S. county during an extended power blackout after a tornado. We present findings from a survey and structured interviews of residents of Madison County, Alabama who remained in their homes during a blackout following a tornado on April 27, 2011. In particular, we examined the technical capabilities of these individuals that were used to respond to expected needs and to adapt to unexpected issues. We found that even without intentional preparation, participants had technologies to support critical functions but lacked consumables and resources for emerging needs. Nonetheless, participants adapted well because critical items were mostly easy to use, additional resources were available in the community, and their technical knowledge and skills facilitated effective problem-solving and innovation. Critical functions identified for home habitability are listed with examples of versatile ways these functions were accommodated during the blackout. Additional research is needed to validate the proposed list of critical functions and to develop measures that can be used to assess technical capabilities that foster community resilience. Research is also needed to validate the proposed activities that governmental and non-governmental organizations could undertake to foster resilience such as encouraging lay community members to reflect on lessons learned and the usefulness of relevant household items during disaster training and practice drills.

Objective: The present research examined design of a virtual keyboard for text entry with a rotary controller, emphasizing users who differ in age and system experience. Background: Existing research has minimally addressed usage frequency, age, and the effects of display shape and letter arrangement on movement and visual search components of text entry tasks. The present research was conducted to close these gaps. Method: Two experiments were completed to examine younger (18—28 years) and older (60—75 years) adults' movement and visual search capabilities using four keyboard shapes and three keyboard arrangements. In a third experiment examining combined effects on shape design, 32 younger (18—28 years) and 32 older (60—75 years) adults entered words on the two best shapes from the first experiments. Results: For the movement task, movement time was lowest for shapes with higher shape-controller compatibility. For the visual search task, search time and accuracy were best on the alphabetic arrangement. In the combined task, shape did not significantly influence performance at different levels of practice. Transfers, however, suggested that the shape with salient visual features elicited a text entry strategy for older adults that may promote more consistent performance under occasional usage. Conclusion: The studies together demonstrate that keyboard shape is important for efficient performance. Shape-controller compatibility facilitated performance in both age groups. Salient features facilitate performance, especially for older adults. In nearly all cases alphabetic arrangement yielded the best performance. Application: Recommendations are provided for virtual keyboard design for different usage frequencies, contexts, and users.