This article presents the experience of a rehabilitation program that undertook the challenge to reorganize its services to address accessibility issues and improve service quality. The context in which the reorganization process occurred, along with the relevant literature justifying the need for a new service delivery model, and an historical…

Background: Several studies have shown that substance use levels among adolescents living in residential youth care are high. However, it is not clear to what extent adolescents initiate (heavy) substance during their stay and to what extent these rates are higher than would be expected based on their risk profile. Objective: The aim of the…

The objective of this study is to assess the effects of the unique 1-year health-wellness program of exercise and health education for obese youth on body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure. The CEMHaVi program included 74 obese children. Participants, 19 girls and 18 boys, and controls, 17 girls and 20 boys, were assigned to treatment. The…

Objective: In this article, we estimate the effect of a multidisciplinary collaboration program on the length of sickness absence. The intention with the program was to avoid long-term sickness absence by providing an early and holistic evaluation of the sick-listed individuals' conditions. The target group was individuals who were at risk of…

There is growing interest in understanding the usefulness of mentorship programs for children's rehabilitation service providers. This evaluation study examined the effects of an occupational therapy mentorship program on the skills and behaviors of 8 new and 17 experienced occupational therapists practicing at a regional children's rehabilitation…

Intervention effectively ameliorated some of the psychosocial problems reported by patients. Patients evidenced a more rapid decline of negative affect (anxiety, hostility, depression), a more realistic outlook on life, a greater proportion of return to previous vocational status, and a more active pattern of time usage. (Author)

Analyzed 320 case records, interviewed offenders and staff, and made general observations to evaluate a nonresidential, anti-incarceration facility. Results indicate that successful graduates have the least serious criminal records, most have positive attitudes toward the facility, and participants receive much individual attention. Other findings…

This paper examines the magnitude of the problem of disability facing developing countries; the traditional response to this challenge and its ineffectiveness; the emergence of community-based rehabilitation (CBR); its underlying assumptions and effectiveness in terms of staff training, interagency partnerships, and parental and community…

Examines the manner in which substance-using shelter tenants, many of them ex-offenders, who lived in an urban, single- room-occupancy neighborhood, engaged in the process of recommunalization. Identifies and describes eight developmental stages of recommunalization, and links recommunalization to proposals for solving the war on drugs. (RJM)

Provides an overview of a comprehensive, prison-based treatment assessment, including a six-month follow-up study. Results show that 80% of the inmates referred to the program graduated. Graduates demonstrated marked reductions in criminal and drug-use activity and had lower relapse and recidivism rates when compared to other parolees. (RJM)

Elements of a treatment program, Comprehensive Vocationally Oriented Psychotherapy, are presented in terms of youth contact efforts, job opportunities, community outreach, individualized teaching, program administration and job matching activities. An initial program evaluation, conducted on three levels of the boys' functioning (personality…

Examines a program with typical failure rates for chronic drunk driver treatment, and identifies factors associated with client success. Results indicate that socioeconomic status, criminality, and time-at-risk predict client success following treatment. Staff prognosis, maturity, child abuse, and other conditions do not predict success. (RJM)

Responsive evaluation offers a perspective in which evaluation is reframed from the assessment of program interventions on the basis of policy makers' goals to an engagement with and among all stakeholders about the value and meaning of their practice. Responsive evaluators have to be extra sensitive to power relations given the deliberate…

In March 2002 an evaluation report was produced on the details of the work undertaken by Barnardo's Young People's Therapeutic Project (YPTP)during its initial 3-year pilot phase. One of the aims of the report was to demonstrate the effectiveness of intervention in this sensitive area of work with young people and to evaluate activity levels. The…

The role of British Columbia's rehabilitation programs for socially maladjusted and disturbed youth is described, and attention is directed to provincial policies, factors related to successful outcomes, and program evaluation needs and results. (SEW)