Friday, December 27, 2019

Race And Race Relations The Root Of Public Health Crises

There was a time when I would shy away from an in-depth conversation about race and race relations in social situations. I would participate in class, when studying race and health disparities, however when stepped out of the classroom and converse amongst my peers, I became more reserved. There’s something about asking those hard questions and discussing disparities as a result of oppressions and transgressions which made me uncomfortable to talk about race outside of the structured, politically-correct world of academia. Often emotions overshadowed a constructive and empathetic discourse and as a result I would be reserved or sometimes avoided those conversations. However, it is a conversation that I need to be a part of. Health disparities are at the root of public health crises; there are billions of dollars being allocated for initiatives and operations with the aim at improving the quality of life and combating health disparities within at-risk, vulnerable, and minority populations. Race relations and how it is impacted by American culture, history and policy presents a risk factor for negative health outcomes for some. NCORE will be an environment where I can be a part of the dialogue, and where I can learn the skills needed to be active and operate public health professional within a cultural context. Cultural humility and competence are very important when planning and piloting public health programs aimed at targeted audiences such as persons of color and peopleShow MoreRelatedThe Effects of Overcrowded Conditions in US Prisons1564 Words   |  6 PagesDue to budget crises in states across the United States of America, state governments must cut funding to their punishment facilities causing overcrowding in prisons to increase every day. Overcrowded prisons pose a potential breeding ground for crime as hundreds of inmates are squeezed into small accommodations. Thousands of low-level offenders receive jail sentences each day, these criminals make up about a third of the inmates in the United States. In the words of Republican Governor Mitch DanielsRead MoreThe World Can Benefit From Water Privatization2134 Words   |  9 PagesThe concept of race outlives slavery and limits emancipation through the manifested ideals of white supremacy and white privilege. The criminal justice system sets back colored communities by arranging political boundaries and looking back on the precedent set by the emancipation proclamation. With the ideologies shared within the Doctrine of Discovery, the Tenets of the Eugenics Movement, and Neoliberal Capitalism, some multinational companies attempt to privatize water. While water has remainedRead MoreFirst Nations Of The Twenty First Century1 900 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"Why do the health concerns of First Nations differ from those of mainstream Canada?† I hope to show that the health and well-being challenges faced by First Nations people are different from those of mainstream Canadians primarily because of the history of colonization, Canadian government policies and social acceptance of those policies. In order to explore the state of the health and well-being of First Nations peoples I first need to explain the measuring stick used to determine health and well-beingRead MoreCommunal Conflict in Tiv Land: Strategy for Resolution4118 Words   |  17 Pagesconflicts. Some of these conflicts have been characterized as crises of identity (Isa, 2001), or competition for control of the political space whatever its form and nature, Egwu (1998), reveal that communal conflict pose a fundamental threat and challenge to the state, and erode current attempts at institutionalizing virile and durable democracies in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. Since conflict prevention has not taken sufficient root in Nigeria, communal conflicts have now become pervasive. AsRead MoreSocio Economic Issues of Gilgit Baltistan4521 Words   |  19 Pagesdivert their attention towards development and social growth. They focus on education healthcare and other social as well as economic prosperity comes in. Poor economic condition is the root cause of so many problems that exist in a society. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s economic conditions are pathetic. As if power crises, lack of foreign investment for the development of industrial zones, backward and out-dated technology were not enough, Pakistan’s indulgence in war on terrorism served as a fatal blowRead MoreSocio-Economic and Political Dimensions of Conflict4145 Words   |  17 Pageschanging societies and achieving the goals and aspirations of individuals and groups. ii. SOCIO-ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS The term socio-economic is a contraction of the words ‘social’ and ‘economic’. Social here refers to the interactions and relations between people and communities. It also connotes the nature and development of society and social behaviour (Humphreys, 2003). On the other hand, economic refers to the principles of production and distribution of goods and services and the developmentRead MoreEssay on Culture of Poverty5571 Words   |  23 Pages1996) , it is easy to see how it is embraced in anti-poverty policy which suggests that penalties and incentives can change behavior. 2. Poverty Caused by Cultural Belief Systems that Support Sub-Cultures of Poverty The second theory of poverty roots its cause in the â€Å"Culture of Poverty†. This theory is sometimes linked with the individual theory of poverty or other theories to be introduced below, but it recently has become so widely discussed that its special features should not be minimizedRead MoreEconomic Restructuring And Revitalization Of Detroit Michigan Post World War II2729 Words   |  11 Pagesdefine the economy of Detroit and damaged it. This paper suggests that the deindustrialization of plants and industries and the depopulation of whites to the Suburbs have triggered the economic downfall of the Motor City. Some social issues such as race discrimination and segregation that might have led to the riots of 1943, and 1967, and the migration of African Americans to Northern States in search of employments will be discussed as well. In conclusion, this paper tells the story of Detroit, andRead MoreMarriage and Family Therapy Essay3257 Words   |  14 Pagessupervision; c lient advocacy; multiculturalism and diversity. The author will discuss significant aspects to the field of Marriage and Family Therapy such as MFT identity, function, and ethics of the profession. This paper will assess biblical values in relation to Marriage and Family Therapists and to the field itself. In conclusion, the author will provide reflections on Marriage and Family Therapy and the personal commitment to provide counseling that is ethical, biblically grounded, and empirically basedRead MoreThe Main Challenges Of Creating More Socially Equitable Cities Of The 21st Century?3149 Words   |  13 Pageslife promised. Neoliberalism was crucial to this shift, with the philosophy demanding ‘free markets’, privatisation, and the overall reduction in government control of the economy. Peck Tickell express that whilst neoliberalism emerged from utopian roots its development as the dominant rationalisation for globalisation has resulted in widespread socio-economic i nequality at local-global scales (2002, p.23). It is argued that through neoliberalism, the ‘social’ is given no consideration and is considered

Thursday, December 19, 2019

The Welfare System Has Been Controversial Throughout U.s....

The welfare system has been controversial throughout U.S. history. It is constantly under attack and is often the chosen topic of political debates. In 2015, 35.4% of Americans were on welfare (Boyd). Welfare is a government ran program, where the government gives benefits to people who cannot afford to take care of themselves or their family (â€Å"Brief†). The benefits that the government gives to the people are money and the necessities they need to live a normal life (â€Å"Welfare† 825). The welfare system is an interesting topic and has many layers. Although it is necessary, at the same time it is frustrating for many politicians and U.S. citizens. Numerous people abuse the welfare system everyday. People have found many ways to take†¦show more content†¦Welfare has been an arguable topic throughout United States history (â€Å"Brief†). Some people agree with it and others do not like it at all. Welfare did not exist until the 1930s during The Great Depression (â€Å"Brief†). With millions of people unemployed, Franklin D. Roosevelt developed the welfare system to help these people during the Great Depression (â€Å"Brief†). After the Great Depression was over,, the government came up with new programs to help assist the welfare program and help more people in poverty (â€Å"Brief†). Some of those programs were Medicaid, public housing, food stamps, and Supplemental Security programs (â€Å"Brief†). Theses programs helped and hurt the country at the same time (â€Å"Brief†). By having these programs, many people would not look for jobs because they knew they were better off living on welfare (â€Å"Brief†). In 1996, the United States came up with the welfare to work law, which is now known as the Welfare to Work program (Hill). The purpose of this program was to encourage Americans on welfare to go back to work and not just stay at home and do nothing (Hill). The main goal was to reduce welfare by increasing the income of people on welfare (Greenberg). The program required people to get in an education program, get some type of training, or try to find a job (Greenberg). These requirements were intended to eventually get welfare recipients to get a job and not depend on welfare (Greenberg). Like

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

I Survived Hurricane Katrina free essay sample

They decided that all they could do was turn around and go back home and brave the storm. The night of August 29, 2005 Barry Tucker and his family fell asleep for the night. The storm had already started and damage and flooding was happening. The very next morning Barry woke up in his living room and water was starting to flood the whole downstairs of his home. He woke up his dad and they ran upstairs to his mom and sister to wake them up. The water was already rising to the second level of there home. The family escaped up to the attic and in no time the water rose up there. His dad cut a whole in the roof and the family went on the roof. They all huddled together to keep safe from the 120 mph wind. Barry’s sister broke through the huddle and almost got flung off the roof. We will write a custom essay sample on I Survived Hurricane Katrina or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Barry grabbed her arm and pulled her back on the roof. Barry lost his footing and he got flown off. His life changed right before his eyes. The road was flooded so deep and it swooped him away. He went straight into a tree. He was able to climb up the to the very top of the tree and hung on for life. A while later a house was coming right towards him and he jumped just in time as it crashed against the tree. He climbed into the house, what was left of it, and heard a dog barking. He found the dog and they became the best of friends very fast. They both helped each other brave the storm.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

When I Have Fears Essays - Sonnets, , Term Papers

When I have Fears There are many aspects of the world today that give us reason to overthink and be fearful. John Keats', "When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be," discusses this and warns the readers of what may happen if this is taken to an extreme. The narrator goes through life until finally he understands the inevitability of time and realizes the things most precious to him. In the first quatrain of the poem, Keats uses a substantial metaphor comparing the gathering of grain with the gathering of his thoughts. The speaker is concerned that he wont complete his poetry. To die young is to die before one has the opportunity to harvest the fruits of the mind that have been "ripened" from old age. Keats then goes on showing how the speaker doesn't want to die ignorant. The night's starr'd face" (line 5) is symbolic of the ultimate questions in a person's life and the speaker is fearful that he may die before he discovers them. The third quatrain helps to discuss the transience of things. The "fair creature of an hour" (line 9) is probably a lover. The speaker is addressing the lover but it is evident that she is not the main concern. This unreflecting love the only love he may get. "Then on the shore/ Of the wide world I stand alone, and think/ Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink" (lines 12-14). In Keats' rhyming couplet he is saying that if the speaker has fears, then he is alone. He is standing on the "shore," on the edge, separated, and far apart from the rest of the world. The things the speaker finds precious, "Love" and "Fame," in the end are insubstantial and dissolve to "nothingness" because he never did anything about them. Thinking will lead to a person's destruction. Being too self-conscious takes away from living one's life. Keats' speaker warns us that if we live in fear then this will lead to death both physically and mentally.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Sample Term Paper

Sample Term Paper Students often look for sample term papers to help them during their course studies.   Unfortunately, if the sample term papers are copied of lifted from any book or website, it brings a charge of plagiarism against the student.   Thats not what any student wants, and that’s not what we want either.   This is why we offer the best possible sample term papers to our customers. When looking for the best company for getting your sample term paper, make sure you keep the following points in mind: Make sure the company is a real one.   The internet is full of hoax and fraud websites claiming to provide cheap sample term papers.   It is understood that the sample term papers are not of good quality and are often plagiarized.   Stay away from doubtful companies. If the company you are employing for your free sample term papers doesn’t directly communicate with you, beware, as it means there is something fishy going on. Ask the company for its contact numbers and addresses.   If it is reluctant to provide you any of these, it might mean that the company is not a genuine one.   You can ask the company and check out for yourself.   As fraud companies are illegal, they want to stay hidden, and away from where they can be caught.   Therefore, they refrain from leaking out any contact information. If you feel uncomfortable with the way the company staff is acting while you are looking for the sample term paper, make sure you fish out the problem and quit the companys services if you are not comfortable. To write a sample term paper, always hire a company that knows its job.   Using small immature companies will only fetch disaster.   Make sure that you will not lose any money or time with the company you are working for your sample college term paper, sample high school term paper, or sample university term paper. Our custom writing services were developed to provide students with term paper samples of all kinds at affordable costs and great quality.   Whenever you feel that you want a sample term paper, either send us an email or visit our website online. We will make sure you get what you want and by the time, you want it.   We happily provide you term paper samples, free sample term papers, sample college term paper, sample high school term paper, sample university term paper, write a sample term paper, at such affordable costs that all our customers are customers for life, and we fulfill all our customers needs.   This is why we are one of the largest sample term paper providing companies in the whole term paper samples scenario. We will happily offer you with term paper samples of all kinds at affordable costs and great quality.   At whatever time you feel that you want a sample term paper, whats more send us an email, or visit our term paper writing service now.   We will make sure you get what you want and by the time, you want it.   We can assure you that you will enjoy working with us when you place an order at our website for sample term papers or any other kinds of papers you may require.   We guarantee you good grades and top positions with great quality.   We will make sure that the sample term paper provided to you is without any sign of plagiarism and is completely genuine.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Guide to Writing Argumentative Essays in Shakespeare Studies All You Need

Guide to Writing Argumentative Essays in Shakespeare Studies All You Need What is an Argumentative Essay in Shakespeare Studies? To start with, an argumentative essay is a piece of writing in which you ought to state and support your opinion of a specific issue. In fact, problems are rarely one-dimensional, so it is essential to consider different sides of it. In turn, since your position should be extremely specific, you should make one side of the issue more forceful than the others. Similarly, an argumentative essay in Shakespeare studies follows the academic tradition of argumentative essays with only one exception – the issue under discussion must concern works of William Shakespeare. Choosing a Topic for Argumentative Essay in Shakespeare Studies Argumentative essays are considered to be above the average difficulty of academic writings since they require profound research and knowledge of persuasive techniques. Topics of argumentative essays are often straight to the point, signifying that the author is convinced in veracity of his or her claims. Keep in mind, however, that it is not recommended to choose topics that you are passionate about since it might blur your objectiveness and thus undermine the credibility of the research. Besides, the focus of your essay should correspond to the opinion of the majority of people so that you have to deal only with the minority. The following topics might guide you when you decide to begin your argumentative essay in Shakespeare studies: William Shakespeare is a Revolutionary Figure in Literature; Did a Person Named William Shakespeare Actually Exist? William Shakespeare’s Plays Depict the Roots of a Modern Feminist Woman; Gender Roles are Significant for the Development of the Plot in ‘King Lear’; Hamlet Was Never in Love with Ophelia; William Shakespeare is a Credible Source of the History of the 16th Century Society. Pre-Writing Tips Choosing a topic is the first tough challenge of writing. Although sometimes the instructor’s requirements may limit your space for creativity, it is often better to ask your teacher for guidance. Similarly, you can search for clues online, reviewing forums for present-day debates, or analyzing academic journals in order to find issues you are concerned about. Not only will it help you to choose a particular topic, but it might also lead to finding authoritative sources to support your claim. As a matter of fact, argumentative essays in Shakespeare studies should always be backed up with scholarly sources. Besides, although academic writing often demands up-to-date references, when writing an essay in Shakespeare studies, you can use older sources if you consider them to be of more considerable theoretical significance or if the issues discussed in them are still not resolved. Nevertheless, even after knowing your subject of research, you might be stuck on a blank page for an extended period, thinking that your first word or sentence must be perfect. In order to avoid such a problematic situation, it is always helpful to create a short outline that ought to guide you through the writing process. In this manner, write a sentence or set of words for each section, including introduction phrase, thesis statement, body paragraphs, refutation paragraphs, and concluding statement. In fact, sometimes it is helpful to write only thesis statement since it already includes all of the crucial aspects of your future essay. In case it is hard for you to organize your ideas into a smooth sequence, you should better revise the structure of the argumentative essay. Structure of an Argumentative Essay The structure of an argumentative essay in Shakespeare studies reflects a typical form of an academic essay, except the fact that it should also include one or more refutation paragraphs. Thus, it should start from an introduction, followed by several body and refutation paragraphs, and a conclusion section. The number of body paragraphs may vary according to the size limits of your paper. For instance, if you write a two-page essay, it is better to include three body paragraphs (of at least a hundred words each), which discuss three different aspects of the topic, and one refutation section. In turn, if you are writing a paper of five and more pages, it is better to create more body sections to discuss all essential aspects of your argumentation. Introduction The first paragraph of your argumentative essay is an introduction, and here you are supposed to inform readers about what is going to be discussed and advocated in this paper. The first sentence is usually purely introduction, which means that it should not include any specific information, but, instead, make some general statement. For instance, if you are writing an essay on the issue of gender roles and femininity depicted in Shakespeare’s play, you can mention that this playwright is famous for creating deep female personalities, which was usual to those times. In this manner, your statement resonates with the mind and knowledge of your readers, pushing them to discover more about this topic. Then, say what particular works of Shakespeare resembles the topic under discussion in the most vivid manner. Keep in mind that any argumentative essay in Shakespeare studies should be based on and supported with the extractions from the original works of the playwright. Finally, the last part of your introduction section is a thesis statement. In fact, the thesis sentence plays a crucial role not only for the introduction but also for the whole paper since it is supposed to guide readers throughout the essay. This statement should outline all the key moments of your argumentation. Again, if you are writing an essay of more than five pages, you may divide your thesis into two sentences in order to cover every point and to promote the readability of the statement. Here are examples of a correct thesis statement, which makes an argument and outlines the paper, and an incorrect one: Incorrect: ‘William Shakespeare is the Revolutionary Figure in Literature since he is a world-renowned playwright.’ This thesis statement is not specific enough since it does not tell anything about Shakespeare or your paper. In turn, the correct variant should look like this: ‘William Shakespeare is the revolutionary figure in literature since he made a significant contribution to modern English language, his plays gave inspiration for a variety of playwrights, and the depth of his characters’ individualities put a basis for a character development technique for the generations of writers.’ As you see, this thesis statement not only vividly shows your stand, which says that ‘William Shakespeare is the revolutionary figure in literature,’ but also presents supporting details that ought to make your argument convincing. Besides, it also shows the structure of the essay, where the first body paragraph discusses Shakespeare’s ‘contribution to modern English language,’ the second advocates that ‘his plays gave inspiration for a variety of playwrights,’ and the last paragraph analyzes ‘depth of his characters’ individualities’ and how it ‘put a basis for a character development technique for the generations of writers.’ Body Section Each body paragraph of your essay should start from a topic sentence. This sentence reflects the idea of the whole paragraph and corresponds to the sequence of arguments presented in your thesis statement. Then, it is necessary to support this idea with some pieces of evidence that you can find both in the original text and scholarly sources. Keep in mind, however, that when you are writing an essay in Shakespeare studies, it is crucial to make extractions and references from the original plays, thus showing that you are not only restating other’s opinions but are also eligible to make an analysis of a text by yourself. In point of fact, when writing an argumentative essay, it is necessary to follow the ‘sandwich’ structure of quotes. This approach implies that you have to make an opening that presents your focus and idea. Then, you incorporate a quote that supports this particular idea and provides an explanation concerning the meaning of the reference. In this manner, you not only make your argument evident but also show that your understanding of the topic is profound. Finally, try to use at least two references in a paragraph to make the text look credible. For instance, you can extract one reference from Shakespeare play and the other one from scholarly literature. The body section of your argumentative essay should end up with a refutation paragraph or paragraphs. In this section, you have to assume that your position is incorrect and write something that corresponds to the opinion of an opposition, which, in turn, opens the lines of communication. For instance, if your paper is based on the argumentation that Hamlet never really loved Ophelia, then you have to find evidence from the text where you seem to be incorrect. You can say, for example, that the character was greatly affected by her death, which might mean that he had strong feelings to her. Basically, you have to intentionally undermine the credibility and very purpose of your essay. At the same time, however, you must know how to respond to this opposing view and how to refute it. Thus, you may say that although Hamlet was affected by Ophelia’s death, it is likely that the character felt guilty for what he did and blamed himself. Thus, since he always shifts the focus on hims elf, the feeling of guilt raised due to his selfishness rather than from love to Ophelia. Therefore, refutation section allows you to become an objective researcher in the eyes of the audience since it shows that you can see both sides of the coin, which, in turn, makes your argumentative essay convincing. Conclusion The conclusion section is the last part of your argumentation essay, which signifies that you succeed in claiming your position. Keep in mind that there should not be any new information here, so if you think that your text is not persuasive enough, then you should better improve your body section first. Nevertheless, the conclusion paragraph always starts from a concluding phrase and the restatement of the thesis. Then, summarize all the ideas that you have discussed in the body paragraphs and go over the refutation part to strengthen readers’ understanding. Besides, at the end of the concluding paragraph, you can mention that although the topic was by the most part covered in your essay, there is still a space for improvement and further research. Post-Writing Tips Never forget that when you finished writing your essay, it is still only a draft and needs a lot of improvements. For instance, the writing process requires a significant amount of concentration on what is necessary to say and in what manner it should be expressed, so often writers pay more attention to the quality of their thought than the text itself. Therefore, one can rarely write a paper that is free of grammatical mistakes. In this manner, you should take your time to carefully reread the whole paper several times, finding possibly misspell or punctuation errors, misplaced modifiers, or tense verb mistakes. Besides, when looking through the paper, consider whether your paragraphs and ideas are organized in a coherent flow. Using transition words, like ‘furthermore, similarly, for instance’, you can make your paper look like a smooth sequence of claims and then, ask yourself whether your argumentation is logical and whether it is convincing enough. Although it is always a room for improvement, try to focus only on critical issues, avoiding to do the unnecessary rewriting. Last but not least, revise all the in-text citation and the reference page. For instance, writers tend to insert a quote from a source and forget to refer to its original. In academic writing, it is considered to be a plagiarism and can significantly decrease your chances to achieve good results. Besides, check if the rules of the required formatting style are followed since instructors usually pay much attention to this issue and will lower the mark. If you are not sure whether you remember the rules accurately, you can revise them on the OWL Purdue web page, where the latest updates are published. â€Æ' References Argumentative Essays. (n.d.). Owl Purdue. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/argumentative_essays.html Fleming, Grace. (2019, May 20). Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay. ThoughtCo. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/write-an-argument-essay-1856986 Kearney, Virginia. (2019, April 10). How to Write an Argumentative Essay Step by Step. Owlcation. Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Write-an-Argument-Essay Shakespeare Studies is Not Only About Visiting Performances. (n.d.). Ozzz. Retrieved from https://ozzz.org/shakespeare-studies/ Wendy, Ikemoto. (2018, March 15). What is an Argumentative Essay?. BibMe. Retrieved from bibme.org/blog/updates/what-is-an-argumentative-essay/

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Market Power, Price Discrimination, and Alocative Efficiency in Assignment

Market Power, Price Discrimination, and Alocative Efficiency in Intermediate-Goods Market - Assignment Example Such firms are usually said to have the capabilities of affecting either the standing market price or the total quantity of products within the market single handedly. Price discrimination is described as a situation whereby identical goods from the same organization exist in the market but sold at different prices. This mainly occurs in monopolistic or oligopolistic markets. With reference to the guidelines given, this paper will critically analyze the Market power, price discrimination, and allocative efficiency in intermediate-goods market while thinking about it in an economic way. In addition to this, the paper will aim at establishing how this topic will be a motivation to the marketing manager of an organization (Katz 2007). The party that would be interested with this topic is the marketing manager of an organization that has a command in the market. ... Such aspects balance the consumer’s ability to buy products, as, due to differentiated prices in the case of price discrimination, the consumers, regardless of their income levels, they are able to afford a good or a service. For instance, in the case of students, firms often reduce their products and services by 10% for the sake of students. They are typical examples of individuals in the society with low incomes. Due to this fact, their demands can be said to be more elastic. Due to reduced prices, they are able to access these services as well as products due to the reduced prices (Rey and Verge, 2008). Further, this topic, especially the market power, is essential as studying about it ensures that the marketing manager, or any one given the mandate to see an organization attain a commanding lead in the market, obtains appropriate information on how his company can generate sizable or substantial benefits in its operations while experiencing relatively low levels of liabili ties. . General Setting This topic is underlain in monopoly aspect of macroeconomics. To understand this, it is essential that one take on each notion at a time. Market power; commonly, market power is usually referred to as monopoly power. An organization with market power is usually said as having control putting the terms as well as conditions of exchange into consideration. As such, such an organization can effectively raise the prices of its products as well as its services and still not lose its clients. On the other hand, the company can reduce the prices and still not cause a price war amongst the competitors, which is usually ruining. When an organization offers a differentiated product or a service to the market, it is

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The role of the management in organizational Behavior Essay

The role of the management in organizational Behavior - Essay Example A readjustment of work-roles and behavior of employee teams, to cope with new challenges, is the first step to initiating changes in organizational culture. It is this first step that translates into new attitudes. Thus, behavior changes attitudes, and not the reverse; change happens from bottom up, and not top down. And for this to happen effectively, the CEO should be willing to change too, based on the signals received by her from the teams at the grassroots. Additionally she has the task of encouraging these teams to 'lead' the company in the direction required, without herself being directive. Her role is that of a competent doctor assisting childbirth. If the process is going smoothly, the doctor waits and encourages the mother, and provides her all the assistance required. Medical intervention should happen only in an emergency! What is the process that teams go through while resolving business issues Beer et al (p160) state that research has proven that "interfunctional coordination, decision making, work organization and concern for people" are the four indicators of performance-in the long run-and not financial parameters, which in the short term, can spike or recede in response to other factors. These four factors are directly connected with team functioning. Apart from this, they talk of six distinct steps (pp161-164) taken by successful managers to elicit task-related responses-i.e. a response ideally suited to deal with the task at hand. What are these six steps First, mobilizing commitment to change through a joint diagnosis of business issues. Here, the operative word is 'joint'. The participation in this process ensures a commitment to the process of change required to tackle this problem. Second comes the process of drafting a 'shared vision' to organize to cope successfully with the situation. Note, it is not the CEO spelling out the steps to be taken, it is the team ('shared') doing this. In this process, new roles and responsibilities are taken on, but since it does not involve change in titles or remuneration there is less resistance to the steps. Here, cross-functional teams operate-teams from across different departments and at different levels of the hierarchy-the only criterion for the composition of teams being that it is the most conducive to task attainment. Then (third) comes a pro-active fostering of consensus for the new way of functioning, and building competence and cohesion to achieve it. The new way of functioning would require new skills, and employees seek to gain these skills. This process is assisted by the management. Apart from this, if the management sends out a message that team functioning is what is required, then the building of competence and cohesion happens quickly and smoothly. (Fourth) Once team functioning has succeeded in one department, it has to spread to other departments. However, it is likely to fail if it is a top-down effort. Other departments, which would be at various levels of readiness to reorganize themselves into new functional teams, need to work out their own way of attaining this. The management has to stand by and cheer, as it were, without pushing. (Fifth) Once the process of change has more or less spread through most departments, the new roles and team relationships have to be institutionalized, so that the company does not inadvertently slip back to the

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Advertising- the seven sins of memory Essay Example for Free

Advertising- the seven sins of memory Essay INTRODUCTION As if effective marketing communication were not hard enough to achieve, even if we succeed in getting our message attended to and processed, and a positive intention formed, the very nature of memory may step in and upset everything. Memory distortion and plain old forgetting are unfortunate facts of life. The important question, however, is: can we do anything about it? As with most things, if we are to have any hope of dealing with memory problems and their impact upon advertising and other marketing communications, we must first understand what is going on. In this paper we will be looking at what Daniel Schacter (2001) has called the seven sins of memory: transcience, absent-mindedness, blocking, misattribution, suggestibility, bias and persistence. Most of what Schacter is dealing with involves declarative memory and not procedural memory, and as a result is highly dependent upon activity in the hippocampus. Although other brain structures are involved in mediating declarative memory, the hippocampus is critical, especially for tasks emphasising the representational as opposed to temporal properties of declarative memory. The hippocampus is always active in encoding new information for declarative memory. Nondeclarative emotional memory is also involved here, especially in the cases of bias and persistence, which means activity in the amygdala as well. There is compelling evidence that the amygdala is critical to emotional learning and memory (cf. Griffiths 1997). Imperfections in memory have obvious implications for the successful processing of advertising. Even if a positive intention is formed as a result of exposure to an advert, if a memory malfunction interferes with that intention, the advertising will be ineffective. The problems associated with these seven sins of memory, and what advertisers can do about it, are discussed below. THE SIN OF TRANSIENCE Forgetting that naturally occurs over time may be thought of as transcience. While the memory of what one did yesterday may be all but perfect, over time those memories tend to become more a generic description of what one expects to happen under those circumstances rather than what actually did happen. †¢Advertising implication: The sin of transience implies that what people recall from advertising is much more likely to reflect a generic description of what is expected about a brand rather than the specific benefits that are part of the message. This has clear implications for interpreting recall measures of advertising messages. But, more importantly, it also suggests that the specific content of marketing communication should be consistent with, or carefully integrated with, prior understandings of the brand. A recent advert for Reynolds Wrap illustrates this can be done with a headline Sticky Foods Wont Stic spelled out in cheese on a pan of lasagne, with a portion cut out of the corner cutting off the last letter of stick, revealing the aluminium foil, clean, beneath. Transcience increases with age. While older adults those over 50 years of age have the same ability to remember in the short term as younger people, over time, memory of specific detail deteriorates more rap idly. As a result, older adults tend to rely upon a general sense of knowing rather than specific recall. The problem of memory transience can be mediated by more elaborative encoding, essentially by stimulating the lower left frontal cortex. One popular way of trying to encourage more elaborate encoding is by using visual imagery mnemonics to facilitate memory. In fact, this idea goes back to the early Greeks. Unfortunately for marketing communication, not only does using visual mnemonics require a great deal of concentration and effort (and there is no easy way to encourage such effort), but for most people there is really very little evidence of general memory improvement using such techniques. †¢Advertising implication: However, one way to encourage more elaborative encoding to help reduce transcience is to relate information the target audience is interested in remembering with something they already know. In advertising, this could be encouraged with questions in the copy to stimulate elaboration: for example, in a recent advert for the Dodge Caravan with the headline What Idiot Coined the Phrase Stay at Home Mom? THE SIN OF ABSENT-MINDEDNESS When one fails to pay proper attention to something and as a result does not encode it properly, or when the information is actually in memory, but overlooked when needed to be retrieved, one experiences the sin of absent-mindedness. Absent-mindedness manifests itself both in failing to  remember past experiences as well as in failing to remember to do something in the future. Both, of course, can prove troublesome for marketing communication. Also, the fact that absentmindedness is more likely for routine experiences that do not in and of themselves require elaborative encoding (e.g. exposure to advertising) adds to the problem. Unfortunately, routine behaviour (which certainly includes such things as reading magazines and watching television) is associated with low levels of prefrontal cortex activity in the left inferior area, which makes it difficult to form vivid memories. Such automatic or superficial levels of encoding can also lead to something known as change blindness (Si mons Levin 1998), where people fail to detect changes over time, because of an inability to recall details. This has obvious implications for the introduction of new benefits over time in advertising campaigns, or for repositioning. Memories for past experiences may be classified as either recollections or familiarity. Recalling specific details from memory (e.g. remembering specific benefit claims from an advert) is defined as recollection. Familiarity is when one has a sense of simply being aware of something without recalling specific details (e.g. remembering seeing an advert, but not particular content). This difference is important, because when there is divided attention during exposure, there is a significant effect upon recollection, but little or no effect upon familiarity (cf. studies by Craik et al. 1996). †¢Advertising implication: Because one is more likely to pay partial attention rather than full attention to advertising, familiarity with advertising is more likely than recollection of specifics from the advertisement. This underscores the importance of maintaining a consistent look and feel over time (Percy et al. 2001), encouraging familiarity, and utilising imagery that will elicit a positive benefit (associated with the brand) even at low or even sub-cognitive levels of attention. Additionally, too much exposure, especially massed exposure, could lead to lower levels of specific recollection (as we understand from as long ago as Ebbinghaus 1885). Spaced exposures generally result in better memory, a finding demonstrated in Strongs simulations (1974) of various media schedules based upon Zielskes work, and more recently in fMRI studies conducted by Wagner et al. (1998). Remembering to do something in the future (e.g. buying an advertised brand the next time you are shopping) is described by psychologists as  prospective memory. Einstein and McDaniel (1990, 1997 with Shaw) have offered a useful way of looking at this idea of prospective memory, distinguishing between what they call event-based prospective memory, where we want to remember to do something at a specific event, and time-based prospective memory, when one wishes to remember to do something at a specific time in the future. An example of event-based prospective memory would be wanting to buy a new brand the next time you are at the store. An example of time-based prospective memory would be making sure you are home at 3p.m. to meet the delivery man. Why people experience prospective memory failure is that they are usually so preoccupied with other things in their lives that when the event occurs, or the time arrives when it is necessary to remember to do something, the correct associations in memory are not activated. †¢Advertising implication: Prospective memory failure may be minimised in advertising by using distinctive cues that are unlikely to be associated with other long-term memories (especially for competitive brands). It is important to establish links in memory with the appropriate category need in such a way that when a purchase or usage occasion occurs, it will trigger a memory of the intention to act. This is especially true for recognition-driven brand awareness, which means for most package goods products. In the store point-of-purchase material as well as packaging must be both sufficiently informative to trigger the stored memory of an intention to buy, and be distinctive enough to minimise confusion with other brand memories. Shoppers are almost always in a hurry and preoccupied with other things when they are in a store, and this may get in the way of attending to the appropriate prospective memory cue. This is just the sort of thing that goes on when a salesman creates a distraction, hoping you will forget all about your initial good intentions not to be influenced by his pitch, as we know from the literature on compliant behaviour (cf. Cialdini 2001). THE SIN OF BLOCKING We are all familiar with the sin of blocking, that all-too-familiar experience of recognising someone but not being able to remember their name. According to Schacter (2001), blocking is not the same thing as absent-mindedness or transience. In the case of blocking, the memory has been encoded and stored, unlike absent-mindedness. In fact, an appropriate  retrieval cue could be in place, but the association is just not made. Unlike transience, with blocking, the information is still in memory, but remains just out of reach when required. Because blocking generally occurs when trying to remember names, it potentially can be a problem for brand names. Blocking seems to originate in the left temporal pole, where there is a breakdown in the link made between the characteristics associated with something and the name by which it is known. The reason people often have trouble remembering someones name is that a persons name tends to be isolated in memory from any conceptual knowledge about that person and, as a result, difficult to retrieve. Most models of name retrieval hold that activation of phonological representations in memory occur only after activation of conceptual and visual representations. This is why it is easier to recall something about a person than to recall their name. It is also what can lead to remembering something about a product without being able to recall the brand name. Interestingly, names that are most likely to be blocked are familiar ones which have not recently been encountered (Burke et al. 1991. †¢Advertising implication: Brand names that are not well integrated or related to obvious associations with category need will be highly susceptible to blocking. If there are no logical and immediate links in memory between a brand name and the category need, there is the risk of occasional blocking. Arbitrary or more abstract brand names will be blocked more often than descriptive brand names, even when those names are equally familiar to people (cf. Brdant Valentine 1998). Brand names such as Vitalegs (a herbal gel that relieves tired legs) and Soft Scrub (a cleanser that enables you to clean without harsh scratching) illustrate good descriptive brand names that are less likely to be susceptible to blocking. To minimise blocking, it is necessary to suppress the retrieval of recently encountered information that is related to a recall cue so that the mind is not cluttered with irrelevancies that could interfere with the desired memory. †¢Advertising implication: When a brand possesses identical or similar benefits as the leading brand in its category, it will be that much harder to build an association for those benefits with the brand because of learned interference from advertising for the leading brand. This again suggests the need to have copy (and packaging as well as other marketing communication) unique to a brand in order to avoid multiple connections in  memory that could minimise or override the desired brand-related memory. Certain retrieval inhibitions that lead to blocking can be released if we encounter a sufficiently powerful cue (e.g. nondeclarative emotional memories) that helps us re-experience something in the same way in which it was initially experienced. Appropriate triggers in advertising or other marketing communication that elicit the correct emotional memories may help overcome retrieval inhibitions, and release positive memories for a brand. A wonderful advert for Nestls Toll House chocolate chips showing a mother with a pan of chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven with a little girl looking on in anticipation perfectly illustrates this point. THE SIN OF MISATTRIBUTION If one correctly remembers something learned, but attributes it to the wrong source, this is misattribution. Often referred to as unconscioustransference, it causes real problems with eyewitness identification. The problem stems from a strong sense of general familiarity, coupled with an absence of specific recollection. While the consequences of misattribution in advertising are obviously not as serious as they are with eyewitness identification, it can nevertheless cause marketers real problems. †¢Advertising implication: Avoiding misattribution requires more than simply retrieving appropriate benefits from memory. The benefit must be linked together in memory in such a way that you make the correct association of the brand with its benefit claim. This linking process is known as memory binding. All of the important brandbenefit associations in advertising must be bound together by the receiver into a unifying whole at the time of encoding. When advertising for different brands is visually or verbally similar, this memory binding is unlikely to occur, leading to memory conjunction error. Memory conjunction errors occur because people misattribute strong familiarity with similar (even if not identical) things from more than one source as coming from a single source; brand advertising in our case. Interestingly, a strong visualverbal congruence can help minimise misattribution (cf. Schacter et al. 1999). A recent series of adverts for Good Humor-Breyers uses the exact format and headline (Less fat, fewer calories, no guilt) for three brands: Popsicle, Breyers and Klondike. This would seem to almost encourage misattribution. THE SIN OF SUGGESTIBILITY Suggestibility in memory occurs because one tends to include information that has been learned from an outside source as something personally experienced. This information may come from any external source, including advertising or other marketing communication. While suggestibility is similar to the sin of misattribution, misattribution does not require suggestions from outside sources. But when the two combine, it is quite possible for us to develop memories of something which in fact never occurred. †¢Advertising implication: Interestingly, while suggestibility may be a sin of memory, in the world of marketing communication this sin may often become a blessing. For example, suggestive questions may produce memory distortions by creating source memory problems. As a result, advertising that utilises questions that remind people of a favourable brand association could occasion a memory for that positive experience, even if it never occurred, e.g.: Remember how easy it is to remove those nasty stains when you use our brand? Schacter has suggested that if you embellish a fake memory with vivid mental images it should make it look and feel like a true memory. This is based upon work done by Hyman and Pentland (1996) in successfully creating false childhood memories via suggestion, simply by asking subjects about things that never occurred. One of the important conclusions they drew from their work is that these false memories produce vivid visual images. †¢Advertising implication: The application to advertising is obvious. If a suggested favourable experience with a brand is reinforced with a strong visual image of such an experience, it should help seed a memory of a positive experience. In an extension of these ideas, we know that one of the best ways to elicit early childhood memories is to ask someone to visualise themselves as children. While there is no evidence that anyone can remember anything much earlier than about two years of age, because the areas of the brain needed for episodic memory are not fully mature until that age, with suggestive visualisation techniques one can create false memories for events going back almost to birth (cf. Spanos et al. 1999). The key here, as in all suggestibility, is expectancy. If one is instructed to expect something, and it seems plausible, it is possible to create rather strong false memories. †¢Advertising implication: It is very difficult to  suggest a false memory for something that runs counter to a recent or strong existing memory. If you dont like a brand, advertising is not likely to create a false memory that you do; nor should you try. But if a brand is one of a set of brands used by the receiver, it is certainly possible to suggest more positive experiences with that brand. And if it is a brand they have not used, if the advertising can relate it to a posit ive experience from childhood, it is quite possible to suggest positive memories for the benefit, and then link it to the brand. THE SIN OF BIAS The sin of bias reflects how current understandings, beliefs and feelings have the ability to distort how one interprets new experiences and the memory of them. Biases that are associated with memory of past experiences will greatly influence how one perceives and understands new information or situations. Schacter talks about five major types of bias: consistency, change, hindsight, egocentric and stereotypical biases. Gazzaniga (1998) has identified something in the left brain that he calls an interpreter that continuously draws upon peoples experiences and understanding of things in order to provide some stability to their psychological world. This would seem to be the neurological source of biases, and utilises such things as inferences, rationalisations and generalisations in relating the past with the present, enabling people to justify their present attitudes with past experiences and feelings. The left brain interpreter, however, is mediated by systems in the right brain that are more attuned to actual representations of what is going on in the world around us. Consistency and change bias Consistency bias reflects a tendency to behave (or believe) today in a fashion consistent with how one remembers similar previous experiences. When this happens, current experiences and feelings are filtered through and made to match memories of those past experiences and feelings. Because memories are not exact, people tend to infer their past beliefs, attitudes and feelings from what they are experiencing today. †¢Advertising implication: This suggests that for people who hold current positive attitudes toward a brand, advertising could imply they are of long standing. For brand switchers who include a particular brand in their purchase set, advertising  could imply a long standing preference for that brand: You know you have always liked this brand, why not buy more? Something similar occurs with change bias, where one remembers something being worse than it actually was, making what they feel now an improvement by comparison. Both consistency and change bias can occur beca use they help reduce cognitive dissonance, even when someone is not really aware of the source of the inconsistency they are trying to manage (Lieberman et al. 2000). Hindsight bias Hindsight bias is that familiar feeling that one has always known something would happen after becoming aware of the outcome. One is reconstructing the past to make it consistent with the present. The key here seems to be an activation of general knowledge. The new information is integrated with other general knowledge in semantic memory, and is not distinguished as such in making judgements. There is evidence that this selective recall is a function of the general knowledge that influences perception and comprehension, and a vulnerability to misattribution. †¢Advertising implication: Hindsight bias would seem to indicate that when exposed to advertising or other marketing communication one will recall benefit claims that are not actually made, but which would have been expected to be there because of the claims that actually were made. Work by Carli (1999) tends to support this idea. Recent adverts for Infusium 23 set up a beforeafter case, but leave out the before picture, wit h the headline You really think I would let them publish the before picture? This clever execution encourages hindsight bias as you imagine the before hair problem. Egocentric bias The self plays an important role in ones ongoing mental life, and is at the root of egocentric bias. When encoding new information by relating it to the self, memory for that information will be better than other types of encoding. This is because people are more likely to value their own understanding of things, among other reasons because the self-concept plays a key role in regulating mental activity. As Taylor (1989) and her colleagues have pointed out, individuals do not see themselves objectively. †¢Advertising implication: The implication is obvious: include personal references in advertising and other marketing communication. Moreover, given  our tendency to see ourselves in a positive light, it follows that memories related to ourselves will be seen in a self-enhancing light. This suggests that copy asking people to remember a situation in a positive light should encourage an egocentric memory bias, e.g.: remember when you . In the same way, egocentric bias can resul t from exaggerating the difficulty of past experiences: remember how hard it was to . This idea is well illustrated in a campaign for National Rails Senior Railcard, where a dated-looking picture of a young child is featured, with headlines like Remember what it was like to go somewhere for the first time and Remember how it felt just to let yourself go. THE SIN OF PERSISTENCE Research has shown that emotionally charged experiences are better remembered than less emotional occasions. The sin of persistence involves remembering things you wish you would forget, and it is strongly associated with ones emotional experiences. †¢Advertising implication: Emotionally-charged information automatically attracts attention; and even in the briefest exposure, the emotional significance of it will be retrieved from nondeclarative emotional memory, and evaluated as to how that information will be encoded. Understanding the emotional associations generated by specific advertising is critical. Because people are more likely to remember the central focus of emotionally arousing information rather than peripheral details, it is essential to tie the brand in marketing communication to the appropriate emotion. Otherwise, it will become peripheral to the information conveyed (a problem with a lot of highly entertaining advertising). There is evidence that persistence thri ves in negative emotional situations such as disappointment, sadness and regret. Ones memory of traumatic experiences is persistent, and while these unwanted memories may occur in any of the senses, visual memories are by far the most common. Research reported by Ochsner (2000) supports this idea. He found that when people recognise a positive visual image they tend to just say it is familiar to them. But when they recognise negative visual images, people relate detailed, specific memories of what they thought and felt when they were originally exposed to the picture. †¢Advertising implication: All of this underscores the importance of the visual images in advertising and other forms of marketing communication. Because persistence thrives in a negative emotional climate,  if advertising illustrates disappointment or problems dealing with a situation, which is resolved by using the brand, this should tap into any persistent memories of product dissatisfaction (always assuming such dissatisfaction). It also suggests that for appropriate product categories (especially those reflecting high-involvement informational decisions such as medical or other insurance, financial planning, and so forth) visual reminders of past problems which could be avoided with a brand should be an effective strategy. Such a strategy should also be equally effective in situations where there is strong psychological risk involved, e.g. reminding young people of a social disaster which would never occur if they used our brand. The root of much of this kind of activity is centred within the amygdala, the source of nondeclarative emotional memory. It is the amygdala that regulates memory storage, and can release hormones that can force us to remember an experience vividly (LeDoux 1996). And as we have already noted, this response by the amygdala is much more likely to occur for negative than positive experience. †¢Advertising implication: For appropriate product categories, it could make sense to create situations in advertising that suggest possible threats to the receivers wellbeing. This threat may then well intrude upon active memory when thinking about the category, with our brand linked to avoiding the trouble. This is well illustrated in a recent advert for Imitrex, an ethical drug for migraine, that uses the headline I cant let a migraine call the shots thats why I use Imitrex. SUMMARY Schacter has provided us with an extremely useful framework for looking at memory problems: his seven sins of memory. Each of these imperfections (in his words) has the potential for interfering with the successful processing of advertising and other marketing communication. Recent work in neurobiology, utilising the recent technology of fMRIs (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and PET scans (positron emission tomography), has shown us that our earlier understanding of memories as snapshots stored away in the mind ready to be recalled is not how the brain works. Memories for objects and experiences are decomposed into a number of different parts and those parts are stored in various areas of the brain, waiting to be reassembled and remembered. This underscores why memories are rarely  perfect, and why they can be potentially unreliable. As this discussion makes clear, effective communication faces a number of formidable hurdles in memory. However, forewarned with this knowledg e, we are in a better position to avoid or at least minimise some of these potential problems. To help advertising communication overcome the seven sins of memory, advertisers should: †¢ensure the message is carefully integrated with how a brand is understood (transcience) †¢encourage elaboration of points the target is interested in remembering (transcience) †¢use personal references, especially to positive memories (bias) †¢imply current positive brand attitudes are of long standing (bias) †¢tie brands to appropriate emotions (blocking, persistence) †¢use distinctive cues not likely to be associated with other longterm memories (absent-mindedness) †¢create a unique brandbenefit claim link (misattribution) †¢establish links in memory to appropriate category need (absentmindedness) †¢make sure those links are well integrated with obvious associations to the category need (blocking) †¢ensure a consistent look and feel over time to encourage familiarity (absent-mindedness) †¢use strong visual images to create or reinforce positive memories associated with the brand (suggestibility) †¢utilise reminders of past problems that could be avoided or solved by the brand (persistence). If these points are considered in the creation of advertising executions, one is well on the way to avoiding, or at least minimising, problems inherent in how memory works. REFERENCES Brdant, S. Valentine, T. (1998) Descriptiveness and proper name retrieval. Memory, 6, pp. 199206. Burke, A., Mackay, D.G., Worthley, J.S. E. Wade (1991) On the tip of the tongue: what causes word failure in young and older adults? Journal of Memory and Language, 30, pp. 237246. Carli, I.L.L. (1999) Cognitive reconstruction, hindsight, and reactions to victims and perpetrators. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, pp. 966979. Cialdini, R. (2001) Influence: Science and Practice (4th edn). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Craik, F.I.M., Govoni, R., Naveh-Benjamin, M. Anderson, N.D. (1996) The effects of divided attention on encoding and retrieval processes in human memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 125, pp. 159180. Ebbinghaus, H. (1885/1964) Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. New York: Dover. Einstein, G.O. McDaniel, M.A. (1990) Normal  aging and prospective memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 16, pp. 7 17726. Einstein, G.O., McDaniel, M.A. Shaw, P. (1997) Aging and prospective memory: the influence of increased task demands at encoding and retrieval. Psychology and Aging, 12, pp. 479488. Gazzaniga, M.S. (1998) The split brain revisited. Scientific American, 279, pp. 5055. Griffiths, R.E. (1997) What Emotions Really Are. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Hyman, I.E. Jr. Pentland, J. (1996) The role of mental imagery in the creation of false childhood memories. Journal of Memory and Language, 35, pp. 101117. LeDoux, J.E. (1996) The Emotional Brain. New York: Simon and Schuster. Lieberman, M.D., Ochsner, K.N., Gilbert, D.T. Schacter, D.L. (2000) Do amnesiacs exhibit cognitive dissonance reduction? The role of explicit memory and attention in attitude change. Psychological Science. Ochsner, K.N. (2000) Are affective events richly recalled or simply familiar? The experience and process of recognizing feelings past. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124, pp. 242261. Percy, L., Rossiter, J.R. Elliott R. (2001) Strategic Advertising Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Schacter, D.L. (2001) The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Schacter, D.L., Israel, L. Racine, C. (1999) Suppressing false recognition: the distinctiveness heuristic. Journal of Memory and Language, 40, pp. 124. Simons, D.J. Levin, D.T. (1998) Failure to detect changes to people during realworld interactions. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 4, pp. 501506. Spanos, N.P., Burgess, C.A., Burgess, M.F., Samuels, C. Blois, W.O. (1999) Creating false memories of infancy with hypnotic and non-hypnotic procedures. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13, pp. 201218. Strong, E.C. (1974) The use of field experiment al observations in estimating advertising recall. Journal of Marketing Research, 11, pp. 369378. Taylor, S.E. (1989) Positive Illusions. New York: Basic Books. Wagner, A.D., Schacter, D.L., Rolfe, M., Koutstaal, W., Maril, A., Dale, A.M., Rosen, B.R. Buckner, R.L. (1998) Building memories: remembering and forgetting of verbal experiences as predicted by brain activity. Science, 281, pp. 11881191.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Free Essays - The Controlling Men of The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening Essays

The Controlling Men of The Awakening In The Awakening, the male characters attempt to exert control over the character of Edna. None of the men understand her need for independence. Edna thinks she will find true love with Robert but realizes that he will never understand her needs to be an independent woman. Edna's father and husband control her and they feel she has a specific duty as a woman. Alcee Arobin, also attempts to control Edna in his own way. Edna knows she wants freedom. She realizes this at the beginning of the book. "Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her (Pg. 642). Throughout The Awakening she is trying to gain that independence that she wants so bad. The Colonel, Edna's father, is very strict. He thinks very highly of discipline. At the end of The Awakening, Edna feels the struggle she has with her father. "Edna heard her father's voice and her sister Margaret's" (Pg 723). At this moment, Edna wants freedom. She wants freedom from the life that has her trapped to be someone she isn't. The Colonel thought that Mr. Pontellier should be more controlling over Edna. "You are too lenient, too lenient by far, Leonce. Authority and coercion are what is needed. Put your foot down good and hard; the only way to manage a wife. Take my word for it" (Pg. 688). Edna does everything around the house when the Colonel comes to visit because she doesn't want him to think she isn't playing her role as a woman in the family. "She would not permit a servant or one of the children to do anything for him which she might do herself" (Pg. 687). Leonce Pontellier believes women should live only for their families' well-being. "He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it? He himself had his hands full with his brokerage business" (Pg. 637). Mr. Pontellier never thinks for a minute that it is also his responsibility to take care of the children. Free Essays - The Controlling Men of The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening Essays The Controlling Men of The Awakening In The Awakening, the male characters attempt to exert control over the character of Edna. None of the men understand her need for independence. Edna thinks she will find true love with Robert but realizes that he will never understand her needs to be an independent woman. Edna's father and husband control her and they feel she has a specific duty as a woman. Alcee Arobin, also attempts to control Edna in his own way. Edna knows she wants freedom. She realizes this at the beginning of the book. "Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her (Pg. 642). Throughout The Awakening she is trying to gain that independence that she wants so bad. The Colonel, Edna's father, is very strict. He thinks very highly of discipline. At the end of The Awakening, Edna feels the struggle she has with her father. "Edna heard her father's voice and her sister Margaret's" (Pg 723). At this moment, Edna wants freedom. She wants freedom from the life that has her trapped to be someone she isn't. The Colonel thought that Mr. Pontellier should be more controlling over Edna. "You are too lenient, too lenient by far, Leonce. Authority and coercion are what is needed. Put your foot down good and hard; the only way to manage a wife. Take my word for it" (Pg. 688). Edna does everything around the house when the Colonel comes to visit because she doesn't want him to think she isn't playing her role as a woman in the family. "She would not permit a servant or one of the children to do anything for him which she might do herself" (Pg. 687). Leonce Pontellier believes women should live only for their families' well-being. "He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it? He himself had his hands full with his brokerage business" (Pg. 637). Mr. Pontellier never thinks for a minute that it is also his responsibility to take care of the children.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Unipolarism

Unipolar is a system with only a single major actor, which is usually a single state that dominates all the other smaller states in the global political system. In other words to discuss the idea of Unipolar in the contemporary International system, I would briefly trace the advert of modern International system in the view of polarization. The advert of the modern international system could be traced back to the peace of Westphalia in 1648, which signify the end of the 30 years war in Europe.This treaty established the state as the main actor in the global politics and declared that the sovereign leader of each nation – state could do as she/he wished within the border’s. During this period many great powers existed in Europe, this is a system refer to as Multipolar. Multipolar is a system, with multiple power centers. By the late 19th century. The system has changed for multi – polar to what some scholars refer to as a tight Bipolar system, in which the power i n Europe allied in two rival groups before the 1st World War, which is the triple alliance and the triple entente.By the end of the 1st World War, the tight Bi- polar system has weakened. Before the beginning of 2nd World War the world has become polarized again into another tight Bi –polar consisting of the allied and axis power. Immediately after the 2nd world war, a brief Unipolar system emerged, where United States of America was the only power in Europe with the Nuclear Power, and other European Power were very weak because of the devastation of the war. But this was short lived, because the system became Bipolar with US and USSR has the two superpower power with Nuclear weapons.This period was refer to as the Cold War Era. With the fall of USSR and the end to the Cold War, clearly the Bipolar system is gone. What is not certain is how to characterized the current, still evolving system. Some scholars argued that we are in a Unipolar system because only one super power r emain, while some scholars argued or labelled the new international system as Multipolar pointing out to the increasing economic power of some European and Asian States.To some extent both terms are  accurate, the US has the world’s powerful military, which supports the Unipolar view, but the US economy is not as powerful, relative to the rest of the world , lending credence to the Multipolar view. The new system is then referred to as Multipolar or Unipolar, depending on which side of the argument scholars favour. This is argument in the early post Cold War Era. To describe the contemporary system as a Unipolar or Multipolar system is a bit unreasonable because the contemporary international system is a bit of both.The contemporary international system cannot appropriately be described a Unipolar, since that suggest the existence of one single dominant power and many small powers, and there are of course a number of â€Å"major power† in contemporary world politics such as Russia, China, Japan and the European Union, together with a number of smaller but no less important regional powers, such as India, Brazil and South Africa. Nor can the system be describe as Multipolar for the gap between the United States and the various major powers is simply too large. Unlike a true Mutipolar system, where there are a number of comparably sized powers.The present system features a single power seeking hegemony over all other, and a number of major powers which have the desire to resist the hegemonic impulses of the United States, but neither the strength nor the desire to challenge the United States directly and a large number of small powers. While the US would clearly prefer a Unipolar system in which it would be the hegemony, major power on the other hand would prefer a multipolar system. With my research, and in relations with situation of events in the global system I would say we are far from being in a Unipolar system and what we have presently is a Multipolar system.Thou we have US has the hegemony. The future configuration of world powers is difficult, beyond the safe bet prediction that US hegemony like that of every other great power in history, will end. In conclusion therefore, I would say that what we have presently in the international system is definitely not a Unipolar system. It could therefore be called a mulltipolar system, but a proper Multipolar system will evolve when the United States becomes an â€Å"ordinary major Power†.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

La Leche League International: Promoting Awareness for Breastfeeding

La Leche League For decades there has been a debate over whether or not women should be allowed to breast feed their infants in public. Breastfeeding is a significant activity in early development. Human breast milk contains essential nutrients and calories that are vital to the growth and health of children during the earliest stages of life. There are many organizations that have been formed to promote the awareness and necessity for breastfeeding. The most popular organization is the La Leche League International (LLLI).The La Leche League offers the women of the Valley the opportunity to join an international women’s organization and to better gain valuable insight on the history of breastfeeding and benefits that breastfeeding provides to both the mother and her infant. The La Leche League International is a non-profit organization that was founded by seven mothers (Mary White, Edwina Hearn Froehlich, Mary Ann Cahill, Betty Wagner Spandikow, Viola Brennan Lennon, Mary Ann Kerwin, and Marian Leonard Tompson) in the United States in 1956.The founders of the La Leche League hoped to help other mothers who wanted to breastfeed their children but found it difficult. The La Leche League offers information and encouragement (mainly through personal help and experience) to all mothers who want to breastfeed their babies. The La Leche League encourages breastfeeding from birth onwards with no upper age limit for the child. The idea for naming the ‘La Leche League' came from a statue in St. Augustine, Florida honoring â€Å"Nuestra Senora de la Leche y Buen Parto† which means â€Å"Our Lady of Milk and Good Childbirth†.When the La Leche League was found, the words â€Å"breastfeeding† and â€Å"pregnant† weren't readily accepted in society, so the Spanish word â€Å"La Leche† (which stands for â€Å"the milk†) was used as to not offend anyone in the society. In 2010, the League published the book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding which â€Å"is the most complete resource available for the breastfeeding mother. The book became a National Best-seller†. The La Leche League is active in 65 countries and territories; it reaches more than 300,000 mothers monthly through a network of over 7,000 accredited leaders (â€Å"Brief†).The La Leche League was founded to give information and encouragement, mainly through personal help, to all mothers who want to breastfeed their babies. While complementing the care of the physician and other health care professionals, it recognizes the unique importance of one mother helping another to perceive the needs of her child and to learn the best means of fulfilling those needs. It helps mothers who want to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information and education, and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and the mother (â€Å"LLLP†).The La Leche League believes that breastfeeding is best thing to do for the baby and the mother. It offers a unique bonding experience that fosters a nurturing relationship between mother-to-child. The La Leche League also believes that breastfeeding can deepen a mother's understanding of the responsibilities and rewards of her new role in the family. To be a member of the La Leche League it cost an annual fee of $25. Members are granted access to an international e-newsletter, a discount in their online store and special offers via email.The La Leche League believes mothers who are members of LLLI breastfeed longer because they have the information, education, support, and encouragement they need to enjoy the experience. Supporting Membership in LLLI is a real bargain when you consider the costs of not breastfeeding! The best way is to join is through a local group, so that funds will be available in your vicinity to help mothers and babies locally but members may opt to join online (â⠂¬Å"Benefits of LLL†). The closest center to our area is in McAllen, Texas.The McAllen group meets every third Tuesday of the month. All breastfeeding mothers and mothers-to-be interested in breastfeeding are welcome to attend any meeting or call one of the Leaders for breastfeeding help or information. Babies are always welcome at the meetings as well. La Leche League Leaders are experienced mothers who have breastfed their own babies and who have been trained and accredited by La Leche League International to help mothers and mothers-to-be with all aspects of breastfeeding.They are available by phone whenever you have breastfeeding questions or concerns. Interested candidates for membership can join LLLI locally in 65 different countries and territories or online virtually anywhere. Although the La Leche League is a non-profit organization, in 2009-2010 it received â€Å"$594,083 from membership dues, $485,035 from Publications, $382,680 from Contributions, $327,044 Royalty Income, $34,522 from Periodicals, $7,760 from Miscellaneous, $5,279 from Interest Income, and $650 from Workshop and seminar fees† (â€Å"LLLIO†).The most commonly issue with mothers breastfeeding is if it is acceptable public acceptance. While there are no recorded laws in the US forbidding breastfeeding outside of the home and only three states in which laws place any limitation on the way in which public breastfeeding may be done, it is often frowned upon by the public. A woman who breastfeeds in a privately owned place open to the public, such as a restaurant or shopping mall, might lawfully be asked to leave, either by the owner or in accordance with the owner’s instructions.State laws that protect public breastfeeding fall into three categories. Currently, the strongest state laws are those that both protect a woman's right to breastfeed anywhere she or her child have a right to be, regardless of whether the breast is showing, and that also give the woman the power to bring a legal action against anyone who interferes with her breastfeeding. Other state laws establish a woman's right to breastfeed in public, but don't provide a way for her to enforce this right.The third category specifies that the act of breastfeeding is not indecent exposure (sometimes given other names, but always referring to the exposure of body parts), and prevent a woman from being charged with a sex crime for breastfeeding. Most of the states in the United States do protected nursing but there are three states that have no law protecting nursing, which include West Virginia, Nebraska, and Idaho. As for the state of Texas there is a law that protects nursing in public but without an enforcement provision (â€Å"Public†).Aside from knowing the laws about breastfeeding in public, people need to educate themselves on the benefits of breastfeeding to the infant and the mother. â€Å"Breastfeeding is one of the best ways to ensure a baby’s health and development. It’s a convenient, cost-effective, natural way to feed your baby† (â€Å"Breastfeeding†). Breast milk has been found to provide the ideal balance of nutrients for optimal growth and development, and it is easily digestible by the baby.This is because the breast produces colostrum, which is thick, yellowish fluid that helps a newborn’s digestive system develop and function properly. Nursing can also prevent many common childhood illnesses as breast milk contains antibodies that pass from the mother to the baby for protection. This is called natural immunity, and studies have shown a decrease in both hospitalizations and pediatrician visits in babes that were breastfed by their mothers. Some of the common aliments that are decreased include bacterial meningitis, iarrhea, ear infections, and respiratory tract infections. Other, more server condition, such as sudden infant death syndrome and childhood leukemia, have been confirmed by research to have a reduced risk of development in babies who have been breastfeed (â€Å"Breastfeeding†). For premature infants, human milk significantly shortens that duration of their hospital stay, hastens brainstem maturation, and reduces the risk of life-threating diseases. A mother’s breast milk is unique in both its composition and function, and cannot currently be reproduced by other manmade substance.Even though there are a multitude of benefits for the baby, there are also many for the mother as well. Breastfeeding helps the uterus return back to its normal size and reduces post delivery bleeding after by releasing a hormone called Oxytocin. It also burns up to five hundred calories per day, which helps the mother shed the pounds gained during pregnancy in a natural way, and breastfeeding may reduce the rick of developing postpartum depression. Breastfeeding exclusively can delay the return of the menstrual cycle for twenty to thirty weeks.Not only does this help the mot her recover quickly after leaving the hospital, but also it is 98% effective in preventing pregnancy. However, birth control is still suggested for preventative measures, and has not been found to have any adverse affect on the baby while breastfeeding. The most important benefit, however, is the bond developed between the baby and mother while breastfeeding, which helps to enhance emotional attachment between the two (â€Å"Benefits of â€Å"Breastfeeding†).The individual that I interviewed said that breastfeeding made her â€Å"fell closer to her baby and prideful that she could provide for her child† (Milligan). This physical contact also helps the baby to feel more secure and warm in their environment, and eases the transition out the womb. While breastfeeding, a baby gets skin-to-skin contact, ensuring a closer bond to their mother and helping the baby to feel more satisfied emotionally. Another great reason is that mothers can save thousands of dollars on hospit al visits and formal.Mothers can spend up to $500 each month for formula and up to $1500 for doctor visits, prescriptions, and hospital stays in the first year (â€Å"Benefits of LLL†) Since breastfeeding also results in a reduction in an infants illness, the mother will be able to take fewer sick days off from work. Although breastfeeding may seem scary or foreign, it is actually a very natural process to the body that will, with time, become both comfortable and natural for the mother.After weighing the multitude of benefits for the baby, society, and, the mother herself, breastfeeding is the best choice when it comes to feeding and caring for a baby in the most optimal way. That is why I believe mothers should to join the La Leche League to help promote breastfeeding in our community. Work Site â€Å"Benefits of Breastfeeding. † Natural Resources Defense Council. Natural Resources Defense Council. March 25, 2007. Web. April 2, 2012 â€Å"The Benefits of LLL Support ing Members. † La Leche League. La Leche League. June 6, 2011. Web.April 9, 2012 â€Å"A Brief History of La Leche League International. † La Leche League. La Leche League. October 14, 2007. Web. April 2, 2012 â€Å"Breastfeeding. † Healthy Women. Healthy Women. January 9, 2012. Web. April 10, 2012 â€Å"La Leche League International Operations. † La Lecha League. La Leache League. December 15, 2011. Web. April 9, 2012 â€Å"La Leche League Purpose. † La Leche League. La Leche League. October 14, 2007. Web. April 8, 2012 â€Å"Milligan, Alisha. † Personal Interview. April 8, 2012 â€Å"Public Breastfeeding Laws. † Mothering. Mothering. n. d . Web. April 10, 2012

Friday, November 8, 2019

The importance of health assessment in understanding patients The WritePass Journal

The importance of health assessment in understanding patients The importance of health assessment in understanding patients IntroductionCase scenarioAdvanced nursing health assessmentHealth historyPhysical examinationBody mass indexCOPD assessment testMedical Research Council( MRC) Dyspnoea ScalePhysical examination of ChestInspectionPalpationPercussionAuscultationMental stateConclusionReferenceRelated Introduction As stated by Weilitz Potter (2007), â€Å"Health assessment is the process of gathering, verifying, analyzing, and communicating data about a patient.† (p. 5). This sentence shows that health assessment is essential for fully understanding the situation of a patient. In the following passage, there is a case study to discuss which kind of health assessment can be used in order to provide a better nursing care for a patient. Case scenario Mr Wong, aged 58, arrived at my ward with his wife. He was sweating and coughing. He had a difficulty of breathing and a wheezing sound was heard. After 15 minutes of rest, he felt better. He explained that while he was chasing a bus with his wife, he felt breathlessness and dizzy. He did not recovered after resting for awhile on the street so his wife brought him to the hospital. Mr Wong was a retiree for a year and he was a constructive worker before. He explained that retirement was because of not enough energy for daily work. He had smoked for over 30 years, one and half pack of cigarette per day, and had 5 cans of beer every week. He was obese and had medical history of hypertension for 5 years with own medicine. He was married and lived with his wife in an old building. He was fatigued when climbing up the stairs as well as walking for awhile. Due to the fatigue, he reduced the social activities and stayed most of his time at home. He complaint of not having a good sleep because of night cough (on-and-off for a year) and kept coughing with production of sputum for a year. Besides, he had respiratory track infection more frequently in this year. In recent 2 months, he had poor appetite and lost 8 pounds. During the conversation, Mr Wong usually needed a rest for answering every 3 questions. He looked tired and had deep circles under his eyes. His lip was dry. He was upset about the fatigue and felt useless of himself. He said that his quality of life was affected and lost interest of his previous hobbies. He did not have any social activities in this year nearly. Mr Wong had a low grade fever and blood pressure was around 145/90. His pulse was around 110. He had taken a chest X-ray after admission and the result was pending. He took the test of spirometry and FEV1 was between 40-50%. His 12-lead ECG was normal. 2-liters of oxygen was given through nasal cannula. He always sat up and seldom leaving the bed. Mr Wong was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). When Mr Wong arrived, I took vital signs of him as a baseline. His weight as well as height were recorded. Then I took the health history by an interview. The interview was started with the main complaint of Mr Wong. After that I took the past health status. They were medical history, done surgery, medication history, food and drug allergy. The lifestyle and health practice of Mr Wong were also asked. It included different areas. Smoking and drinking must be included as both were the risk factors of COPD. From his diet, hobbies and activity level, I needed those information for discovering the reasons of weight loss and obesity of Mr Wong. I also asked Mr Wong if he had constipation while if he felt breathless during passing stool and bathing. After the interview, I held a physical examination for Mr Wong. There were 2 parts, inspection and auscultation. I measured the respiratory rate and rhythm and observed the shape of his chest and any central or peripheral cyanosis. Auscultation was followed. I recorded the abnormal sounds like wheezing. Advanced nursing health assessment In the case of Mr Wong, a very simple and brief health assessment was done. It was unsatisfied because the health assessment was not completed and informative. The following passage is going to provide more health assessment and methods which can improve the case of Mr Wong. Health history The interview of Mr Wong was too brief. More questions should be asked. First of all, Mr Wong’s family history should be reviewed as COPD can be inherited (CMP Medica, 2007). More information of his blood relatives such as patients, grandparents and children has to be obtained. Nurse can find out any rare illness among the families which may relate to respiratory disease (Barnett, 2006). Secondly, Mr Wong work history should be also assessed. Since he was a constructive worker, he usually exposed to the chemical irritant. The nature and the environment of his work directly regard to COPD. Nurse needs to identify any personal protective equipment he used as well (Weilitz Potter, 2007, p.157). Thirdly, information regarding home conditions is important to establish how Mr Wong coped at home. As he was living in an old building, the building may be without a lift or with many stairs. It is possible for Mr Wong having difficulty to go out or it may be the reason of reducing social activities (Barnett, 2006). Fourthly, nurse has to question Mr Wong’s sleeping pattern as he did not sleep well because of night cough. Nurse should document how many hours he slept and why he could not sleep well. Sleeplessness or limited sleep may lead to tiredness and inability to cope with daily activities. By knowing the cause, doctor and nurse can treat the night cough of Mr Wong to deal with the insomnia. And they can prevent giving treatment with night sedative due to the side effects, which may depress the respiratorycentre(Barnett, 2006). Physical examination The physical examination includes different parts which can give a complete picture of Mr Wong’s condition. They will be introduced one by one, from simple to complicated. Body mass index From the article of Shepherd (2010), it states that â€Å"Nutritional depletion in patients with COPD is common and has negative impact on respiratory and peripheral muscle function.†(p.559). As Mr Wong had poor appetite and lost 8 pound in 2 months, the body mass index (BMI) should be recorded for follow-up. Nurse has to find out causes of weight loss and deals with those problems efficiently. COPD assessment test COPD assessment test is a simple questionnaire. It is used to measure the impact of COPD on the life of patient, and how this changes overtime. By this test, nurse takes it as a reference to improve the treatment. The test contains 8 questions. They are the frequency of coughing, if he feels any mucus in his chest, if his chest feels tight, if he feels breathless when climbing up hills or stairs, if he is limited doing any activities at home, if he is confident leaving his home despite his lung problem, if he sleeps soundly, if he has lots energy(GlaxoSmithKline, 2009). Medical Research Council( MRC) Dyspnoea Scale Measurement of breathlessness is essential for a COPD patient. The Dyspnoea Scale of MRC allows patients to grade their breathlessness on a scale of 1-5 according to activity carried out. The degree of breathlessness related to activities is from grade1-5 which means from mild to severe. It acts as a baseline and is useful for monitoring purposes for nurses and doctors (Barnett, 2009). Physical examination of Chest Through the process mentioned in above passages, nurse can receive higher proportion of basic information about Mr Wong’ condition. In the coming passages, several techniques which focus on chest are going to introduce. There are 4 physical respiratory examination, inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation. Although inspection and auscultation were applied in the case of Mr Wong, they were imperfect. Inspection Inspection consists of several parts. For the case of Mr Wong, nurse mainly focus on the inspection of breathing pattern, use of accessory muscles and positioning (Weber Kelley, 2010). Nurse needs to observe the rate, depth and rhythm of respiration. If these factors are abnormal, they represent the increasing workload of breathing. The pattern of respiration should be recorded if there is any special such as tachypnoea, hyperventilation, Cheyne-Strokes respiration, Biot’s respiration†¦etc. It allows the doctor giving particular treatment (Massey Meredith, 2010). Abnormal posture shows the patient may have difficulty in breathing. Mr Wong always sat up or leaned forward because he can better tense the respiratory muscle and contractility (Massey Meredith, 2010). In addition, using of respiratory muscles (trapezius, or shoulder) helps inspiration especially chronic airway obstruction (Weber Kelley, 2010). Nurse should pay more attention and provide suitable nursing care (such as oxygen supply, suction, removing tight clothes†¦etc) when above symptoms occur. Palpation Palpation for tenderness and sensation can determine whether there is inflammation, muscle sore or infection. It can be performed by one or both hands following the sequences. It should be started towards the midline at the level of the left scapula then the nurse moves her hand from left to right. The moving is systematically downward and out to cover the lateral portions of the lungs at the bases. The nurse should compare the finding bilaterally. The nurse can also check if there is mass or tumor (Weber Kelley, 2010). During the palpation, a crackle sensation may be sensed which means crepitus. This sensation is because of air passing through fluid and exudates in the lungs. Fremitus should be assessed. It is a vibration of air movement through the chest wall. It can be increased, decreased or absent which represent different lung problem like consolidation or bronchial obstruction, pulmonary edema, pneumothorax†¦etc (Weber Kelley, 2010). Percussion Percussion has 2 main functions, determining the tone as well as the diaphragmatic excursion. When nurse percusses the chest wall, the sound produced can show whether lung tissue is filled with air, liquid or solid. Same as palpation, a sequence of percussion should be followed. The process is started at the apices of the scapulae then across the top of both shoulders. Next, nurse percusses the intercostals spaces across and down. Finally, she moves from the lateral aspects at the bases of the lung (Weber Kelley, 2010). By comparing the sound of percussed areas, nurse may discover the lung mass or other respiratory problems (Weilitz Potter, 2007). Measuring the diaphragmatic excursion is also important. Emphysema may be a cause of limited diaphragmatic descent. Auscultation For auscultation, breathing sound is not the only element to assess. The voice sound can also be assessed. It is easy that nurse auscultates the chest wall while she asks the patient to repeat pronouncing â€Å"ninety-nine†. This is the way to identify if there is consolidation from pneumonia, atelectasis, or tumor (Weber Kelley, 2010). Mental state For the patient with CODP, they usually reduce the daily activities like Mr Wong did. The patient may not use to the changes of the quality of life( é† «Ã©â„¢ ¢Ã§ ® ¡Ã§ â€ Ã¥ ±â‚¬,2010). Closely observation and listening to the patient are the easiest and useful ways to assess the mental state of the patient. If there is any abnormal, the condition should be recorded and report to the senior nurse. Conclusion In this article, some health assessment tools and techniques are suggested for a CODP patient, Mr Wong. There is no traumatic procedure involved. However, the results of different examination can give large amount of information of the patient’s body condition. And this is essential for the clinical staff to improve the clinical decision making in order to provide better treatments for the patient. Reference Barnett, M. (2009). An overview of assessment and management in COPD. British Journal of Community Nursing, 15(5), 195-201. Retrieved March 12, 2010, from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.ouhk.edu.hk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=104sid=ada13567-52a0-4268-b952-fd290eadc7a3%40sessionmgr104vid=3 Barnett, M. ( 2006). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in primary care. United Kingdom: New York John Wiley Sons, Ltd. CMP Medica (2007)。《ç„ ¡Ã¨  ²Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¦ ® ºÃ¦â€°â€¹Ã¥Å¡ ´Ã©Ëœ ²Ã¦â€¦ ¢Ã©Ëœ »Ã¨â€š ºÃ§â€"…》〔å ° Ã¥â€ Å Ã¥ ­ Ã£â‚¬â€¢Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ© ¦â„¢Ã¦ ¸ ¯Ã¯ ¼Å¡CMP Media Pacific Limited。 GlaxoSmithKline. (2009). COPD assessment test. Retrieved March 12, 2010, from catestonline.co.uk/test/index.htm Massey, D, Meredith, T. ( 2010). Respirator assessment 1: Why do it and how to do it?. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing, 5(11), 537-541. Retrieved March 12, 2010, from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.ouhk.edu.hk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=17sid=ada13567-52a0-4268-b952-fd290eadc7a3%40sessionmgr104vid=4 Shepherd, A. ( 2010). The nutritional management of COPD: an overview. British Journal of Nursing, 19(9), 559-562. Retrieved March 12,2010, from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.ouhk.edu.hk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=104sid=ada13567-52a0-4268-b952-fd290eadc7a3%40sessionmgr104vid=3 Weber, J, Kelley, J. (2010). Health assessment in nursing(4th ed.). New York: Lippincott Williams Wilkins Weilitz, P. B., Potter, P. A. (2007). Pocket guide for health assessment(6th ed.).Missouri: Mosby Elservier.