Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

· Textbook: Chapters 11, 12, 14

· Lesson

· Minimum of 1 outside scholarly source and the textbook

Initial Post Instructions
For this discussion, we will consider if the social world can be bad for your health and/or if social institutions can improve your health.

For the initial post, examine ways that some of the social institutions studied this week (the family, the educational system, or religions) might affect the health (physical, mental, spiritual) of the people in the institution. Also, consider behaviors, practices, or experiences of specific demographic groups in the United States related to the social institutions studied this week (the family, the educational system, or religions) and examine ways specific demographic groups’ health could be affected positively or negatively.

For the initial post, respond to one of the following options, and label the beginning of your post indicating either Option 1 or Option 2 or Option 3:

· Option 1:What are some effects of family life on health?

· Option 2:How might the educational system in the United States affect the health of American children?

· Option 3: How might health outcomes be affected by religious practices of members of varying religions in the United States? Are there other behaviors, outside of formal religious practice or formal religious ceremonial observances, such as dietary requirements or other behavioral requirements of members of religious institutions in the United States that might affect their health, either directly or indirectly?

Writing Requirements

· Length: 1 Full Page

· APA format for in-text citations and list of references

· Include citations from at least the assigned textbook/lesson reading and one additional outside scholarly source to support your response.

 Short Essay

Part 1:

• How do you use statistics in your life either at work or for pleasure?    
• Can statistics be manipulated for those who really understand the subject matter? If so, how? If not, why not?
• Has anyone misled you using statistics?  

Part 2: 

we are covering an important concept that is widely used in a variety of fields: the standard deviation. The standard deviation is a measure of how close together a set of data is grouped. In Chapter 2 of your text, Kozak (2014) stated:

“In general a “small” standard deviation means the data is close together (more consistent) and a “large” standard deviation means the data is spread out (less consistent). Sometimes you want consistent data and sometimes you don’t. As an example if you are making bolts, you want to lengths to be very consistent so you want a small standard deviation. If you are administering a test to see who can be a pilot, you want a large standard deviation so you can tell who are the good pilots and who are the bad ones.” (p. 89).

Example Situations Involving Pilots

A large standard deviation tells us that there is a lot of variability in the scores; that is, the distribution of scores is spread out and not clustered around the mean. As Kozak (2104) has stated, when assessing potential pilots, we may want a large standard deviation, so that we can differentiate between candidates; that is, we can determine who would be good pilots and those who would not be good pilots. Since a large standard deviation tells us that there is a lot of variability in the scores, candidates, who would be good pilots, would have scores far above the mean, while those who would not be good pilots would have scores far below the mean. Thus, only the “top” candidates would be selected to be pilots.

A small standard deviation tells us that there is not a lot of variability in a distribution of scores; that is, the scores are very consistent (similar) and close to the mean. Using our pilot example, a small standard deviation is desirable, when considering aircraft landing distances. If there is not enough distance when landing, the aircraft could undershoot the runway; that is, land short of the runway. On the other hand, if there is too much distance, the aircraft can overshoot the runway; that is, the aircraft does not stop before the end of the runway. Both undershooting and overshooting runways could result in injuries and/or fatalities. Thus, it is important that pilots have consistent accurate landing distances. Specifically, over a number of landings, the distances would, on average, be appropriate to the runway length with little variation among the distances.

Now think about how this might apply in your chosen field and answer both of the following questions:

• What is an example of when you would want consistent data and, therefore, a small standard deviation?
• What is an example of when you might want a large standard deviation? That is, data that is more spread out?

Reference

Kozak, K. (2014). Statistics using technology. Retrieved from https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/oerfiles/statsusingtech.pdf 

Poverty has a strong influence on the lives of adults. When an adult lives in poverty, the effects extend beyond that individual to all those who depend on the adult. The problem of poverty in the life of an adult becomes a family or community problem, and few social problems are more impactful than poverty.

As a social worker, you are likely to address the needs of clients whose adverse circumstances are strongly influenced by poverty. Increasing your understanding of poverty and its influence will equip to you to better understand and assist your clients.

As you read this week’s resources, select the theory of poverty that most resonates with you to address in your Discussion post for this week.

By Day 3

Post a Discussion that includes the following:

• An explanation of how poverty impacts the experience of individuals in young and middle adulthood
• A statement as to whether you think poverty is the result of cultural or individual. characteristics; provide support for your position
• An answer to the following questions about the theory of poverty you selected:
  • What aspects of this theory would be most suitable for your practice? Why?
  • What aspects of this theory do you find problematic in terms of your knowledge of social work practice? Explain.

By Day 5

Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.

Respond to at least two colleagues in one of the following ways:

• Critique your colleague’s explanation of how poverty impacts individuals in young and middle adulthood.
• State whether you agree or disagree with your colleague’s position on whether poverty is the result of cultural or individual characteristics. Provide support for your position.
• Reply to a colleague who selected a theory of poverty that differs from the one you selected by critiquing his or her evaluation of the theory.

4-Different people are motivated differently, and the motivation is determined by the desire of such an individual. For instance, extrinsically motivated individuals get their drive from the fact that they do not what to do anything which might bring punishment or negative outcome. This means that the factors which are motivating the individual are from outside and they may comprise of a good grade, recognition or financial benefits among others. On the other hand, individuals who are intrinsically motivated get their drive from within themselves. As a leader, I would motivate an intrinsically motivated individual by determining what drives the person then nature those factors. For instance, to the nurses who strive to bring the best to the patient, I would motivate them by encouraging them during the council meeting. To the nurses who are motivated extrinsically, I will find what drives them and nature them to improve service delivery (Katzenbach, & Smith, 2015).

As part of management in my department, I spend a lot of time talking to the patients, and if they happen to share a positive experience with a particular nurse, I always recognize them b writing a “Thank You” note and give them an opportunity to share their story during our meetings. Most of the nurses who are performing better in my department say that they are happy to be in a team where they are given an opportunity to give their views, and they are motivated once they meet their target or go out their way to help the patients in their best way possible. As a leader, I make sure that there is a good and clear communication channel in my department and this has seen us be voted the best department in our facility.

Reference

Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2015). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press.

5- There are differences between individuals who are intrinsically motivated and those who are extrinsically motivated. According to the Vanderbilt University website, intrinsically motivated people find joy and accomplishment from learning something, and they find a way that it is relevant to their life (Mcdaniel, 2018). Someone who is intrinsically motivated will likely self-sustain this type of learning; this is an advantage, as it allows for life-long learning of the individual (Mcdaniel, 2018). It would be necessary to understand what is truly interesting to the individual before attempting to motivate. Since this comes from within a person, the interest needs to come genuinely from that particular individual. Mcdaniel states that using extrinsic rewards to someone who is intrinsically motivated can actually have a negative impact, as it takes away the intrinsic desire to learn (2018).

 Extrinsically motivated people find their motivation from other’s expectations; the expectations can come from wanting to please parents, obtain good grades, please role models, etc. (Mcdaniel, 2018). The advantage of extrinsic motivation includes the relatively quick behavior change of the individual, for example, the student receiving a scholarship will be motivated to keep up their grades in order to keep the scholarship money (Mcdaniel, 2018). Motivation for this individual could be as simple as a reward for doing well. For example, everyone who receives a “B” or higher on the test will get to participate in a pizza party.

 There are different characteristics that a performance driven team embodies. “These include a common purpose; agreed-on performance goals or results-driven structure; competent members; a common approach for the work; complementary skills; a collaborative relationships; mutual accountability; standards of excellence; external support; and principled leadership” (Huber, 2014, p. 135). Normal guidelines need to be developed before the group beings working together. I have personally seen this used in my nurse residency program that my facility enrolls me in. During the first day, the instructor asked the class for guidelines and rules for the class. The class came up with them, and we will be held accountable to our rules for the duration of the residency. I feel that developing the guidelines as team will help with the receptiveness of the rules.  

Huber, D. (2014). Leadership and Nursing Care Management, 5th Edition. [Pageburstls].

 Retrieved from https://pageburstls.elsevier.com/#/books/9781455740710/

Mcdaniel, R. (2018). Motivating Students. Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-

 pages/motivating-students/

6- thank you for your response. You are blessed to be working in such a supportive, respectful, and rewarding environment. Sounds like you are good team members; there’s strong communication skills, trust, and friendship. Also, you all share the same goal: to provide excellent nursing care to all patients whether it is your patient or your colleagues. I can imagine that the energy on your unit is pleasant and you problem solve well? Nice to know that if you have a stressful day where you’re feeling overwhelmed, somebody will come and assist. My unit is similar to what you’re describing. It makes a big difference to be able to count on your co-workers, and they know they can count on you as well. Thank you. I am happy for you.