Checklists and Rating Scales Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Checklists and Rating Scales - Assignment Example Checklists provide a list of thoughts, emotions and behaviors that may be demonstrated by the individual, and may be filled in by either an evaluator or may be reported by the person themselves. Most checklists provide the symptoms associated with some kind of challenge (Gregory, 2004). Each symptom that is demonstrated is marked and once the entire list is completed, the total number of symptoms is totaled. Checklists are thus called additive methods of evaluation (Merrell & Harlacher, 2008). These are objective and easy to understand, and do not require as much time or expertise as interviews. They are also comprehensive, and allow the evaluator to identity less visible symptoms that could be missed during observation (Merrell & Harlacher, 2008). The main issue with a checklist is that they do not allow one to estimate the magnitude of the symptom. While one person may exhibit the symptom rarely, another may exhibit it almost every day. At such times rating scales provide an advantage over checklists in that each selected item is also rated on a 3 point or 5 point scale ranging from never/rarely to always/frequently (Gregory, 2004). Thus, each symptom is provided with a weighted score all of which may be added to get a composite score. Rating scales are algebraic in nature, and the value assigned to each item provides a detailed understanding of the experience of the person (Merrell & Harlacher, 2008). Checklists are valuable screening instruments that help in identifying person’s who need help; while rating scales are useful when trying to understand which symptoms are more dominant for a particular person (Gregory, 2004). Both these instruments are objective and easy to use, but are unable to provide the meaning associated with the symptoms by the individual. The validity of the responses depends on the honesty of the responses and it may become

Business plan for PARAMOUNT SENIOR CARE SERVICES

Business plan for PARAMOUNT SENIOR CARE SERVICES Paramount Senior Care Services Inc. (Paramount) is a new home health care company in its start up stages. It will offer in-home care services to patients and clients from Halton-Peel region of the province of Ontario, Canada. Our value proposition is to offer quality, personalized, customized care, support and assistance to seniors and families to help them maintain their independence at the comfort of their own homes at reasonable cost. Paramount has a unique competitive advantage; it is offering a one-stop-shop home care service for senior: skilled home health care, companionship; cleaning and housekeeping services; home repair, renovation and maintenance at reasonable price. Paramount is providing the senior and families the benefits of living in an assisted facility in the comfort of their own homes. There is an expected growth in the demand of health care in Canada over the next 30 years, largely due to unprecedented growth in the number of seniors. According to Statistics Canada there will be a 30% increase in Canadas senior population annually from 2006 to 2016 or 4.3M to 9.0M respectively. The population based in Canada is aging, including residents of Halton-Peel Region, and more of the seniors opting to stay in their own homes as long as possible. Even after their hospitalization for example, they rather recuperate at home rather than proceeding to a nursing home or rehabilitation clinic. At the rate of 57% growth of senior population in Halton-Peel region from 1996 to 2016 as projected by Statistics Canada, the senior population aged 65 to 85+ in the region for the next five years will be from 222,921 to 242,459; trend is growing by 30% annually in succeeding years. Paramount customer base will be through referrals from physicians, social workers, other health care profess ionals and community care facilities in the region. There is a strong competition in the market, however, Paramount will position itself as unique one-stop-shop home care service for seniors with competent, caring caregivers and professional management. Our companys business model includes several revenue streams from services we offer such as skilled care-nursing care, physical therapy, speech therapy or occupational therapy; companionship; housekeeping; and home repair, renovation and maintenance. In the home care business, the terms of payment for services rendered usually takes up to 30 days. In this regard, Paramount is looking for additional funding to support the cash flow for the initial operation, in the form of a 5-year loan in the amount of $50,000 at the prevailing interest rate. The company will not take up any further loans, as it plans to support the growth through its cash flow. Company Overview Paramount Senior Care Services Inc. is a start-up company in its initial year of operation. Our company will be located in Mississauga. It will offer in-home care services to patients and clients, who prefer to be assisted and taken care of in the comfort of their own homes, from Halton and Peel District region which includes the cities of Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon, Milton, Oakville, Halton Hills Burlington. Offering: Skilled Care- Nursing, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist Personal Support Care Companionship Housekeeping Home Repair, Renovation and Maintenance Value Proposition Our value proposition is to offer quality, personalized, customized care, support and assistance to seniors and families to help them maintain their independence at the comfort of their own homes at reasonable cost. Mission Statement Paramount Senior Care Services strives to offer superior and reasonably priced home health care to individual and families in Halton-Peel Region providing with competent, reliable health care and professional management. Company Ownership Paramount Senior Care Services Inc. is a limited liability partnership owned and operated by: Severina Saliva-Parayaoan Arlyn Gardon, RN Ben Dimaano Business Model Our company have several revenue streams from services it offers that includes income from skilled care, companionship, personal support and services, housekeeping and companionship, and other special services in home repair, renovation, maintenance and security services as outlined in the diagram below. PARAMOUNT SENIOR CARE SERVICES INC. Business Model Profit Key Personnel /Resource Cost/Expenses Revenue Streams Customer Segments Strategic Goals Objectives Key Strategic Areas of Focus Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Sales Revenue 10% annual growth 10% annual growth 10% annual growth Profit before Interest Taxes 40% of sales 40% sales 40% of sales Net Profit At least 20% of sales At least 20% of sales At least 20% of sales Geographic coverage- # of locations Focus in Halton-Peel Region Expand nationwide thru franchising the companys business in Edmonton and B.C. Expand internationally- US East coast and the Islands of Bermuda Customer satisfaction At least 80% customer retention At least 80% customer retention At least 80% customer retention Service Overview Paramount Care Services Inc. offers excellent home health care services such as skilled nursing care, nursing aide, speech therapy, physical therapy, or personal support services; companionship: personal hygiene, meals preparation, housekeeping, laundry, transportation and shopping. We also provide home repair, renovation, security and maintenance to upgrade home facilities adaptable to seniors changing lifestyle and physical mobility. The following are the list of services and its features. All aims to benefit the seniors and family with peace of mind, convenience and assurance of excellent personal health care and care of property- providing the benefits of assisted living facility in the comfort of their own homes. Skilled Care features: Nursing Care Physical Therapy Speech Therapy Occupational Therapy Personal Support Care features: Assist in personal hygiene and grooming Morning Care/Bedtime Care Catheter care Etc. Companionship features: Companionship on travel Respite care while in the hospital or at home Meals preparation Grocery shopping Medical appointment Beauty Salon or Barbers appointment Engage in interactive activities Pet Care Etc. Housekeeping features: Cleaning inside the house Cleaning windows Laundry, etc. Home Repair, Renovation and Maintenance features: Toilet and bathroom renovation Installation of handrails in bathrooms or stairs Plumbing Electrical Carpentry Gardening and Lawn Maintenance Snow removal Country Analysis- PEST PEST Analysis- Canada Establishing a senior home care business in a democratic country like Canada is projected to be successful. Canada has a strong and stable economy where seniors are protected and covered with health care insurance and benefits, and labor laws pertaining caregivers and health care professionals are in place to support the growing and changing needs of the countrys demographics, supported with highly advanced technological infrastructure with a general hospital in every major city and good route accessibility. Political and Legal Factors Democratic country Health insurance for seniors are mandatory and well-established Laws and regulations supporting and encouraging seniors home care health services Labor laws and immigration laws encouraging caregiver programs Economic Factors Strong, stable economy Senior citizens are provided with health care benefits and allowances Growing population of seniors at the rate of 30% annual growth rate Increase in demand in seniors home health care services Growth in immigration particularly in health care profession Socio-Cultural Factors Seniors in Canada are usually taken care of caregivers other than family members Family members are usually busy with careers and can afford to hire caregivers for elderly members of the family rather than to give up their work Seniors prefer to stay in the comfort of their own homes as long as there will be proper caregiver to assist Technological Factors Highly technological infrastructure with very good access to telecommunications including telephone, internet, etc. Service Business-Industry Analysis To summarize the industry analysis using Porters Five Forces: Barriers to Entry is low, considering home care services are considered as home-based business threats of new entrants is high. Suppliers Power is low, although nurses and health-care related professionals are in demand there are more people who are also getting qualifications in health care as second career as well as qualified new immigrants coming to the country. Buyers Power is high, considering there are many choices referrals and recommendation from key partners is highly important. Threat of Substitute is high, as there are many alternative service providers in the market. Competition/Rivalry is high, existing large private companies are dominating the market plus the presence of major franchise companies. Due to the increasing demand and growth of the industry, senior home care business is still consider to be an attractive industry even though the rivalry is high. Marketing Plan Market Analysis Summary There is an expected growth in the demand of health care in Canada over the next 30 years, largely due to unprecedented growth in the number of seniors. The forecasted numbers are below*. Year Number of Seniors Population Share Ratio of Seniors 2006 4.3 million 13.3% 1 in 7 people 2016 5.7 million 16.6% 1 in 6 people 2026 7.7 million 21.4% 1 in 5 people 2036 9.0 million 24.5% 1 in 4 people * Statistics Canada, CANSIM, Table 052-0004 and Catalogue no. 91-520-X. 2005. Based on the above information, there will be a 30% increase in senior population annually from 2006 to 2016. The consumer base for Paramount Senior Care Services Inc will be patients referred by social workers, physicians, health care facilities and other health care professionals as well as satisfied clients and their families. The majority of these patients will be covered by OHIP with a smaller portion being shouldered by the patients and/or families. Market Segmentation The population based in Canada is aging, including residents of Halton and Peel Region, and more of the seniors opting to stay in their own homes as long as possible. Even after their hospitalization for example, they rather recuperate from home than proceeding to a nursing home or rehabilitation clinic. Population Estimates and Projections by CSD for Halton-Peel Region, 2001-2016 Census Subdivision 1996 Population 2001 Population 2006 Population 2011 Population 2016 Population Peel Mississauga 563,000 613,000 653,000 676,000 694,000 Brampton 277,600 321,000 382,000 445,000 510,000 Caledon 41,200 49,000 58,000 67,000 76,000 Total 881,800 983,000 1,093,000 1,188,000 1,280,000 Halton Oakville 132,300 146,300 161,300 184,900 214,900 Burlington 141,100 154,800 164,300 172,200 178,900 Milton 33,100 37,100 58,000 71,000 84,200 Halton Hills 43,700 49,000 54,800 60,000 65,000 Total 350,200 338200 438,400 488,100 543,000 Grand Total 1,232,000 1,321,200 1,531,400 1,676,100 1,823,000 From 1996 to 2016, Halton-Peel regions population is projected to experience a growth rate of over 50%, compared to a provincial average of approximately 25%, as per Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term care Provincial Health Planning Database in 2001. Population in Halton-Peel Region, by Age and Sex, 2000 (Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term care Provincial Health Planning Database in 2001) Halton Region Peel Region Target Market Segment- Trends and Growth Based on the above data, at the rate of 57% growth of population from 1996 to 2016 as projected by Statistics Canada, the senior population aged 65 to 85+ in Halton-Peel region for the next five years will be as follows: Year Halton Region Estimated Population Peel Region Estimated Population Estimated Total Population Projected Senior Population (65 and above) (13.3% of Total) 2011 488,100 1,188,000 1,676,100 222,921 2012 497,862 1,211,760 1,709,622 227,380 2013 507,819 1,235,995 1,643,814 231,927 2014 517,976 1,260,715 1,778,691 236,566 2015 528,335 1,285,929 1,814,265 241,297 2016 543,000 1,280,000 1,823,000 242,459 The total size of the market representing projected senior population in the Halton and Peel region is 222,921 in 2011 to 242,459 in 2016; and expected to increase by 30% in the succeeding years. Out of the total market size, Paramount Senior Care Services, Inc target market share for the first three years of operation is 0.12%, 0.13%, and 0.14% or 276, 303 and 333 patients/clients respectively, at 10% sales annual growth as illustrated in the table below. Year Projected Senior Population (65 and above) (13.3% of Total) Target Market Share in % Target Number of Clients/Patients/day (year) Growth Rate 2011 222,921 1st-2012 227,380 0.12% 23 (276) 10% 2nd-2013 231,927 0.15% 25 (303) 10% 3rd-2014 236,566 0.20% 27.5 (333) 10% Our primary market segment includes those seniors 65 years old and above who require health care services or companionship by home health nursing staff or personal support workers. As well as, individuals who have suffered stroke, and other physical ailments resulting to personal injury requiring rehabilitation care, respite care, speech therapy, physical therapy, or care management from skilled nurse or therapist or personal support worker in their own homes. These patients and their families may also require other home services such as meals preparation, cleaning, housekeeping, transportation and shopping as well as home repairs, renovation, including property and lawn maintenance, home security and emergency alarm. Target Market Segment Strategy Initially, our company will focus on those market segments that require only home-based services where our services are mostly needed. This will greatly decrease overhead, since additional office or facilities will not be required. In the long term, maybe after five years of successful operation opening of an assisted living facility will be an option. Competition and Buying Patterns The following are key factors considered by the consumer and healthcare professionals when referring home health care services: Trust in the reputation of the service provider Reliability and timely delivery of services Quality of services by the service provider Price comparative to other providers Competitive Analysis Key Factors Paramount Care Services Home Instead (Private) Nurses Next Door (Private) Guardian Angel Care (Private) Public sector-i.e. Red Cross, Victorian Order of Nurses,etc Strength One-Stop-Shop care for seniors Franchise proven business and strong support Franchise proven business and strong support Hospice, palliative end of life care Community services and link with government/ Hospitals Weakness New company with no strong clients base yet Categorize as more expensive in the industry Categorize as more expensive in the industry Lack of personalize care Limited to health care service only (no cleaning/ housekeeping) Unique Selling Proposition One-Stop-Shop care for seniors Patented CAREgiver program Guaranteed nurses just next door of the clients Specialized in hospice, palliative end of life care Community service supported by the government Trust in the professional reputation Medium-as we are a start-up company High-due to brand image High-due to brand image High-due to number of years in the business High- due to established and proven organization and community service Reliability High-24/7 service High-24/7 service High-24/7 service High-24/7 service High-24/7 service Quality of Services High- regulated by law High- regulated by law High- regulated by law High- regulated by law High-regulated by law Price Lower than franchise competitors Expensive Expensive Competitive As per OHIP Notes: The table above shows a strong competition in the home health care industry. However, Paramount Senior Care Services Inc is positioning itself as health care company providing affordable rates for seniors and families having a limited budget which represents a majority of seniors in the target market areas with our unique offering of one-stop-shop services for seniors. Competitive Advantage Paramount Senior Care Services Inc. is a newly set up business that has a unique competitive advantage offering a one-stop-shop for senior care: home health care and companionship; cleaning housekeeping services; home repair, renovation and maintenance at reasonable price. Paramount Senior Care Services is providing the senior and families the benefits of living in an assisted facility in the comfort of their own homes. Strategy and Implementation Summary Paramount Senior Care Services Inc. will initially focus on Halton and Peel District within the province of Ontario, Canada. Within this geographical area we will target on senior home care program. Within this area we have two target markets: the individual client, and the regional physicians, hospitals and other health care facilities and insurance companies. Marketing Strategy Product/Services Our primary focus is home health care services to seniors. We will provide seniors a One-Stop-Shop in all their home health care services need; it will provide convenience for seniors and their families. Pricing Strategy Our company pricing system will be set according to OHIP and other private insurance regulations, and is reasonable and competitive. We will do so by developing a contracted service from health-care staff on hourly, daily or weekly basis and only limited full-time employees as full-time staff. Distribution Strategy Our company will focus in the Halton-Peel Region where the projected growth of seniors is higher than the national average. Our company will build strategic alliance with health care facilities in the region primarily Trillium Hospital in Mississauga, Credit Valley hospital, and the new general hospital in Milton as well as community centers and health care practitioners in the region. Promotion Strategy Marketing our company as a service-oriented business requires establishing a good reputation for expert care and superior quality service. It starts with our existing contacts currently in positions to make recommendations and referrals to us, and we will continue with our efforts to network, integrate with the community health care professionals in the region. We will participate in community events in the region to build contacts and generate more referrals. We will create marketing communications and promotion materials in a business, professional manner, as well as our marketing tools such as flyers, brochures, business cards and advertisements. Sales Strategy Our patients and their families, as well as referring physicians and healthcare professional must be satisfied with our service, as we sell superior care, 24/7 availability, reliability and good relationships. Growth in service industry often resulted to loss of quality control that causes client dissatisfaction, increase in complaints and eventually loss of customers. In this regard we will constantly focus on superior quality of service. Sales Forecast The companys projected annual sales for the first three years of operation are as follows based on the assumption: Using conservative estimates Assuming to acquire a share of only 0.12% to 0.13% of target market An average of six hours service per client An average rate of $25/hour Target growth rate of 10% annually Sales Forecast Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Sales Target Market Size 227,380 231,927 236,566 Target Market Share 0.12% 0.13% 0.14% No. of Patients or Clients 23 25 28 Ave. Hours/Patient/Day 8 8 8 Total Service Hours/Day 184 200 220 Ave. Rate/Hour $25.00 $25.00 $25.00 Total Sales/Day $4,600.00 $5,000.00 $5,500.00 Total Sales/Month $92,000.00 $100,000.00 $110,000.00 Total Sales/Year 100% $1,104,000.00 $1,200,000.00 $1,320,000.00 Direct Cost of Sales at 6% of Sales 6% $ 66,240.00 $ 72,000.00 $ 79,200.00 Gross Profit 94% $ 1,037,760.00 $ 1,128,000.00 $ 1,240,800.00 Geographic Expansion Plan Year 1- Halton Peel Region in the Province of Ontario, Canada Year 2- To expand operation nation-wide by second year of operation by expanding in British Columbia and Edmonton. Year 3- To expand operation internationally by third year of operation; to start in the United States by entering New York City in US East Coast; and the Islands of Bermuda in the Atlantic. Operations Day-to-day Operations Office Location: Main office in Mississauga with sub-office in Milton Office hours: 8:30 am- 5:30 pm Mondays-Saturdays at the main office location in Mississauga. Operating hours: 24/7 on call in case of appointment schedule, clients visit or emergency. There will be an assigned manager to handle calls during out-of-office hours on rotation basis. Client call and visit schedule. Staff and sub-contracted parties work schedule and assignment making sure clients/patients will be attended as required. Office Requirements Telephone 4-in-1 printer, copier, fax and scanner machine Computer for office use Office table and chairs Office supplies- stationary, etc, Legal Compliance Business license and registration Incorporation Taxes Bond, security and liability insurance Legal documentations CPA retainer Health Compliance Accreditation and certification from government agencies Certification and qualification of staff and skilled professionals Management Information System QuickBooks software program for accounting, finance and payroll recording and management Company website Internet connection and email Data Base Management Customer Relationship Management Communications Brochures Print ads Presentation folders for clients and partners in health care Medical Supplies Equipments Basic supplies in handling patients such as clinical gloves and masks Risk Management There are several identified potential risks in home health care industry, our company have identified some of them and have established mitigation plan to manage the risk accordingly as described in the table below. Potential Risks Mitigation Plan Injury, accidents and/or death Loss/theft on clients property Internal breach of security (i.e. credit card use, unauthorized use of data by employees or third parties) Health care recording process quality control management in place to prove proper care or negligence Bond and insurance coverage Liability waiver Background check on staff and sub-contractors/partners is mandatory Bond and security liability insurance Liability waiver Organization policies and procedures in handling documentations must be in order Data encryption Electronic form and signature Offsite storage Management and Organization Summary Paramount Senior Care, Inc. initial management team will consist of a Managing Director, a Case Manager, a Maintenance Manager, six employees, and contracted caregivers and housekeepers, a contracted agency to fulfill the need for Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and Speech Therapists. Initially, all managers will also provide direct service. Severina Saliva-Parayaoan has a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration major in Accounting and currently finishing a post-graduate certificate in Global Business Management. She has over ten years experience in business development, management and administration. She will provide all administrative direction and will perform most of the administrative functions with assistance from the Administrative Assistant. She will also supervise housekeeping service. Arlyn Guardon is a registered nurse and has experience as a Skilled Nurse and Care Manager for a Home Health Agency will be the Case Manager. She will also provide direct nursing services during the initial stages of the business, as well as supervising the nursing and caregiver staff. As the need for the service providers grows, both managers will assume primary roles in management and will delegate direct service to employees. Ben Dimaano is a licensed home technician in Ontario and has over 10 years of experience in home repairs, renovation and maintenance. He will be the Maintenance Manager responsible for the HRRM Department. Organizational Chart Personnel Plan Assumptions: Owners will not receive salaries rather it will be in the form of a draw. Number of full-time employees will be kept to a minimum, any increase in labour requirements will be fulfilled through contracting. 10% annual increase in cost of living allowance for the full-time employees. Managing Director- This full-time position will be held by Severina Saliva-Parayaoan. As owner compensation will be made in the form of a draw. Case Manager- this part-time position will be held by Arlyn Gardon. As owner compensation will be made in the form of a draw. Maintenance Manager- this part-time position will be held by Ben Dimaano. As owner compensation will be made in the form of a draw. Administrative Assistant (1)- this full time position is based on 40-hours per week reimbursed at $12.00 per hour, with benefits assume at 30% of total payroll. Skilled Nurse (1) this full-time position will be paid $22.00 per hour for direct service hours, with benefits assume at 30% of total payroll. Personal Support Workers (12)- This full-time position will be paid for $12.00 per hour for direct service hours, with cost of benefits assume at 30% of total payroll. Housekeepers (10)- This position will be paid for $10.25 per hour for direct service hours with cost of benefits assume at 30% of total payroll. Physical therapist/Occupational Therapist/Speech Therapist- these positions will be contracted at a rate of $30.00 per hours. There will be no benefits attached to these positions as they are contracted on a fee-for-service reimbursement only. Personnel Plan Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Managing Director $ $ $ Case Manager $ $ $ Maintenance Manager Administrative Assistant $ 29,952 $ 32,947 $ 36,241.92 1-Skilled Nurse $ 54,912 $ 60,403 $ 66,443.52 12-Personal Support Worker $ 359,424 $ 395,366 $ 434,903.04 10-Housekeeper/Companion $ 255,840 $ 281,424 $ 309,566.40 Total People 23 23 23 Total Payroll $ 700,128 $ 770,164 $ 847,178 Personnel Summary Position Admin Assistant Skilled Nurse Personal Support Worker Housekeeper Qualification College Graduate At least one year experience Registered and license in Ontario At least 3 years of experience Certified in Ontario At least 2 years of experience Secondary School graduate At least one year of experience Type of employment Full time Full Time Full Time Full time Salary +Benefits $29,952 $54,912 $29,952 $21,320 No. of Positions 1 1 12 10 VIII. Start-up Capital Requirements The following is the summary of the start up costs which includes: Business Development Rental Expenses Office Equipment Nursing Supplies Start-up Capital Requirements Business Development Attorney Fees- Setting up a limited company $ 1,000.00 Business Licence $ 200.00 Medisoft Billing Program $ 5,000.00 Professional Liability Insurance $ 3,000.00 *Assuming 25% down of $12,000.00 Workmans Compensation Insurance Deposit $ 500.00 Premises and content Insurance Deposit

The Science of Religion :: Spiritual History Bible Papers

The Science of Religion The cover of the latest Newsweek caught my eye as I was running out the door to class: a vaguely futuristic, androgynous ascetic was basking in the glow of an ethereal ray of light, face calm, hands uplifted to receive inspiration. In the center of this enlightening beam, the title professed, "God and the Brain: How We're Wired for Spirituality." Who could resist such an evocative article? I flipped through it - it started with some stuff about how to achieve a spiritual state (by turning off environmental fear and orientation sensors in the brain), proudly confirmed that scientists can now track brain activity of Tibetan Buddhist meditation and Catholic prayers?I was starting to grow bored and skim faster; then my eye caught, "Neurotheology is stalking bigger game than simply affirming that spiritual feelings leave neural footprints?By pinpointing the brain areas involved in spiritual experiences and tracing how such experiences arise, the scientists hope to learn whether anyone can have such experiences, and why spiritual experiences have the qualities they do" (54). The article went on to discuss how certain key religious figures from history are hypothesized to have had temporal-lobe epilepsy, a condition that yields "focused bursts of electrical activity called 'temporal-lobe transients' [which] may yield mystical experiences" (55). In order to test this, neuroscientist Michael Persinger built an electromagnetic helmet to directly stimulate the temporal lobes of the brain. The helmet produced the intended results, encouraging "out-of-body experience" and "a sense of the divine" in its users; thus Persinger concluded that "religious experiences are evoked by mini electrical storms in the temporal lobes, and that such storms can be triggered by anxiety, personal crisis, lack of oxygen, low blood sugar and simple fatigue - suggesting a reason that some people 'find God' in such moments" (55). The article moves on to suggest that people capable of "dissociation" - identified by their creativity, innovative tendencies, open-mindedness, and close in teraction of the conscious and subconscious mind - "may be genetically or temperamentally predisposed to mystical ability" (56). Finally, after boasting that scientists can both monitor and produce "spiritual" experiences in the laboratory, after defining the physical causes of out-of-body experiences and divine inspiration as malfunctions or misinterpretations of the brain, and after claiming a sort of personality-based predestination, the article concedes that "it is likely that [scientists] will never resolve the greatest question of all - namely, whether our brain wiring creates God, or whether God created our brain wiring. The Science of Religion :: Spiritual History Bible Papers The Science of Religion The cover of the latest Newsweek caught my eye as I was running out the door to class: a vaguely futuristic, androgynous ascetic was basking in the glow of an ethereal ray of light, face calm, hands uplifted to receive inspiration. In the center of this enlightening beam, the title professed, "God and the Brain: How We're Wired for Spirituality." Who could resist such an evocative article? I flipped through it - it started with some stuff about how to achieve a spiritual state (by turning off environmental fear and orientation sensors in the brain), proudly confirmed that scientists can now track brain activity of Tibetan Buddhist meditation and Catholic prayers?I was starting to grow bored and skim faster; then my eye caught, "Neurotheology is stalking bigger game than simply affirming that spiritual feelings leave neural footprints?By pinpointing the brain areas involved in spiritual experiences and tracing how such experiences arise, the scientists hope to learn whether anyone can have such experiences, and why spiritual experiences have the qualities they do" (54). The article went on to discuss how certain key religious figures from history are hypothesized to have had temporal-lobe epilepsy, a condition that yields "focused bursts of electrical activity called 'temporal-lobe transients' [which] may yield mystical experiences" (55). In order to test this, neuroscientist Michael Persinger built an electromagnetic helmet to directly stimulate the temporal lobes of the brain. The helmet produced the intended results, encouraging "out-of-body experience" and "a sense of the divine" in its users; thus Persinger concluded that "religious experiences are evoked by mini electrical storms in the temporal lobes, and that such storms can be triggered by anxiety, personal crisis, lack of oxygen, low blood sugar and simple fatigue - suggesting a reason that some people 'find God' in such moments" (55). The article moves on to suggest that people capable of "dissociation" - identified by their creativity, innovative tendencies, open-mindedness, and close in teraction of the conscious and subconscious mind - "may be genetically or temperamentally predisposed to mystical ability" (56). Finally, after boasting that scientists can both monitor and produce "spiritual" experiences in the laboratory, after defining the physical causes of out-of-body experiences and divine inspiration as malfunctions or misinterpretations of the brain, and after claiming a sort of personality-based predestination, the article concedes that "it is likely that [scientists] will never resolve the greatest question of all - namely, whether our brain wiring creates God, or whether God created our brain wiring.

American Westward Movement: Significance of the Contributing factors

American Westward movement, advocated by many as the divine destiny of the United States, is the movement of the people from the settled regions of the United States to lands farther west between early 17th and late 19th century. The earliest and most significant of the factors which contributed to the westward spread of ‘American frontier’ was the economic motives of the colonists.Fur traders in New England, New York and Pennsylvania bartered with the Native Americans in the Ohio River Valley and the Great Lakes for beaver pelts. Southerners reached to the Mississippi and beyond to trade with native Americans for deerskins. Later, the farmers who could not meet their mortgage payments on their lands as a result of the depression caused by the financial collapse in 1837 also moved westward for free land. Epidemics was another major contributing factor for the westward movement.In the East, more people died of such diseases as typhoid, dysentery, tuberculosis, scarlet fev er and malaria than from any other cause. Yellow fever so decimated the population of New Orleans and settlements along the Mississippi River to the north that the regional death rate exceeded its birth rate for nearly a century and in the 1830s an epidemic of cholera, which had started in Asia, rampaged through Europe, and came across the Atlantic on passenger ships, struck the East Coast and spread inland.The third significant contributing factor was The American Civil War. The civil war caused so much misery that thousands of people looked upon west as a means of escape from their devastated homes. To these people the West was the means to achieve health, wealth and happiness. The significance of these factors lies in the fact that the western expansion they caused resulted in making United States one of the most powerful countries in the world.Further, the American expansion also meant that the west was dominated by Anglo-American ways of life and institutions rather than French or Spanish ones; because latter were also trying to expand in North America in 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. However, the American westward movement curbed their efforts in this regard. Nonetheless, though the American westward movement was very beneficial for the United States, it proved fatal to the Native Americans who were the indigenous people settled in these lands. Their culture and way of life suffered destruction as a result of the westward expansion.

Business information and their sources Essay

This report aims to show the different forms of information used in H&M. It will tell us if we need to improve on any of our methods of communication, or if we need to enhance any methods we use. Internal information is when it can be found from inside the business, such as previous sales records. External information is when the information needs to be found from outside the company, for example in books or customer feedback forms. Primary information is when you have received the information fist hand, either through a report or through surveys. We need internal information for evidence so nothing is mis interpreted within the business. Internal information can be previous records, we need these to write reports and to make sure the business isn’t at a loss. H&M need external information to monitor new trends so we can stay ahead of fashion. We do this by getting our internal and external customers to complete questionnaires. It is important that we do this so our customers always stay interested in the clothes that we have on offer so we do not lose any business. Combining internal and external information is very effective because your ideas can be expanded by using existing ideas but with our own unique twist. So we can take an existing idea on a clothing range, but then add something to it based on the feedback and ideas we get from our customers. Internal information can be more important for H&M than external information because it includes private details and information of the company that cannot be found anywhere else. This would be needed if we were to start a sale because we’d have to know what products are not selling well to put them in the sale. However, external information can be seen as more important that internal information because it includes new information from customer feedback. This is much needed because it would help our business form fresh ideas and to help us move forward. Internal information cannot help us do this. H&M need primary information to help the business run smoother and gain new  ideas. We can do this by getting surveys from the public to get more ideas on things we can sell or do in store. Primary information is very useful because it can be used for a lot of different things, for example customer service or new clothing ranges. Also it is usually very reliable because you have created it. Secondary information can also be used to gain new ideas. We can use secondary information to do this because the information has already been created so we could just expand on the information to make it unique and our own. A combination of primary and secondary information is important because it means that we can monitor our own records and also monitor our competitor’s records so that we can always try to stay on top. Primary can be more important than secondary information because we are actually creating the informatio9n so it is 100% reliable whereas secondary information is not always be reliable because it was created by an unknown source. Verbal information is when it can be spoken, for example a phone call. In our company, we give verbal information to our staff and customers. We verbally give information to our staff because it is quick and easy. Written information is written down to pass information, for example a letter or email. We use written information to communicate because it can be used as confirmation and it is harder to be forgotten if you have it written down. We also give written confirmation to our customers all the time, for example receipts. We do this so there is proof of purchase and there is no mis understanding between the business and the customers. Multimedia can be shown through moving adverts or audio. It is a very effective way to present information because it engages the reader a lot more than a bit of writing on a piece of paper. We use multimedia in different ways, for example, on our website there are videos of our products being modelled and shown on the catwalk. We use multimedia in this way so our customers will stay engaged and will be more interested in our products if they see them on top models. Using a combination of verbal and written information is more effective than just using either one of them. Having a staff meeting is quick, easy and usually there isn’t any miscommunication. To guarantee that there has been no mis communication, you can send an email after the meeting has taken place just too highlight was said in the meeting. Verbal information is  sometimes better than written information because if we needed to pass information on to our team, having a meeting where we could easily speak to them all at once is more appropriate than using written information by sending an e-mail or letter where there could be mis-communication. Written information can be better than verbal information when for example we needed to confirm a purchase with a customer. We would need to give them a type of written confirmation because if the sale was done verbally, information could easily be forgotten or mis-communication could occur. To conclude I am going to summarise this report. The way we use internal and external information is very successful because H&M uses original ideas combined with ideas from customer feedback to improve the way the company functions. How primary and secondary information is used in the company is also successful. This is due to us using our own reliable information (primary) and comparing it to our competitor’s information (secondary) to monitor whether we are currently popular or not. Verbal and written information is the most effective way of transferring information within H&M. This is because there is a very small chance of mis-communication if verbal and written information is given properly. To fully conclude, H&M are transferring information successfully in all different ways.

Common Application Institutes Word Limit for College Application Essays

Common Application Institutes Word Limit for College Application Essays Preview of Common Application Available Now! Although the Common Application for college applications will not officially be available until August 1, commonapp.org has made a preview available so that on-the-ball upcoming seniors can get a head start on planning their application content.   The Common App Preview, complete with highlighted new or noteworthy information, is available now. There are several changes to the Common Application form since last year, including the addition of 48 new colleges and universities.   College consultant Nancy Griesemer   has already written about them quite eloquently, so I will not detail all the changes. I invite you to read her article, The Common Application Shares Changes for Next Year. Implications for the College Admissions Essay My particular interest is the essay portion of the application, and so it is pertinent to me that although the Common Application essay topic choices have not changed, the suggested length of the essay has.   Students are now requested to write 250-500 words on their chosen topic. Two hundred fifty to five hundred words?   That’s one short essay!   You may think initially, â€Å"Great!   Less to write!† But in actuality, it is harder to write a short essay than a long one.   I have pointed this phenomenon out and provided a few essay-shortening tips in a prior blog article, Cutting Your Writing Down to Size.   I encourage you to read it! Phrases to Eliminate from your College Application Essay If you are gearing up to write a 250-500 word college application essay, make sure to get clear about your priorities.   Don’t make the mistake of spending precious words or phrases like the following: Boring writing puts man to sleep â€Å"As I sat down to write this essay†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"I will always remember the time when†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"I was fortunate to have the opportunity to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  YAWN!! Look   you simply don’t have space to burn with such extraneous material.   Eliminate it, and focus, focus, focus. To help in the process of planning and writing your essay, read my series on specific essay topics, which you will receive as part of your subscription if you sign up for my College Admissions topic list.   You can sign up HERE. Note:   Another change to be aware of is that the short answer questions will be limited by characters (1000) instead of words (150).   Again, crafting pointed, clear answers is paramount. If you want highly personalized assistance with your college application essays, contact The Essay Expert for your FREE 15-minute consultation and to work with one of our Ivy League educated consultants.   We will make sure you have the best possible chance of getting in to the college of your choice.

Short Stories Study Notes Essays

Elements of Fiction/Short Stories Study Notes Essays Elements of Fiction/Short Stories Study Notes Paper Elements of Fiction/Short Stories Study Notes Paper Falling Action: working towards the resolution Denouement/Resolution: knotting of the plot Plot Manipulation: an unmotivated action by a character or when the author relies too heavily on chance or coincidence to bring about the solution to the conflict Conflict Man vs.. Man against another character or society Man vs.. Nature external forces Man vs.. Self conflict with some element of his own nature Protagonist: the central character in the conflict Antagonist: the forces opposing the protagonist (people, things, society, traits of the character) Motivation: what causes a character to do what he or she does. Character Flat: one-two traits. A minor character Round: complex, many-sided Realistic: complex and realistic in choices/life Stock: stock or stereotyped character that is obvious and known Dynamic: undergoes a significant change Foil: a character whose qualities/octagons serve to emphasize another character by providing a strong contrast Point of View Omniscient: 3rd person narrative. The author gets into the heart and mind oft+ characters Limited Omniscient: 3rd person narrative, but the author only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character. First Person: the author disappears into one of the characters who tell the story Objective: the author disappears into a camera- like state. It Is only recording what is seen and heard, but cannot comment, interpret, r enter a characters mind Theme Theme should be expressed in the form of a statement, and should be about the subject. Ex. Schooling mainly has more rewards than frustrations. Should be general and shouldnt use names from the story Avoid using absolutes: never, always, every but rather use sometimes, may in order to develop the human nature Insight (universal and a greater scope to the story) MUST NEVER be reduced too click © Moral and theme are never Interchangeable. A moral Is some rule of conduct being taught in a story and is applicable to most people. Theme is more than what you can see from above. Setting and Atmosphere The time and place of a story. The setting needs to be questioned as what impact does the setting have on a plot, conflict, character, theme, etc. Atmosphere can be determined by the readers initial EMOTIONAL reaction to the story. Atmosphere Is Creepy, unnerving, and silencing Irony Irony is the method of expression in which intended meaning is opposite or different from that expressed. It provides depth of meaning and impact, but can also add moor Verbal Irony: occurs when what a character says or believes contrasts with what the character actually means Dramatic Irony: occurs when what a character says or believes contrasts with what the reader or other characters know to be true Situational Irony: occurs when what finally takes place is different from what was expected or seemed appropriate.

Creating High-Quality Content With Geoffrey Keating From Intercom

Creating High-Quality Content With Geoffrey Keating From Intercom There are some companies that have extremely high standards for the industry that they’re in. When it comes to content teams, one of the best is Intercom. Today we’re going to be talking to Geoffrey Keating, an editor for the Intercom content team. He’s going to let us in on his secrets when it comes to the jobs-to-be-done theory, how to create unique content, and how keep yourself on schedule by planning and prioritizing. Some of the highlights of the show include: Information about Intercom and what Geoffrey does there. Thoughts on crafting a message that reaches the readers where they are. The types of content and marketing collateral produced by Geoffrey’s team. How a small team gets all of the work completed that needs to be done. Why Geoffrey shies away from calling himself a content marketer. What Jobs-to-be-Done is and how it can help people create better content and better reach and engage with their target audience. The four main â€Å"buckets† that the Intercom team draws its ideas from when developing unique content. Geoffrey’s best advice for marketers who are not happy with the status quo. Powered by PodcastMotor Actionable Content Marketing powered by By AMP040: How To Create Exceptionally High-Quality Content With Geoffrey Keating From Intercom 00:00/00:00 1x 100 > Download file Subscribe on iTunes Leave Review Share Links: Geoffrey on LinkedIn Intercom Jobs-to-be-done method BaseCamp Groove HQ Priceonomics If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Geoffrey: â€Å"I like to think of us as the internal journalist of the company. We’re always digging for our latest scoops.† â€Å"When someone buys a drill, they’re looking to drill a 3/4 inch hole you want to make progress in your life. That’s what Jobs-to-be-Done is. It’s about understanding the emotions that drive people to buy the products.† â€Å"My main advice for anyone working content marketing or starting at a content team is make sure that you have a really, really clear opinion about the world.†

Forecast Presentations Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Forecast Presentations - Coursework Example There is more damage in standing hesitant or unsure than giving no presentation at all. If I face a situation where I am unsure of the sales forecasts I will still stand confident and vibrant. I will not give any indication of anxiety that is probably going on behind the curtains. I will try to justify whatever amount of certainty I have in my research and projection. The conscience can be a problem in such times. I can handle a situation where I do not have confidence in an answer in more than one way. If I am standing at the stage with the team, I can simply refer one of my team members to respond. I can justify this move by saying that that particular team member has more expertise in that matter than me. If I am standing alone I will stick with the guidelines presented in my readings; I will stand confident in front of my audience. If I’m unsure of an answer it could be because of my emotional state at that point. Confidence keeps the speaker motivated to continue speaking (O’Rourke, 2008). If I choke and reveal that I don’t have full faith in my answer the audience notice this immediately. They will also start doubting my presentational integrity before that particular question. The same question will also boost my confidence in my abilities. Self-confidence should be valued over comments (questions) that are destructive (Booher, 2011). The speaker projects an aura of confidence. The audiences listen to the speaker because this charisma pulls them towards the presenter. The physical presence itself is influenced by self-confidence (Koneru, 2008). I simply cannot compromise on the speaker’s respect that a presenter requires to be

Dementia Care. Skills for enabling people with dementia and their Essay

Dementia Care. Skills for enabling people with dementia and their carers - Essay Example But "dementia does not only involve an impairment of intellect and memory, since just about every sphere of psychological functioning can also change or become disrupted in some way. Thus personality, emotional stability, behavior toward others (e.g. becoming aggressive when previously passive and tolerant), speech and communication and self-care may well change for the worse." (Done and Thomas, 1999, p.475) At this age people need empathy and emotional support, so along with the other carers I, rely on a humanistic person centered approach to effectively communicate with these people. This approach has been very fruitful for me in achieving success professionally. The humanistic person centered approach helps in getting the attention of the person, one is dealing with. This is a psychological way of dealing with people suffering from dementia. While applying this approach, I do not believe in doing things instead for adequate effectiveness, I rely on building a high quality interpersonal interaction with my clients. Through this approach my thoughts and feelings get closely involved with my client's thoughts and feelings. ... his socio psycho approach believed that for therapeutic growth, it is very important to give the client unconditional positive regard, empathy and congruence. He also believed that a client should not be considered a client but person, an individual. This way it becomes easier for the carer to understand him in a better way. Hence I approach my clients in the following way: I try to build a psychological contact with the person. I understand that they are very vulnerable, anxious and in state of incongruence at this phase of their lives. So I try to be integrated and congruent as much as possible. I try to develop unconditional positive regard for them. Simultaneously, I try to effectively communicate with the client by trying to build an empathic understanding of his internal frame of mind. By doing all this I get successful in communicating unconditional positive regard and empathic understanding to him to some extent. The following are the three important elements of the humanistic person centred approach: Unconditional positive regard: This can be described as a non-possessive warmth, respect, acceptance, prizing and caring for an individual. The person should be made felt that he is significant irrespective of his mental condition. According to Nelson-Jones "unconditional positive regard does not mean that therapists need, from their frame of reference, to approve of all their clients' behaviours. Rather, unconditional positive regard is an attitude and philosophical orientation, reflected in therapist behaviour, that clients are more likely to move forward if they feel prized for their humanity and they experience an emotional climate of safety and freedom in which, without loosing their therapist's acceptance, they can show feelings and relate events."

Political Development and Economical Strength in the Country Research Paper

Political Development and Economical Strength in the Country - Research Paper Example A developed and politically stable country like the United States developed a system of government in a way that would guarantee that no individual or personal component could dominate the system ever. This saves the country from so many problems, these problems usually occurs when an individual tries to strengthen his powers and tries to push the democracy at a side this is the main reason for political instability of the country, which leads to the political and economic stagnation. In the United States, a strict and great system of check and balance was implemented and the authorities make sure that everything in the system is transparent and this transparency is the key to a good democratic system. A country like Nepal, it is very hard to have a politically stable country. Though there is democracy in the country still it is not at that level where it should be. The king is likely to implement a tightly centralized autocracy system but people want to have a democratic system. The most powerful entity in the country is the army and the king is enjoying the full support of the army. This is the cause of the disappointment among the members of the civil society, including the political parties and political organizations their activities are suspended and their morale is down. With the support of the army, the king is enjoying his power and is in no mood to give people their basic right that is a democracy, which means the power to choose the people of their own choice and to suspend them if they don’t like their performance.

Morality and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Morality and Religion - Essay Example For example, offering animal and human sacrifices would comprise of such acts of appeasing the Gods. It these early days of religion, Gods were sought after as a matter of survival of the tribe or clan; and religious beliefs as they existed had little to do with morality. Irrespective of whether there was a cause-effect relationship between religious rituals and natural events, it is fair to say that primitive religious practices were done as a matter of survival and morality found no consideration. (Taliaferro, 2006) In wasnt until the rise of organized religion around two thousand years ago that the importance of morality to human lives got more attention. Seen from a theoretical viewpoint, all the major monotheistic religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism – seem to fall under the non-consequentialist framework. The primary tenets of these religions ordain followers to act, think and behave in certain ways, not on the basis of rationality and logic but for the sake of virtues inherent in them. The immutability of religious commandments have made them controversial throughout history. Given that there is never any unanimous agreement about the validity and applicability of a certain principle under all contexts, it then follows that the non-consequentialist basis of most religions make them inadequate in dealing with social, interpersonal and individual problems. A good example of this point is the raging debate going on about stem-cell research in the United States. While stat istics clearly show that scientific advancement in this area would generally benefit humankind, these projects have been thwarted or hampered by fundamentalist Christian believers who take the word of the bible rather too literally. The same contingency is vehemently opposing the practice of abortion, irrespective of the consequences to baby and mother in the future. In contemporary times, fervent atheist

Wedding Photography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Wedding Photography - Essay Example raphers to capture the images that will have meaning for the couple, such as allowing the event to unfold as it does rather than trying to direct it for the ‘perfect’ shot. Finally, it is important to consider the ethics of the situation – are you the first photographer, how do you respond to Uncle Charlie peering over your shoulder and should you digitally enhance images with minor flaws in them in order to provide a more pleasing picture. Examining some of the more important techniques and tips available will help to produce more satisfying results while an understanding of some of the ethics questions involved may help alleviate future problems. As has been mentioned, the wedding photographer must combine more than one role as he or she attempts to capture images of someone’s big day. They must have strong knowledge of portrait photography in terms of lighting and composition. â€Å"Portrait photographers learn lighting ratios such as the normal 3-1 ratio for lighting the face, as well as portrait composition. They then spend time setting up their shots for a desired lighting effect. †¦ They strive to control every aspect of the portrait† (Lee, 2004). This knowledge is often necessary in establishing the group shots of the wedding party and many images of the bride. However, this does not capture the sense of the joyousness of the moment nor does it complete the professional photographer’s duties at a wedding. This is where the photojournalist must come into play. â€Å"The photojournalist on the other hand is ‘quick to draw’ you might say. He or she is able to capture a fleeting mome nt in time. They are on their toes looking for the chance shot† (Lee, 2004). The degree to which a photographer must be a portrait artist or a photojournalist depends greatly on the general trends in society as well as in the wishes and personalities of the couple involved. The more the photographer is able to key in to the mood of the event, the better

Sociology 1006E Working Poor in Canada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sociology 1006E Working Poor in Canada - Essay Example no particular poverty lines, which makes hinders the efforts to identify the appropriate interventions to reduce poverty among the most vulnerable groups (McQuillan & Ravanera, 66). Lee observes that poverty rose by 28.6% between 1990 and 1995 when there was a notable increase (6.1%) in the country’s total population (57). This increase was far more than economic growth in the country within that period. The metropolitan urban areas such as Montreal and Vancouver among others are inhabited by majority of the poor. Poverty among children and the youth, the aged and women is high which is indicator of the impact of poverty in the country due to the fact that children and the youth are the majority in the nation’s population. Majority of people with low levels of education such as below secondary are poor, even though there are more than 8% of poor people in cities who have attained post secondary education. The level of skills is also a major determinant of the poverty prevalence in the country, with the people with low skills being vulnerable to poverty (Beaujot & Kerr, 78). The country is faced with extensive layoffs as well as a reduction in permanent employment, downsizing in companies and declining social assistance rates. These have contributed to the rising levels of poverty. Globalization has significantly contributed to these occurrences especially with the improvements in communication, transport network as well as liberalization of trade, which has led to increased competition for the Canadian industries. Investors shifted their investment to the third world countries that apart from the low competition provide cheap labor compared to the Canadian labor force. This led to the closure of most companies in the country, thereby reducing employment opportunities especially for the unskilled labor (Liu & Kerr, 116). Moreover, there is an increasing trend towards computerization of most operations in many organizations, which is another major factor that

Wedding Photography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Wedding Photography - Essay Example raphers to capture the images that will have meaning for the couple, such as allowing the event to unfold as it does rather than trying to direct it for the ‘perfect’ shot. Finally, it is important to consider the ethics of the situation – are you the first photographer, how do you respond to Uncle Charlie peering over your shoulder and should you digitally enhance images with minor flaws in them in order to provide a more pleasing picture. Examining some of the more important techniques and tips available will help to produce more satisfying results while an understanding of some of the ethics questions involved may help alleviate future problems. As has been mentioned, the wedding photographer must combine more than one role as he or she attempts to capture images of someone’s big day. They must have strong knowledge of portrait photography in terms of lighting and composition. â€Å"Portrait photographers learn lighting ratios such as the normal 3-1 ratio for lighting the face, as well as portrait composition. They then spend time setting up their shots for a desired lighting effect. †¦ They strive to control every aspect of the portrait† (Lee, 2004). This knowledge is often necessary in establishing the group shots of the wedding party and many images of the bride. However, this does not capture the sense of the joyousness of the moment nor does it complete the professional photographer’s duties at a wedding. This is where the photojournalist must come into play. â€Å"The photojournalist on the other hand is ‘quick to draw’ you might say. He or she is able to capture a fleeting mome nt in time. They are on their toes looking for the chance shot† (Lee, 2004). The degree to which a photographer must be a portrait artist or a photojournalist depends greatly on the general trends in society as well as in the wishes and personalities of the couple involved. The more the photographer is able to key in to the mood of the event, the better

Compare differences of history and performance styles between Italian Essay

Compare differences of history and performance styles between Italian opera and Chinese opera - Essay Example People sing the music while acting out the parts without talking much. Some popular types include Italian and Chinese Opera. The essay compares the differences in history and performance styles between Italian Opera and Chinese Opera. Even though opera did not originate in Venice, its development in Italy was stimulated by the nurturing environment that existed in a serene republic. A good percentage of Europe’s music was dominated by the Italian opera during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (Kimbell, 2004, p.238). The bourgeoisies would regularly commission huge and interesting pieces of work that combined drama, music, and dance. The combination of fine arts marked the birth of opera and several cities in Italy, Rome, Florence, Venice, and Naples contributed to the development and perfection of this new genre (Levey, 2004, p.388). But, the entire opera movement was started in Florence, Italy by the Florentine Camerata and the Bardi, who regularly met in an attempt to recreate the Greek drama. As the 17th century drew to an end, Italian opera was undergoing many challenges and alterations that were later expected to affect its standing in various ways. These changes had produced two visible and different forms of Italian opera. One type was the serious and tragedy-like type referred to as opera seria, while the second type is a lighter and more comic and earthly style that was referred to as opera buffa (Dahlhaus, 2004, p.63). The two forms of Italian opera arose out of common ancestor but were exposed to different influences that shaped and cultured them into the forms we are acquainted with today. Opera seria first arose in the cities of Venice and Naples and toke an inflexible and practical form by 1720. It was the product of a philosophical movement that started in the late 1600’s (Dahlhaus, 2004, p.45). The famous movement was referred to as Enlightenment and worked effortlessly to seize the entire Europe while affecting

A Study On Triumph Of Will

A Study On Triumph Of Will The ultimate aim of documentary is to find the perfect way of representing the real is what Stella Bruzzi believes is the function of a documentary. As she states it herself, the ‘aim is to ‘find the perfect way of ‘representing reality. The three underlined words are themselves hypothetical terms that are not certain, hence this is the first indication that documentary might not necessarily achieve its aim. Documentary style of films are still under debate as to how ‘real can they be, this probably why Stella Bruzzi uses the word ‘find instead of a more commanding and certain word. Therefore, what is really a documentary according to different theorists? John Grierson, the first writer to use documentary as a term in his review of Robert Flahertys Moana, came up with his famous dictum that documentary is ‘the creative interpretation of actuality. Griersons essayFirst Principles of Documentary argued that documentary was cinemas potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; that the original actor and original scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts to interpreting the modern world; and that materials thus taken from the raw can be more real than the acted article. Contrary to Bruzzis idea of ‘representing reality, Grierson believes in ‘interpreting it. Interpretation can be in form of re-enactment. So the question that arises is how realistic is a documentary that has actors and scenes â€Å"guiding† the flow of the film? Any re-enactment or borrowed situations can be manipulated to reflect the directors idea, which leaves hardly any space for 100% reality. The term ‘documentary stems from the verb ‘to document to convey information on the basis of proof and evidence to support it, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. In the realm of films and cinema, a documentary is a film that is an attempt, in one fashion or another, toshowreality as itreallyis. Another way of defining documentary is the necessity to capture life as it is as it naturally appears. It needs to be filmed surreptitiously, while the goal is to capture lifes unawareness and natural beauty.The term has expanded to encompass many additional aspects than its original definition. ‘Documentaries was a term used to describe movies shot on film stock, which is a term used to describe the discovery of celluloid a product much less fragile than the paper film previously used. It has now come to involve video and digital productions, whether for private use, made-for-TV or for the big screen. The continuing goal of documentaries is to constantly work to identify a film making practice that captures life as it truly is, create a cinematic tradition that remains interesting and lively, and finally, to gain and maintain a connection with the audience. There are several types of documentary, but for this essay, I will pit two completely different ‘documentaries and analysis which of these two, make it closest to the above different definitions. Triumph of the Will a propaganda film made by Leni Riefenstahl and Super Size Me is a documentary by Morgan Spurlock are the two documentaries I will take into account because their genres are completely different from each other, and this could lead to an interesting analysis of the documentaries purpose and what they attain in the end. Triumph of the Will/ Triumph des Willens In 1934 Hitler suggested that Leni Riefenstahl film the party rally of that year. Hitler wanted a first-rate filmmaker to direct the film of the party rally, having insisted several years earlier that he wanted to exploit the film as an instrument of propaganda in such a way that the audience will be clearly aware that they are going to see a political film. It nauseates me when I find political propaganda under the cloak of art. Let it either be art or politics. Riefenstahl demanded that the film be made by her own company rather than by the Ministry for Peoples Enlightenment and Propaganda. Hitler agreed to this demand and promised not to interfere with the filming; he granted her complete freedom to make the film she desired. Although ostensibly her company financed and distributed Triumph of the Will, there is little doubt that the Nazi party actually provided the funds as well as the setting and every facility possible for unimpeded film recording of the event. This reflects gre atly on the biasness that is present in the film. Hitlers SA and SS were known for generating fear, and even if promised to have interference in her documentary, if Riefenstahl did show something negative about the Nazi Party, it could only mean either her disappearance or concentration camp. Moreover, the title of the film was suggested by Hitler himself, implying that after all it was not independent of any political pressure. The camera crew used thirty cameras and were dressed as SA men so that they would not be noticeable in the crowd. Although there are at least twelve sequences in the film where the wary spectator can detect cameras at work, in general the crew working the film is very well disguised. Triumph of The Will (1935) is not only a masterpiece entirely on its own, divorced from political or propagandist considerations, but in its emotional manipulation of the audience represents the very heart of what propaganda is all about. (Barsam, 1992, 130) Riefenstahl is able to create a glorified representation of the NSDAP, or Nazi party, with the use of a music score that invents Hitler as heroic. Her ability to represent a political party so triumphantly is noted in the moving and chilling pieces of cinematography when Hitler gives his final speech and compares his party to a holy order. She captures an essence far purer than the NSDAP, and in a way does more than justice to the partys attempts of propaganda. On the other hand, her achievements in portraying the NSDAP as glamorous can be seen as misrepresenting and a line can be drawn between fact and fiction as to, whether her glorifications are unjust and morally wrong. For the Nazis, the euphoria of a perfect Germany according to them can be portrayed with proper film aesthetics but without directly referring to the contemporary society of the 1930s. The what it would be like if Nazis ruled agenda can be portrayed with the use of abstract visuals and other techniques as long as the real is not referred to, as societies in Germany were not of pure race. The idea of creating a pure race and portraying this in a film is almost mythical, yet alone absurd. In order to portray an Aryan world blatant lies and imaginative discourse would be called for. The ethical implications behind this, is that the people themselves must change in order to create this ideal society. The overly repeated Flag Bearer image depicts symbolism connected to Nazism; the inclusion of a flag bearing the Nazi Swastika symbol represents the militarized power of the party. As a trend in Nazi propaganda, there is enormous emphasis on military symbols in Triumph of the will, triggered deeply felt emotions associated with Germanys former military might. Leni Riefenstahls editing provides an insight into the status of Triumph of the Will as Nazi propaganda. For example, one sequence during Hitlers arrival in Nuremburg is composed of four shots; the first two shots show the old buildings of the city and then a German flag therefore representing the old, traditional Germany. The following two shots depict Hitler and then a Swastika. This sequence typifies how Riefenstahl has represented the Nazi ideology of a return to a mythical epoch by linking the ideals of the traditional dogma with a visionary future. Similarly, before the scene of the city awakening Riefenstahl links a shot of an old church to represent Volakis thought, with the rally camp site to signify the new Germany. Incidentally Hinton suggests that as result of these sequences, Triumph of the Will is more than a document of the 1934 Nazi Party Rally; it is a document of the city of Nuremburg where the viewer gains a sense of the beauty and history of the medieval centre. F urthermore, the use of German and Nazi flags ties in with the use of military symbols inherent in the propaganda of the Third Reich. She also states that; ‘In my cutting room, it was the most difficult work of my life describing the task that took at least five months to fulfil. She explained that she did not care much about chronological accuracy on the screen and that she intuitively tried to find a unifying way to edit the film in a way which would progressively take the viewer from act to act and from impression to impression. With political pressure, adoration for Adolf Hitler, and clearly a propaganda film, Triumph of the will does portray reality in terms of the images used, they are all live and not re-enacted by Riefenstahl. However, it is a biased documentation of the reality. I believe it would have been a real documentary if only there was not so much of glamour shown about the Nazi rallies, and the darker side such as the Holocaust and ghettos were also covered. The latter would have made it a more objective piece of work, making it more of a documentary instead of a propaganda tool. Super Size Me Morgan Spurlock decided to make this documentary to investigate the fast food companies, and the effects of certain fast food chains products, particularly McDonalds, on the health of society. This Documentary explores the United States growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes as well. Morgan decides to eat nothing but McDonalds food for thirty days. He must eat one of everything on the menu at least once, and when asked to super size his meal he must do so. Another stipulation of Morgans experiment is that he can only take 5,000 steps a day to replicate the exercise that most average Americans get on a daily basis. He must also eat three meals a day, no exceptions and if McDonalds doesnt serve it Morgan cant eat it.Morgan enlists three doctors to assist him through his thirty day documentary. A cardiologist, gastroenterologist, and a general practitioner all check him out at the beginning of the experiment which makes it credible because there is science supporting and bringing logi c to the results of the experiment. Critics of the film, including McDonalds, argue that the author intentionally consumed an average of 5,000 calories per day and did not exercise, and that the results would have been the same regardless of the source of overeating. He was eating solely McDonalds food in keeping with the terms of a potential judgment against McDonalds in court documents highlighted at the beginning of the film. The film addresses such objections by highlighting that a part of the reason for Spurlocks deteriorating health was not just the high calorie intake but also the high quantity of fat relative to vitamins and minerals in the McDonalds menu, which is similar in that regard to the nutritional content of the menus of most other U.S. fast-food chains. About 1/3 of Spurlocks calories came from sugar. His nutritionist, Bridget Bennett RD, cited him about his excess intake of sugar from milkshakes and cokes. It is revealed toward the end of the movie that over the course of the diet, he consumed over 30 pounds of sugar, and over 12 lbs. of fat from their food. The nutritional side of the diet was not fully explored in the film because of the closure of the clinic which monitored this aspect during the filming of the movie. Spurlock claimed he was trying to imitate what an average diet for a regular eater at McDonaldsa person who would get little to no exercisewould do to them. Spurlocks intake of 5,000 calories per day was well over twice the recommended daily intake for a sedentary adult male, which would amount to only about 2,300 calories. A typical man consuming as many calories as Spurlock did would gain nearly a pound a day (which is roughly how much Spurlock gained), a rate of weight gain that could not be sustained for long periods. Additionally, Spurlock did not demonstrate or claim that anyone, let alone a substantial number of people, eats at McDonalds three times per day. In fact McDonalds is mentioned during the movie to have two classes of users of their restaurants: There are the Heavy Users, (about 72% of the customers, who eat at their restaurants once or twice a week), and the SUPERHeavy Users (about 22% of the customers, who eat McDonalds 3 or more times a week). But no one was found who ate at McDonalds three times a day. Spurlock said that he was eating in thirty days the amount of fast food most nutritionists suggest someone should eat in eight years. Though Spurlock provokes fear of fast food, he fails to acknowledge that poor diet is not the only cause of obesity, and that the â€Å"toxic environment† he describes is reason enough to consider that the responsibility should in fact be in the corporations hands. What Spurlock does exactly is that he reflects his own ideology. Before going for the experiment and documenting it he was clear as to what he wanted to show by the end of it and worked towards it, hence it can be debated that he made the documentary with his biasness to his idea, and giving more coverage to the latter instead of bringing about more balance reflection such as the influence and pressure on Americans by the constant advertisements about fast food. Comparison of both documentaries From the information given above about the documentaries in question the first thing that is important to note is the fact that Triumph of the Will was an idea suggested by Adolf Hitler whereas, Super size Me was the idea of an ordinary American filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. This is an important fact to be taken into consideration because eventually the ideology and aim intended by Adolf Hitler and Morgan Spurlock is what will ‘direct the ideas reflected in the documentary, hence, objectivity can be compromised. For reality to be completely present in order to have a real documentary there should be ideally, no draw backs on objectivity in the portrayal of ideas. Adolf Hitler was a Nazi dictator ruling over a powerful country like Germany, his influence and power to pressurise Leni Riefenstahl was unquestionable. On the contrary, Morgan Spurlock was just an independent director. What kind of objectivity and impartiality (two very important subjects to reflect reality) can one expect from a director working under a dictator who controlled the population through fear? The purposes of both documentaries are extreme opposites. Triumph of the Will was intended to be a propaganda political film. Propaganda is after all; a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed toimpartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possiblylying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further apolitical agenda. In comparison to this, Super size Me was more to do with creating awareness amongst people. Creating awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to beconsciousof events. In this level of consciousness, sense data can be confirmed by an observer w ithout necessarily implyingunderstanding. This suggests that Spurlock was not aiming at influencing people to completely revolt against fast food but at least beware and conscious of the harmful effects of it. He leaves it upon the audience to make their choice without brainwashing them. The presentation of Triumph of the Will is what documentary forefather, John Grierson would categorise under Poetic mode. Such documentary thrive on a filmmakers aesthetic and subjective visual interpretation of a subject, in addition to it different music is selected for different scenes, just like in the Triumph of Will. By contrast, Super Size me is what Grierson would categorize under participatory mode, in which filmmakers move from behind the camera and appear as subjects in their own work like Spurlock carries out his experiment himself and becomes the main subject of the documentary. The time period in which both documentaries are set in are also crucial points to be noted. Triumph of the Will was set in 1935 in Germany, where people were in the middle of Nazi revolution and political chaos. In contrary to 2004 America where Super Size Me is shot, the taste of the audience has changed dramatically. Audiences of Super Size Me are not only in America but world around, which wasnt the target audience of Triumph of the Will, the latter was meant for only the Germans. To add to this, Germans in 1934 were comparably less educated than the audience of 2004, because one of Germanys major issues at that time was low education. Hence, propaganda movies worked to its full potential as people would not question or form their own opinions; however, the same cannot be expected from liberal thinking people in 2004. The taste of what audience around the world want now is completely different from what was expected in 1930s. Nowadays, reality and truth in the form of controversy is what really gets peoples attention. One may wonder if 1930s audience would have liked to watch real documentary, what if Triumph of the Will was to include scenes from the concentration camps, how would have the audience responded to the documentary? Lastly, editing plays a big role in representing reality. The camera can capture all the truth there is to be captured, but the audience eventually see what is presented to them after much chopping done in the editing room. Directors choice of scenes, images and music is what is eventually reflected in the documentary. In other words, only one or a few peoples choice or ideology is selected and presented to the audience. The directors selection does not necessarily have to reflect the reality. Therefore, how is reality ever represented in documentaries? Conclusion Bibiolography:  · Stella Bruzzi, New Documentary: A critical Introduction, Routledge, 2000  · Paul Ward, Documentary: The margins of reality, Wallflower Press, 2005  · Bill Nichols, Introduction to Documentary, Indiana University press, 2001  · Michael Renov , Theorizing Documentary, Routledge, 1993 * Lee, J., 2008-08-06Propaganda Techniques in Early Documentary Films: An In-depth Analysis with Seven DevicesPaper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Marriott Downtown, Chicago, ILOnline.2009-05-23fromhttp://www.allacademic.com/meta/p272071_index.html * Henrik Juel, Defining Documentary Film, http://pov.imv.au.dk/Issue_22/section_1/artc1A.html * Malene Jorgensen, What is a Documentary? Defining the Characteristics of a Documentary Film, http://documentaryfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_a_documentary, Sep 11, 2009 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni_Riefenstahl * Jill Godmilow, in conversation with Ann-Louise Shapiro, How real is real is the reality in documentary film? http://www.nd.edu/~jgodmilo/reality.html * http://classes.design.ucla.edu/Spring04/161A/projects/Wes/Exercise_B/mainpage.html * Helen Abbott, Movie analysis: Nazi ideology in Leni Riefenstahls Triumph of the Will, http://www.helium.com/items/468495-movie-analysis-nazi-ideology-in-leni-riefenstahls-triumph-of-the-will * Caoimhe Crinigan, Movie analysis: Nazi ideology in Leni Riefenstahls Triumph of the Will, http://www.helium.com/items/1463308-the-nazi-filmmaking-of-leni-riefenstahl-to-be-deplored-and-respected * http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Supersize-Me-Conceptual-Analysis/141479 * http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/28660.html * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awareness * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_mode * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me

The Powerful Message of Becketts That Time :: That Time Essays

The Powerful Message of Beckett's That Time       Samuel Beckett's That Time is a play that delves deep into the human psyche, exposing the audience to the potential effect and consequence of one continually living in the past. Lack of punctuation and fragmented repetition make the play rather challenging to grasp yet effectively mirrors the purpose that Beckett has intended in this work. In That Time Beckett dramatically illustrates several common downfalls to human nature, which ultimately act as plagues against the mind, such as the avoidance of the present in the continual analysis and obsession of the past, and the uncomforting effect of silence. Through the use of stream-of-consciousness and three alternating voices which flow almost entirely without a break, Beckett truly taps into the core of human consciousness and one of man's most extreme fears, the fear of the void, of nothingness, of never being able to recreate "that time" again.    As is common to Beckett's work, the stage setting for this play relies very little upon flashy backdrops and a multitude of characters, and more so upon the mood that the scene creates. He presents only the bare necessity, achieving a scene that is able to expose stark honesty.    Curtains. Stage in darkness. Fade up to listener's face about ten feet above stage level midstage off center. Old white face, long flaring white hair as if seen from above outspread. Voices A B C are his own coming to him from both sides and above. They modulate back and forth without any break in general flow except when silence indicated (Collected Shorter Plays 228)    The simplicity of the scene places all of the emphasis upon the voices and those rare moments in which there is silence, thus, pulling the audience directly into the mind of the bodiless head. Beckett has utilized this technique in several of his other plays, such as Krapp's Last Tape in which the setting is merely "a small table, the two drawers of which open towards the audience. Sitting at the table, i.e. across from the drawers, a wearish old man" (55). This effect is also present in Eh Joe, a television play by Beckett in which "Joe's opening movements followed by cameras at constant remove, Joe full length in frame throughout" (Casando and Other Short Dramatic Pieces 35).

Standardized Tests Do Not Measure Student Achievement Essay example --

Standardized testing has been around since the mid 1800’s. Even though testing has been around for a long time it is still debated whether or not it should precisely â€Å"score† students. Students have been subjected to standardized tests frequently through their years in school due to laws which have been passed by Congress. Decisions about the evaluation of schools and students are recurrently made by government authority and are often not in the best interest of teachers, students, or their classroom environments. What do students achieve from standardized testing? Achievement means something that somebody has succeeded in doing. â€Å"Achievement is more than just test scores but also includes class participation, students’ course-taking patterns, and teachers’ professional development patterns†(Harris, Harris, Smith). How can a test score show someone’s satisfaction or what they believe success is? The tests aren’t that advanced in today’s technology. The tests do prepare students for more important tests such as the ACT, SAT, ASVAB, ect†¦Testing patterns have also been disputed such as drawing a Christmas tree, or limit a letter choice to a certain number of blanks filled in. This does not help the students or the educators in this essence. It does not test the students’ full potential to what they have learned from their educator, it just simply tests the students’ ability to guess quickly under pressure (Walberg). These tests a re usually briefly timed. Depending on how the student paces his or herself depends on how well he or she can take the test, because the student still needs to think logically. Under these circumstances students rush to finish the test forcing them to think illogically, resulting in a low score ul... ...8 Nov. 2013. Popham, W.James. "Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality." Educational Leadership. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Nov 2013. www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar99/vol56/num06/Why- standardized-tests-don't-measure-educational-quality/ "Standardized Tests." procon.org. N.p., 01 Nov. 2013. Web. 11 Nov 2013. . "Standardized Testing: No Child Left Behind." Lawserver. N.p.. Web. 13 Nov 2013. Walberg, Herbert J. "Standardized Tests Effectively Measure Student Achievement." Standardized Testing. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Stop the War Against Standardized Tests." Defining Ideas: A Hoover Institution Journal (20 May 2011). Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.

Analysis Of Health And Social Care In The Uk

ABSTRACT This analysis provides a review on the health and social care services in the UK. This will include an exploration of inequalities with the care sectors from the focus of the policy and individual and a discussion on promotion of equality and individual rights within the care sector. A brief history of social care in the UK will also be given. A clear understanding of inequalities in health is of critical importance so as to develop policies and interventions that support all sections of the society and direct care, treatment and services in proportion to need. Social workers can play an important role in these inequalities by working with service users in increasing their social and material resources and providing them access to information and support systems as well as maximizing their capacity to managing their health. INTRODUCTION At a time when there is a growing population in need of care, yet inequalities in health and social care challenge effective provision of services, the UK government face the central question: how should inequalities in health care be tackled and how can government ensure the promotion of individual rights within the care sector (Alcock, et.al., 2006)In order to explore on this subject, we must first define what we mean by social care. Social care encompasses a range of services that help people maintain independence, help them manage complex relationships, protect them in vulnerable situations and enable them to play a fuller part in the society (DOH 2006). It includes the provision of personal care, social work, protection and social support services to children and vulnerable adults. The provision of social care is often deemed necessary at old age or when an individual is suffering from long-term illness, learning and physical/sensory disability or mental illness. RATIONALE The current system in the UK is perceived unfair in the provision services in health care. There are huge disparities in the provision of health care services in parts of the UK with the spearheaded areas experiencing worst health care and deprivation (Ellison & Pierson 2003). The central focus of health inequalities policies have primarily been on health care and NHS funding. While significant progress has been made over the past decade by the National Health Service, inequalities still remain prevalent in the health care (Adams 2007). BACKGROUND OF SOCIAL CARE IN THE UK Social care has long been in existence as an informal concept through family support, community support and charitable works (Manson, et.al., 2004). The earliest Parliamentary Act that offered formal support to social care was the Poor Law of 1601 (Manson, et.al., 2004). This Act of parliament referred those in need of domestic care, health care, employment and housing to the care of their Parish. The advent of social work in the 19th century offered more formal support to social care. From medieval times, care was provided mostly by faith organizations or voluntary associations (Manson, et.al., 2004). The coming into power by the liberal government in 1906 was accompanied with the provision of formal health and social care that led to the establishment of the National Health Services (NHS) and the Welfare state in England during the 1940s (Manson, et.al., 2004). This herald a new dawn for social work by making access to formal health and social care services free at the point of need. The care standards Act of 2000 further increased the recognition of social work with the introduction of a degree in social work and the social workers’ register (Porter & Teisberg 2006). It is a requirement for social workers to hold an Honours degree or postgraduate MA in social work and to register with the General Social Care Council prior to commencing work. With this background knowledge in mind, it is worth examining the types of services provided by agencies in social care. SERVICES PROVIDED BY STATUTORY AND VOLUNTARY CARE AGENCIES Care services include services provided at care homes, domiciliary care, foster care, respite care and care provided at community venues (Jordan 2008).DOMICILIARY CARE/HOME CAREThis is the care that is provided at home and is suited for persons that have less acute need (Francis 2012). Limited nursing care may be provided by a District Nurse when needed. Nursing care is usually provided in care homes especially for the more infirm elderly as such individuals are often in need of medical attention and a greater level of care (Lovell & Cordeaux 1999). Domiciliary care aims at providing help with a specific task such as bathing or waking up in the morning. Traditionally, family members, friends and partners have provided domiciliary care. There is however a growing number of voluntary and statutory agencies providing domiciliary care services in the UK. Care UK is one such provider which has been approved to provide domiciliary care services to 55 local authorities in the UK (Francis 2012). Care UK provides domiciliary care to many service users including older people with dementia, children, individuals who are physically disabled and those with sensory impairments as well as serving adults with specialist needs such as mental illness, learning difficulties, HIV and acquired brain injury (Francis 2012).RESPITE CAREThis can be defined as a temporary relief provided for an elderly or the carer and may take the following forms (Lovell & Cordeaux 1999): Taking a break away from the daily routine by the elderly such as a going on a holiday. A short stay in a care home so that the carer can go on a holiday Increased support at home to enable the carer to pursue his/her interests Respite care may be as little as a day, a week or even an hour per week depending on the circumstances of the individual. Under the Carers Recognition and Services Act 1995, a carer who provides substantial care to his/her relative, friend, neighbour or partner is entitled to his/her own separate assessment by social services (Lovell & Cordeaux 1999). If assessed as in need of respite care, then this can be arranged by them.FOSTER CAREThis refers to the care provided to a minor who has been made a â€Å"ward† (Curry & Ham 2010). The minor is placed in the hands of a licensed or state certified caregiver who is often referred to as the foster parent. Foster care placement may be voluntary or involuntary. Where the biological parent is not able to provide the needed care to the minor, then voluntary placement may occur. However, where the minor is at risk of physical or psychological harm, then involuntary placement occurs (Curry & Ham 2010). There are many agencies providing fostering services in the UK. FosterCare UK is one independent non-profit organization established in 2007 to provide foster care services to minors in London and South East (Porter & Teisberg 2006). FosterCare UK recruits, trains, approves and supports foster carers to work with young people with complex and challenging needs (Porter & Teisberg 2006).COMMUNITY CARECare may as well be provided at community venues such as drop-in and day care centres. A good example is the Community Integrated Care (CIC) group, one of the leading nonprofit social and health care providers in the UK (Porter & Teisberg 2006). CIC is a national and registered charity that works in the community by providing support to people with a diverse range of needs across England and Scotland (Porter & Teisberg 2006). The group provides support to people with learning difficulties, physical disabilities and mental health conditions. It also provides a range of support services to o lder people with dementia. Further, CIC provides homelessness services such as housing, personal development and training and education to homeless people (Porter & Teisberg 2006). While there are a number of agencies, both statutory and voluntary, offering social care services to vulnerable individuals, challenges still remain in the provision of such services. Health inequality is one major challenge which has continued to undermine the effective provision of services in the health care. INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH In the UK, the black and minority ethnic (BME) groups have in general reported ill-health and their dissatisfaction with the care services. A large proportion of the UK population constitutes the white. According to the 2001 census, the white accounted for 92% of the total population while the Black British and Asians accounted for 2% and 4% respectively (DOH 2006). Ethnic differences in the delivery and uptake of health care services have been reported. For example, access to care for coronary heart disease has been found to be lower among the South Asians (DOH 2006). With reference to prevention, the rates of smoking cessation have been found to be lower in these minority groups compared to the whites (DOH 2006). Additionally, most of these minority groups have indicated higher rates of dissatisfaction with the services provided by the NHS. For example, according to the Healthcare Commission patient surveys, most of the South Asians reported poorer experiences in hospitals as inpatients (DOH 2006). Many of these minority groups experience higher rates of poverty than the whites, in terms of area deprivation, worklessness, income, and the lack of basic necessities. This perhaps explains the variation in self-reported health. However, other than their socio-economic status, there is a complex interplay of factors that may be responsible for causing such inequalities including discrimination, racism, poor delivery of health care services, biological susceptibility and the differences in culture and lifestyles (DOH 2006). PROGRESS AND INITIATIVES TOWARDS REDUCING INEQUALITY IN HEALTH CARE Policy developments have tried to tackle inequalities in health. Acheson’s Independent Inquiry of 1998 was a key initiative that put health inequalities on the policy agenda (Stuart 2003). It emphasized on how poverty, the wider inequalities and exclusion were impacting on the provision of health care services. Subsequent policies have also recognized inequalities in health as multi-faceted and focused on reducing these inequalities. The central focus of health inequalities policies have primarily been on health care and NHS funding (Baldock, et.al., 2007). Besides the socioeconomic inequalities, policies have also focused explicitly on equity between the various ethnic groups. Identifying good practice in racial equality and mainstreaming strategies in health services has been the main approach to tackling inequalities (Baldock, et.al., 2007). A number initiatives have been commissioned by the Department of Health to collate good practice in equality in health such as Race for Health, Pacesetters and handling problems like language barriers and barrier to access of health care resources (Stuart 2003). More recently, major reforms have been made to the NHS. The role that Primary Care Trust plays in health care has expanded and changes have been made to practice based commissioning, competition, and involvement of patient as well as plurality of providers (Lewis, et.al 2010). These reforms are seen as making it easier tailor health care services to local populations thus meeting the needs of everyone, including the minority groups. The Department of Health has also initiated the Mosaic programme, which aims at developing and maintaining good practice in procurement, based on the Commission for Racial Equality guidelines (DOH 2006). Concerns have however been raised by critics that the initiative may not be of benefit to the minority and deprived groups and they have called for an examination of the impact that these reforms may have on equalities. While there has been a remarkable progress towards reducing inequalities in the health care sector in UK, there is still the need to develop more policies and interventions that support all sections of the society and direct care, treatment and services in proportion to need. This includes advocating for the promotion of individual rights within the care sector. PROMOTION OF EQUALITY AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS In this regard, individual rights include, but are not limited to (Adams 2007): The right to respect Not to be discriminated against Right to practice their cultural and religious beliefs Making their own choices Right to equality or to be treated in a similar manner as the rest of the population Treated as an individual Right to be treated in a dignified way Right to privacy or confidentiality Protection from harm and danger Right to have access to information, especially where that information concerns them Communication using their preferred methods. There is thus the need for recognition of the immense diversity amongst individuals in the British society and how care agencies, both voluntary and statutory, can accommodate this diversity. This promotion of equality and individual rights is crucial for effective provision of care services. That is, social workers need to treat everyone as an individual, have respect for individual’s diversity and cultural values, promote equal treatment and opportunities for individuals, empower individuals, support them express their needs and experiences, ensure their well-being, work in ways consistent with the individual’s preferences and beliefs, avoid their discrimination and put the individual’s preference at the heart of service provisions through person centred planning approach (Adams 2007). CONCLUSION Social care services are provided to vulnerable individuals to protect them from harm, promote their independence and social inclusion, preserve or advance their physical and mental health, improve their opportunities and life chances, strengthen their families and protect and promote their individual human rights. In spite of the importance of provision of social care services, it is apparent that the current system in the UK is perceived unfair in the provision of health care services. There seems to be huge disparities in health care service provisions in parts of the UK with the spearheaded areas experiencing worst health care and deprivation. A remarkable progress has however been made towards reducing inequalities in the health A number initiatives have been commissioned by the Department of Health to collate good practice in equality in health such as Race for Health, Pacesetters and major reforms made to the NHS. These are seen as making it easier to tailor health care services to local populations thus meeting the needs of everyone, including the minority groups. While there has been a remarkable progress made, there is still the need to develop more policies and interventions that support all sections of the society and direct care, treatment and services in proportion to need. Social workers can play an important role in reducing health inequalities by working with service users in increasing their social and material resources and providing them access to information and support systems as well as maximizing their capacity to managing their health. REFERENCE Adams, R., 2007. Foundations of health and social care. Palgrave publishers Alcock, P., et.al., 2006. Students companion to social policy. Blackwell publishers Baldock et al (eds), 2007. Social Policy, Oxford University Press. Bradshaw, et.al., 1978. Issues in social policy. Routledge. Curry N. and C. Ham, 2010. Clinical and Service Integration: The route to improved outcomes. London: The King’s Fund. Available at: www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/clinical_and_service.html (accessed on 16 February 2012). Department of Health (DOH), 2006. Our Health, Our Care, Our Say: A New Direction for Community Services. London: DOH Department of Health, 1998. Modernising social services. Crown publishers. Hill, M., 2006. Social policy in the modern world. Blackwell publishers Ellison, N. and C. Pierson, 2003. Developments in British Social Policy. Palgrave publishers Francis, J., 2012. An overview of the UK domiciliary care sector. Sutton. United Kingdom Home Care Association Ltd. Jordan, B., 2008. Social policy for the 21st century (New Perspective). Polity Press. Lewis R, et.al., 2010. Where Next for Integrated Care Organisations in the NHSLondon: Nuffield Trust. Lovell, T and C. Cordeaux, 1999. Social Policy for Health and Social Care. Hodder and Stoughton. Mason, et.al, 2004. BTEC Introduction Health and Social Care. Heinemann. Platt, L, 2002. Parallel livesPoverty among ethnic minority groups in Britain, London. Porter, M. and E. Teisberg, 2006. Redefining Health Care: Creating Value- Based Competition On Results. Harvard Business School Press. Stuart, et.al, 2003. Tackling Health Inequalities since the Acheson Inquiry, Bristol