Grandparents who take on primary responsibility for raising grandchildren face unique family challenges while helping reduce the burden on the foster care system. The GRandS (Grandfamily Resilience and Sustainability) Program was a family life education program designed with three fundamental goals: (a) increase grandparent caregivers' knowledge…

Home-visit parenting programmes have been linked to positive developmental outcomes among participating children, yet few studies have explored the mechanisms behind this impact. We observe 40 home visits across seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, using an observational tool to assess visit content, coaching strategy, and the…

Background: More than half of the children in the world experience some form of interpersonal violence every year. As compared with high-income countries, policy responses in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are limited due to resource constraints and paucity of evidence for effective interventions to reduce violence against children in…

Direct caregivers in nursing homes are the certified nursing assistants (CNAs) who provide the majority of hands-on care. This study administered a knowledge instrument to a sample of CNAs () employed at nursing homes in a northeastern city to evaluate their knowledge in the domains of aging, cognition, and mental health. This study found that…

Managing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) is a significant challenge for staff working in long-term care facilities. This study examines the effectiveness of a psycho-educational training aimed at changing staff's attitudes. The results indicated that participants' attitudes toward dementia were more positive,…

Telepractice has emerged as a potentially effective means of preparing parents and educators as interventionists for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of telepractice to train interventionists to implement incidental teaching with preschool children with ASD. Three interventionists were…

The need for and importance of bringing evidence-based interventions into school settings has been firmly established. Adapting and adjusting intervention programs to meet the unique needs of a school district requires personnel to use a data-based approach to implementation. This pilot study is the first to report on after-school care providers'…

Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and no intellectual disabilities were taught to increase the social play skills of children with ASD as part of a vocational training program. Participants included 3 adults, aged 21 to 27 years, and 6 children with ASD. Probes conducted throughout the study evaluated whether play skills training affected…

This research project included two studies that investigated (a) differences between technology use in tech-knowledgeable and less tech-knowledgeable older persons, (b) cognitive and affective variables and their association with the application of technology, and (c) the implications of these variables on the design of remote-delivered caregiver…

A brief training package consisting of modeling, rehearsal, and feedback was evaluated to train caregivers to use incidental teaching to teach 3 children with autism to request an item or activity. The training package improved correct implementation of the incidental teaching procedure by caregivers. In addition, probes indicated that caregivers…

We evaluated the use of behavioral skills training (BST) to train caregivers to conduct procedures commonly associated with mand training. We trained two caregivers on the following procedures: (a) conducting preference assessments, (b) delivering preferred items contingent on appropriate behavior, (c) capturing and contriving motivating…

The purpose of this study was to expand the knowledge of adult motivation in unconventional professional settings. Nine focus group interviews were conducted with child care providers in child care settings from four states in the Western United States: California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. At each focus group interview three to eight…

Self-efficacy has been shown to be an important element in the success of individuals in a variety of different settings. This research examined the impact of a two week new employee orientation training program on the general and social self-efficacy of newly hired direct care employees at state mental health facilities. The research showed that…

Grandparents raising grandchildren represent a population of adults who confront complex interpersonal and environmental challenges. The intent of this case study was to gather and interpret evaluative data to better understand the impact of a 1-day community education program for grandparents who raise their grandchildren. Extension's philosophy…

Early intervention providers submitted videotapes of home visits as part of requirements for a professional development course. Taped visits were classified into two practice groups: providers who demonstrated use of participation-based practices and those who did not (i.e., traditional practices). A sample of providers, selected from each of…