Health Promotion for Alcohol Essay

Bernadette Ward RN, Midwife, Grad Cert Ed, MPHandTM, MHlth Sci Lecturer, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia. B. Ward@latrobe. edu. au Glenda Verrinder RN, Midwife, Grad Cert Higher Ed, Grad Dip Pub and Com Health, MHlth Sci Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia. ABSTRACT Alcohol misuse in Australia society is a community issue that can be addressed successfully within a health promotion framework. It is important that strategiesarenotperceivedas‘quickfixes’butwork toward addressing some of the underlying structural factors that contribute to the problem. Objective The objective of this article is to demonstrate how nurses can use the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion framework in addressing alcohol misuse among young people. Primary argument The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986) provides a useful framework from which to view the health of whole populations over their life course and in doing so work toward strengthening peoples’ health potential (World Health Organization 2005). The relevanceoftheCharterliesnotonlyintheinfluenceit has on establishing health promotion practice, but also theinfluenceithasonhealthpolicydevelopmentand health research (World Health Organization 2005). Conclusion Parents and community members have an important role to play in addressing alcohol misuse among adolescents but they need to be supported by nurses who can provide care within a health promotion framework. KEY WORDS alcohol, youth, Ottawa charter AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING Volume 25 Number 4 114 POINT OF VIEW INTRODUCTION The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (WHO 1986) has been ‘phenomenally influential in guiding the development of the concept of health promotion and shaping public health practice’ (Nutbeam 2005). The Charter is now more than 30 years old and, as a landmark document, outlines a clear statement of action that continues to have resonance for nurses around the world. The Charter was re? endorsed in Bangkok at the 2005, 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion as it had been in Mexico? City (2000), Jakarta (1997), Sundsvall (1991) and Adelaide (1988). The principles and action areas have stood the test of time in nursing, health policy development and health research. Itisnowknowntherearemanyfactorswhichinfluence health and illness. There is generally no single cause or single contributing factor which determines the likelihood of health or illness; rather there tends to be a variety of causes. Factors that determine physical and mental health status include income, employment, poverty, education, and access to community resources. These social factors generate people’s life experiences and opportunities which inturnmakeiteasierormoredifficultforpeopleto make positive decisions about their health. While there are many actions that a person can take to protect their own or their families’ health, very often the social context of their lives makes it impossible to take those actions (Talbot and Verrinder 2005). Health promotion and disease prevention strategies at the societal level are now part of the repertoire of nursing interventions. The Ottawa Charter highlights the importance of building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action, developing personal skills and reorienting health services. Used collectively in any population setting, the action areas have a better chance of promoting health than when they are used in isolation. The Charter also highlights the potential role of organisations, systems and communities, as well as individual behaviours and capacities (Talbot and Verrinder 2005). AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING Volume 25 Number 4 Health promotion strategies have been used effectivelytoaddresshealthissuesthatareidentified as problems by the community. In Australia and throughout other western countries, the misuse of alcohol by young people has been highlighted as a problem (Toumbourou et al 2003). Alcohol misuse amongst adolescents For many Australians, alcohol consumption is a pleasurable part of everyday life (Parliament of Victoria 2004). However in recent years there have been several reports highlighting that the proportion of adolescents consuming alcohol and the amount of alcohol they are drinking is at record levels (AIHW 2008; White and Hayman 2006; Shanahan and Hewitt 1999). The long and short term sequelae associated with risky or high risk alcohol consumption include negative physical, emotional and social consequences (NHMRC 2001). Immediate harms include accidents, injuries, decreased scholastic and sporting performance, aggression, violence, assault, disrupted family relationships, high risk sexual activity,drivingwhileundertheinfluenceofalcohol and delinquent behaviour (Jones and Donovan 2001). Among young people aged 16 to 24 years, alcohol related harm is one of the leading causes of disease andinjuryburden(AIHW2006). Thesefindingsare consistent with population based research in Europe, United States and Canada (Jernigan 2001). CommunityconcernhasbeenreflectedinAustralian media reports about ‘teenage binge drinking’ and the associated harms and generated debate in the Australian media about raising the legal age of alcohol consumption from 18 to 21 years (Editor 2008; Toumbourou et al 2008). In countries outside Australia, studies have demonstrated that raising the legal age for alcohol consumption reduces adolescents’ access to alcohol and the subsequent associated harms (Ludbrook et al 2002; Grube 1997). While there are lessons to be learned from these settings, perceptions of health and how to address the determinants of illness have changed due to a combination of well informed ‘top? down’ and well anchored ‘bottom? up’ approaches to policy making (WHO 2005). Previous reports in Australia 115 POINT OF VIEW have suggested there is little community support for any proposed changes to the current age for alcohol consumption and instead focus is more on the enforcement of current legislation (Loxley et al 2004). Australianparentshaveacriticalroleininfluencing the attitudes and beliefs of young people toward alcohol consumption. However parents have indicated they are looking for information, skills and community support to assist them in guiding their adolescents’ safe use of alcohol (Shanahan and Hewitt 1999). The five action areas of the Ottawa Charter provides strategies from which nurses can support parents to promote health and encourage safe alcohol consumption patterns among adolescents. By using the framework of the Ottawa Charter, nurses have a strong evidence base and useful framework from which to support families and the broader community in addressing the issue of alcohol misuse among young Australians. Reflecting on their own professional setting, nurses can use the Ottawa Charter framework to guide and inform interventions aimed at reducing alcohol related harm among young people. Using the Ottawa Charter as a framework to address the determinants of illness associated with alcohol misuse 1. Action area 1: Build healthy public policy causes of ill health. Community action strategies are an important way of addressing alcohol related harm (Parliament of Victoria 2004). Regulation and restriction of sales, increased server liability, increased alcohol taxes and lowered blood alcohol limits are some of the policy areas which have been shown to be effective in reducing alcohol related harm (Parliament of Victoria 2004). Healthy public policy affects the entire population directly or indirectly. Nurses have a key role in informing and advocating on behalf of clients, families and the broader community and in promoting effective public policy. 2. Action area 2: Create supportive environments Building healthy public policy is one of the solutions to improving health. All public policy should be examined for its impact on health and, where policies have a negative impact on health, strategies implemented to change them. Healthy public policy is needed to ensure that people are safe. In recent years, initiatives to reduce alcohol related harm have increasingly been focused on high risk individuals (Parliament of Victoria 2004). While these strategies may be appropriate for individuals, they do little to reduce the burden of disease at the community level (Midford 2004). There are risks attached to focusing on individual behaviours and victim blaming instead of addressing the structural AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING Volume 25 Number 4 Healthy public policy assists in creating supportive environments that are important in ensuring that everyone lives in a place that is safe and enjoyable. Alcohol misuse is not just something that pertains to young people; it is a problem that impacts on all members of the community. In a society where alcohol is often seen as an integral part of life (Australian Government 2006) and alcohol misuse is implicated in one third of all road accidents (AustralianGovernment2001)whatisdefined as safe needs to be re? considered. Parents commonly supply alcohol to their adolescents (Graham et al 2006; Ward et al 2006; Shanahan and Hewitt 1999) and in Australia enforcement of current legislation to restrict underage access to alcohol is ‘patchy’ (Loxley et al 2004). As a result,manyadolescentsfindaccesstoalcohol easy. In addition, alcohol advertising that is targeted to youth is often linked with social and sexual success and hence contravenes the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (Jones et al 2001). Public policy designed to create supportive environments has resulted in the ‘settings’ approach to health promotion, where working for change occurs through partnerships at the community level (Talbot and Verrinder 2005). Nurses, for example, have a role in 116 POINT OF VIEW facilitating interaction between teachers and parents and between local government and school communities so they can exchange information, ideas, clarify values (McMurray 2003) and identify strategies that will focus on reducing alcohol related harm among young people. Nurses can encourage and establish primary care partnerships to develop alcohol action plans designed to improve the health and wellbeing of adolescents. 3. Action area 3: Strengthen community action 4. Action area 4: Develop personal skills Strengthening community action is important and so there needs to be mechanisms by which the community can participate in decision making as a community and not just as an individual. Communities can determine what their needs are and how they can best be met. Thus greater power and control remains with the people themselves, rather than totally with the ‘experts’. Community development strategies are one means by which this can be achieved. To date in Australia there have not been any formal consultations with youth about raising the legal age of alcohol consumption. Central to the success of the Ottawa Charter is increasing people’s control over their own health and issues that impact on it. The participation of youth groups is critical to the principles of equity and participation. In countries outside Australia, some community mobilisation programs have been effective in changing community factors (e. g. underageaccesstoalcohol)thatinfluence alcohol use amongst young people (Holder et al 1997). There are a number of successful community mobilisation approaches that have focused on reducing alcohol related harm among young people (Hingson and Sleet 2007; Hanson et al 2000). The role for nurses is to draw on these examples to successfully mobilise young people to be involved in the decision making process about issues that impact on their health and wellbeing. Developing personal skills is important if people are to feel more in control of their lives and have more power in decisions that affect them. Helping people develop their skills ensures that people have the information and knowledge necessary to make informed choices. InAustralia,manyparentsfindithard to communicate with their adolescents about alcohol (Shanahan and Hewitt 1999). It is alsoclearthatmanyparentsfindthemselves isolated and powerless to do anything about their adolescents’ alcohol misuse (Shanahan and Hewitt 1999). Systematic reviews of alcohol and other drug education programs in schools indicate that effective school based programs should begin before initiation to alcohol and other drugs and that content should include social skills and resistance training. In addition, community values, societal contexts and information about drug related harm need to be included (Midford et al 2002). Alcohol education programs that provide information alone have limited success (Foxcroft et al 2003). Without an understanding of alcohol related harms and interventions to address those harms, parents and community members cannot support initiatives for changes (Howat et al 2007). Nurses can work with parents, teachers and students to provide formal and informal education (WHO 2005) which informs alcohol related harm reduction policies. 5. Action area 5: Reorient health services Reorienting health care is important in ensuring that health promotion is everybody’s business. Re?orientating health services means that nurses have a pivotal role in fostering intersectoral collaboration between the health sector, police, education, adolescents and parents. There is some evidence to suggest that brief interventions can have some effect in reducing alcohol related harm among young people (Loxley et al 2004). However recent AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING Volume 25 Number 4 117 POINT OF VIEW overseas evidence suggests that in settings that are most commonly used by adolescents, many health practitioners are not comfortable and adequately skilled when working with young people (McPherson 2005). Working in partnership with other health care providers, nurses can encourage positive health practices where brief interventions that focus on harm reduction, can be provided from places where young people congregate (McMurray, 2003). Graham, M. , Ward, B. , Munro, G. , Snow, P. and Ellis, J. 2006. Rural parents, teenagers and alcohol: what are parents thinking? Rural and Remote Health, 6(online):383. Available from: http://www. rrh. org. au/publishedarticles/article_print_383. pdf (accessed May 2008). Grube, J. 1997. Preventing sales of alcohol to minors: results from a community trial. Addiction, 92(S2):S251?260. Hanson, B. , Larrson, S. and Rastam, L. 2000. Time trends in alcohol habits – results from the Kirseberg Project in Malmo, Sweden. Subst. Use Misuse. 35(1&2) 171? 187. Hingson, R. , Azkocs, R. , Herren, T. , Winter, M. , Rosenbloom, D. and DeJong, W. 2005. Effects on alcohol related fatal crashes of a community based initiative to increase substance abuse treatment and reduce alcohol availability. Injury Prevention, 11: 84? 90. Holder, H. , Saltz, R. , Grube, J. , Voas, R. , Gruenewald, P. and Treno, A. 1997. A community prevention trial to reduce alcohol? involved accidental injury and death: overview. Addiction, 92(S2):S155? 171. Howat, P. , Sleet, D. , Maycock, B. and Elder, R. 2007. Effectiveness of Health Promotion in Prevention Alcohol Related Harm, In: McQueen, DV. and Jones, CM. Global Perspectives on Health Promotion Effectiveness. Springer, New York. Jernigan, D. 2001. Global status report: alcohol and young people. World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland. Available from: http://libdoc. who. int/hq/2001/WHO_MSD_MSB_01. 1. pdf (accessed May 2008). Jones, S. and Donovan, R. 2001. Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 25(2):126? 131. Loxley, W. , Toumbourou, J. and Stockwell, T. 2004. The prevention of substance use, risk and harm in Australia: a review of the evidence. Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra, Australia. Available from: http://www. health. gov. au/internet/wcms/publishing. nsf/ Content/health? pubhlth? publicat? document? mono_prevention? cnt. htm/$FILE/prevention_summary. pdf (accessed May 2008). Ludbrook, A. , Godfrey, C. , Wyness, L. , Parrot, S. , Haw, S. , Napper, M. and van Teijlingen, E. 2002. Effective and cost effective measures to reduce alcohol misuse in Scotland: a literature review. University of York: Aberdeen, Scotland. Available from: http:// www. scotland. gov. uk/health/alcoholproblems/docs/lire? 00. asp (accessed May 2008). McPherson, A. 2005. Adolescents in primary care. British Medical Journal, 330(26):465? 467. Midford, R. 2004. Community action to reduce alcohol problems: what should we try in Australia. Centrelines: Newsletter of the National Centres for Drug and Alcohol Research. Available from: http://espace. lis. curtin. edu. au/archive/00000502/01/ Pages_from_ndri012. pdf (accessed May 2008). Midford, R. , Munro, G. , McBride, M. , Snow, P.and Ladzinski, U. 2002. Principles that underpin effective school? based drug education. Journal of Drug Education, 32(4):363? 386. McMurray, A. 2003. Community Health and Wellness (2nd edn). Elsevier: Marrickville, NSW, Australia. National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). 2001. Australian Alcohol Guidelines. Canberra, Australia. Available from: http://www. nhmrc. gov. au/publications/synopses/ds9syn. htm (accessed May 2008). Nutbeam, D. 2005. What would the Ottawa Char ter look like if it were written today? Available from: http://www. rhpeo. org/reviews/2005/19/index.htm (accessed March 2007). CONCLUSION The development of evidence informed practice in nursing includes using robust health promotion models and methods to address complex issues suchasalcoholmisuse. Thefiveactionareasofthe Ottawa Charter integrate the various perspectives on health promotion. Used collectively, they still serve a useful function in directing the practice of nurses who work with young people, their families, and the community. REFERENCES Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy. 2006. National Alcohol Strategy 2006? 2009. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Available from: http://www. alcohol. gov. au/internet/alcohol/ publishing. nsf/Content/nas? 06? 09 (accessed May 2008). Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, National Expert Advisory Committee on Alcohol. 2001. Alcohol in Australia: issues and strategies. A background paper to the National Alcohol Strategy: A Plan for Action 2001 to 2003/04. Canberra: Australia. Available from: http://www. health. gov. au/ internet/drugstrategy/publishing. nsf/Content/00701CF3C77 7718CCA2571790008D615/$File/alcohol_strategy_back. pdf (accessed May 2008). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2008. 2007 National DrugStrategyHouseholdSurvey:firstresults. DrugStatisticsSeries No 20, cat. no. PHE 98. AIHW: Canberra, Australia. Available from: http://www. aihw. gov. au/publications/index. cfm/title/10579 (accessed May 2008). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). 2006. Australia’s health 2006. AIHW cat. no. AUS73. Canberra, Australia. Available from: http://www. aihw. gov. au/publications/index. cfm/ title/10321#full_publication (accessed May 2008). Editor. 2008. Confronting the demon of under-age alcohol abuse. The Age, 12 March, p.16, Fairfax: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Foxcroft, D. , Ireland, D. , Lister? Sharp, D. , Lowe, G. , and Breen, R. 2003. Primary prevention for alcohol misuse in young people, The Cochrane Library, Oxford: UK. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING Volume 25 Number 4 118 POINT OF VIEW Parliament of Victoria (Australia). Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee. 2004. Inquiry into Strategies to Reduce Harmful Alcohol Consumption. Discussion Paper. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Available from: http://www. parliament. vic. gov. au/ dcpc/Reports/DCPC? DiscussionPaper_Alcohol_2004? 10? 21. pdf (accessed May 2008). Shanahan, P. and Hewitt, N. 1999. Developmental Research for a National Alcohol Campaign. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. Available from: http://www. alcohol. gov. au/internet/alcohol/publishing. nsf/Cont ent/3E8AC9F060C5D877CA257261000EC925/$File/alcocamp. pdf (accessed May 2008). Talbot, L. and Verrinder, G. 2005. Promoting health: the primary health care approach (3rd ed). Elsevier: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Toumbourou, J. , Duff, C. and Bamberg, J. 2003. Family intervention in the prevention of drug? related harm. Prevention Research Evaluation Repor t, 7, 1? 14. Available from: http://www. druginfo. adf. org. au/downloads/Prevention_ Research_Quarterly/REP_No7_03Aug_Family_intervention. pdf (accessed May 2008). Toumbourou, J. , Moodie, R. , Eyre, J. and Harper, T. 2008. Set boundaries, set an example. The Age, 8 March, p. 5. Fairfax: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Ward, B. , Snow, P. , Munro, G. , Graham, M. and Dickson? Swift, V. 2006. It starts with the parents and ends with the parents: the attitudes, knowledge and practices of metropolitan parents in relation to teenage alcohol use. Australasian College of Road Safety Journal, 17(3):20? 28. White, V. and Hayman, J. 2006. Australian secondary school students’ use of alcohol in 2005. The Cancer Council and the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Available from: http://www. health. gov. au/internet/drugstrategy/ publishing. nsf/Content/85D7B21B3E3A993ECA25722500077 55F/$File/mono58. pdf (accessed May 2008). World Health Organization (WHO). 2005. Global health promotion scaling up for 2015: a brief review of major impacts and developments over the past 20 years and challenges for 2015. Paper presented at the 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion, Bangkok, Thailand. Available from: http://www. who. int/healthpromotion/conferences/6gchp/hpr_conference_ background. pdf (accessed May 2008). World Health Organization 2005. WMA Statement on reducing the global impact of alcohol on health and society, World Medical Association, France. World Health Organization. 1986. Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. Available at: http://www. who. int/hpr/NPH/docs/ ottawa_charter_hp. pdf (accessed May 2008). AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING Volume 25 Number 4 119.

The Top 4 ACT Reading Strategies You Must Use

The Top 4 ACT Reading Strategies You Must Use SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you struggle with the ACT Reading section, you're probably on the lookout for some new strategies to help you improve your performance. In this article, I’ve put together four of our top strategies for fixing whatever problems you have on the Reading section and dramatically increasing your scores! Strategy #1: Learn to Eliminate Three Wrong Answers This is the cornerstone of the fundamental rule of ACT reading, which states that there is only one correct answer for each question, and all other choices can be eliminated based on concrete evidence in the passage.This sounds simple, but it’s much more difficult in practice.You have to be super picky with every answer choice! If an answer choice contains even one word or phrase that doesn’t match up with the evidence in the passage, you must eliminate it.Don’t fall for answers that COULD work but don’t have any direct evidence to back them up. That’s how the test tries to trick you. A good way to avoid tricky answers is to answer the question in your own words first and then look at the answer choices. This way, you can formulate an opinion before your thoughts are influenced in any way by the incorrect options. This is an important strategy because it’s much easier to get rid of three wrong answers than to try and pick out one correct answer right off the bat. Even if you’re not sure exactly what the right answer is, with this strategy you can find it just by figuring out what the wrong ones are. Practice Question for Strategy #1: In the last paragraph, the author expresses the belief that scientists who open a new line of research on a topic are likely to: A. quickly discover the answers to the questions they raise.B. find that new questions arise as old ones are answered.C. receive answers far different than they anticipated.D. learn that they have often asked the wrong questions. Here’s the last paragraph of the passage for reference: Like many preliminary scientific reports, Cho’s study raises more questions than it answers. Still, he has demonstrated new functional effects of acupuncture. â€Å"Classically, acupuncture was the ultimate in experimentation; people collected data for thousands of years,† says Joie Jones, professor of radiological sciences at the University of California at Irvine and coauthor of the study. â€Å"With these studies, we’ve demonstrated that for at least some acupuncture points [a connection] goes through the brain.† Which belief is the author expressing in the paragraph? Well, first let’s decide which beliefs he or she ISN’T expressing. Choice A: quickly discover the answers to the questions they raise This seems wrong.The paragraph says that the study â€Å"raises more questions than it answers†.This doesn’t go along with a belief that scientists who open new lines of research like the one in the passage will â€Å"quickly discover the answers to the questions they raise†. The study led to more questions, not immediate answers!Cross it out. Choice C: receive answers far different than they anticipated This looks wrong too.Did the paragraph ever talk about the study revealing unexpected answers to the scientists’ questions?It seems like it’s saying that the study demonstrated what they expected it to: that acupuncture points are connected to signal pathways in the brain. Get rid of this answer! Choice D:learn that they have often asked the wrong questions This choice also seems incorrect.Although the study â€Å"raises more questions than it answers†, the paragraph doesn’t refer to the original questions being â€Å"the wrong questions.†They just didn’t cover all the questions that would ultimately come up as a result of the study. Cross this answer out too! The only answer we have left after eliminating the incorrect choices is: Choice B: find that new questions arise as old ones are answered This answer choice makes complete sense. It restates the phrase in the paragraph about new questions being raised almost word for word! You can see from this example how process of elimination makes the answers to ACT Reading questions a lot more clear-cut. That's why it's such a key strategy to keep in mind. New questions will always arise as old ones are answered. We will never truly be enlightened. Humanity toils endlessly to find meaning in existence. Oh, the horror of consciousness. Didn't think a picture caption would get this dark, did you? Strategy #2: Find Your Ideal Passage Reading Method This strategy is also critical, especially if you struggle with running out of time on ACT Reading.Time can be a huge problem for students on the Reading section because you only get 35 minutes for 40 questions. That’s 53 seconds per question!If you spend a total of 15 minutes just reading the passages, that brings your time per question down to 30 seconds. This means picking the most efficient reading methodwill do a lot to improve your performance.Here are three methods that you might decide to use. Experiment with each on timed practice tests to see which feels the most comfortable and allows you to save the most time. Method #1: Skim the Passage First This is an effective method if you want to get a sense of the overall structure of the passage before looking at the questions without wasting too much time.The best way to skim is to read the introduction and conclusion paragraphs of the passage and the first and last sentences of the body paragraphs.The author's main pointswill be located in these parts of the passage, so you should be able to answer any big picture questions you come across after skimming. If a question asks about details in the passage that you don’t remember, you can always go back and find them.By doing this on a question-by-question basis, you will save yourself time because you’ll only be reading closely in the specific parts of the passage that are relevant to the questions. Method #2: Skip Straight to the Questions This might seem crazy, but trust me, it’s a workable strategy.Close to half of the questions on the ACT Reading section are about small details, so you don’t have to know the main idea of the passage to answer them. You can answer these types of questions just by searching through the passage and finding one specific detail.By the time you answer all the detail questions and are ready to move on to big picture questions, you'll have a solid sense of the main points of the passage.If not, you can always use the skimming technique outlined in Method #1. This method scares some people, but if you’re willing to go for it, it can actually save tons of time! Method #3: Read the Whole Passage First This is the method most people use instinctively.If you’re a fast reader with great reading comprehension skills, it might be fine to read passages this way. Just make sure that it really is working for you - again, I suggest taking timed practice tests where you experiment with these methods to see which one will serve you best on the real test. Even if you CAN read quickly, that doesn't mean you'll absorb the information effectively. Make sure you're a quick and thorough reader before deciding to abandon the other methods and read passages in-depth. When it comes to reading passages, don't bite off more than you can chew. Mini-Strategy #2.5: Answer Questions Based on Your Reading Strategy I mentioned this a bit when describing the different reading methods, but on the test you should answer questions in an order that makes sense based on your chosen reading strategy. If you use Method #1 and skim the passage first or use Method #3 and read thoroughly first, then you should start with big picture questions. The main points of the passage will be freshest in your mind right after you skim the passage. If, on the other hand, you use Method #2 and start with the questions, you should answer detail questions first. They'll be much easier to answer than big picture questions if you haven't yet read the passage in full. Strategy #3: Understand Your Mistakes The key to improvement in any endeavor is first understanding where you're going wrong, and the ACT Reading section is no exception.When you take practice tests, mark every question you get wrong or are unsure about, and determine why you missed each of them. This should include any questions where you guessed and got the right answer. You might not be so lucky next time! When analyzing your mistakes, it’s not enough to say â€Å"I made a dumb mistake† and move on. WHY did you make a mistake on that particular question? What will you do to prevent it from happening again in the future? There Are Four General Types of Mistakes: Type 1: Time Pressure Did you miss the question because you just didn’t get to it?Were you rushing and picked an answer that you didn’t really think about? If time pressure is the reason for many of your mistakes, you may need to refine your passage reading strategy or just takemore practice tests to get used to how fast you need to move through the questions.You might also need to work on skipping difficult questions initially so you don’t spend too much time on one question and miss easier questions later in the section. Type 2: Content Weakness This is less common in the Reading section, but it’s possible that you just didn’t know what a word or concept meant in the passage and ended up choosing the wrong answer.The best way to fix this is to do more challenging reading on your own time.You should alsoread this guide to ACT vocabulary and the most common words you’ll need to know! Type 3: Question Comprehension Did you misunderstand what the question was asking? These types of mistakes are why it’s so critical to make sure you know what’s being asked before you start looking at the answer choices.If you find a question confusing, restate it in your own words before choosing an answer. Type 4: Careless Error Did you miss an â€Å"EXCEPT† or â€Å"LEAST† in the question?Were you rushing? Remind yourself to slow down and read carefully.Try different passage reading strategies if you think this is partially a time pressure issue.If you’re rushing because you’re anxious about finishing the section, I would suggest skipping straight to the questions.This way you will get some questions done right away and will feel less pressed for time. Once you realize where your mistakes are happening, you can start to correct them.Confronting your mistakes directly will improve your scores significantly! Time to eat a nice slice of humble pie washed down with a glass of my mistake milk. Rein in your ego, and you won't get food poisoning. Probably. Strategy #4: Find Your Problem Areas and Practice, Practice, Practice This is the next step after figuring out the types of mistakes you make most frequently.After you identify all the questions you’ve been missing, you can categorize them by question typeto make it easier to cater your practice sessions to the areas of the test that give you the most trouble. ACT Reading question types that we’ve identified include: Big picture questionsLittle picture/detail questionsVocabulary in context questionsFunction questionsInference questions Click on the links for more information about each type and strategies for solving them.Once you’ve categorized all your problem questions, you can start doing more practice in the areas that cause you the most trouble. If you find that your mistakes are pretty evenly distributed, you can practice all types of questions and work on taking more timed practice tests.It’s possible that it’s not the questions themselves that are a problem for you but the timing of the test. This just means getting used to the structure and learning better time management. Review If you really want to improve your ACT Reading scores, you’ll need work hard at perfecting your testing strategies and fixing your weak areas. The four strategies you should keep in mind are: Strategy #1: Learn to eliminate three wrong answer choicesStrategy #2: Find the best passage reading method for youStrategy #3: Understand your mistakes Strategy #4: Find your problem areas and do practice questions If you follow this advice and devote significant time to mastering these strategies, you should start to see awesome results! What's Next? For more quick ways to improve your ACT Reading score, check out my article on the best tips for ACT Reading. If you're really ambitious, read our article on how to get a perfect 36 on ACT Reading for more advanced strategies. Ready to get your studying started? Take a look at this article on the best way to practice for ACT Reading. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Sustainability and Overpopulation Essays

Sustainability and Overpopulation Essays Sustainability and Overpopulation Essay Sustainability and Overpopulation Essay In my past posts I had cited an article from the Associated Press entitled Birth control could help combat climate change. I found that article rather enlightening and pointed to an area of sustainability which is rarely ever looked at. Most times when people look at sustainability it has to do with renewable energies and resources, this is why I wanted to look further into the area of birth control. Diving deeper into this topic I wanted to see if there were any other articles out there about this topic. I was fortunate enough to find another article from a reputable publication on the topic of overpopulation and sustainability. This article is in question and answer format and was published in The New York Times. Talk to The Times: Environment Desk published on Oct 12 included a question about the population problem. It even brought up the fact that Europe has culturally shifted to a 0% or even negative population growth and China has their one child per family law. This is what the expert answered One of the simplest ways to get a community on a track toward smaller family sizes, researchers have found, is finding ways to enable more girls to attend school, whether through improving access to water and fuel so children dont need to work at home or ensuring that schools have safe sanitary toilets. I found this an interesting point because it is known that people who are better educated are more careful with their family size. People need to be more educated about this area of sustainability and be more careful about having children. Having a family is a big responsibility and people need to understand that. Not only does it affect our sustainability but it also has an effect on our economy. Not having the means to support a family is a big problem with our economy and our society today, but this is a discussion for another day.

About the Perseid Meteor Shower

About the Perseid Meteor Shower The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best-known showers in the year. Its one of the great astronomy events of Northern Hemisphere summer and Southern Hemisphere winter. It begins in late July and extends halfway through August, peaking around August 11 or 12th. When conditions are good, you might be able to see dozens of meteors per hour. It all really depends on the weather and what part of the meteor stream Earth moves through each year. Also, the viewing is best when theres no interference from the Moon, although you can still see the brighter meteors as they flash through the sky.   This year (2017) the peak of the shower occurs not long after full moon, so its light will wash out the view of the dimmer meteors. You will likely see a few bright meteors during this time, but dont buy into the hype about the best, the brightest shower.   Its hype and probably clickbait. Do your viewing armed with reasonable expectations and you will be rewarded (unless its cloudy).   What Causes the Perseids? The Perseid meteor shower is really material left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. It passes through our part of the solar system every 133 years. As it travels, this icy dirtball leaves behind tiny grains of ice, dust, rock, and other debris, similar to a messy tourist scattering debris from an automobile. As Earth makes its trip around the Sun, it passes through this debris field with some spectacular results, which we know as the Perseids. As Earth moves through the stream - which can stretch across 14 million to 120 million kilometers of interplanetary space -   its gravity interacts with the particles and spreads the stream out. As the comet passes by, it releases new bursts of particles, constantly refreshing the supply of material that will eventually collide with Earths atmosphere. The stream changes constantly, and this affects future Perseid meteor shower events. Sometimes Earth passes through rather thick areas of the stream, and that results in a heavy meteor shower. Other times, it traverses a thin part of the stream, and we dont see quite so many meteors.   Although there are many meteor showers annually, such as the Leonids, Lyrids, and Geminids, to name a few, the Perseid shower is the most reliable, and can be very spectacular if conditions are right. How it looks depends on several factors - ranging from whether the Moon is nearby (and bright enough to wash out the view) - to what part of the stream Earth encounters. The stream is not uniformly thick with particles, so some years the supply of materials might be less than others. In any given year, observers see anywhere from 50 to 150 meteors an hour on average, increasing at times to around 400 to 1,000 per hour.   The Perseid meteor shower, like other meteor showers, is named after the constellation from which it appears to radiate:  Perseus  (named after a Greek mythological hero)  which is located near Cassiopeia, the Queen. This is also called the radiant, since that is the direction the meteors seem to travel from as they streak across the sky. How Do I View the Perseid Meteor Shower? Meteor showers are easier to view than many other astronomical objects or events. All you need is a fairly dark location and a blanket or lawn chair. Always make sure you have a jacket handy, even if you live in a warm weather climate. Viewing late at night and early in the morning can expose you to some chilly temperatures. It may be useful to have a star chart  to help you locate Perseus, and other constellations while you’re watching, but it’s not a necessity. The shower is active from mid-July each year  when Earth enters the outer edges of the Swift-Tuttle stream.  The best viewing time varies but is often between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m. around the 12th of August. The actual peak time ranges from the 9th to the 14th and then tapers off after that. For August 2017, the best viewing time is after midnight early in the morning of August 12th. There will be some interference from the Moon, which will be just past full. But, you should still be able to see the brightest ones. Also, start watching a few nights before and continue a few nights after; Perseids happen for nearly three weeks. Find a good, safe viewing area where you can get a clear view of the sky. Arrive early to set up, and  give yourself time to adjust your eyes to the darkness. Then, just sit (or lie) back, relax, and enjoy the show. Most of the meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, and streak across the sky. As you gaze, make note of the colors of the meteors as they streak through the sky. If you see bolides (larger streaks), note how long they take to traverse the sky  and notice their colors, too. The Perseids can be a very rewarding observing experience for anybody - from younger children to experienced stargazers.   Edited and expanded by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Sarbanes Oxley Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Sarbanes Oxley Act - Essay Example porting, whistleblower policy, internal policies on executive loans and compensation and external auditor independence can have a positive impact on the nonprofit entity as it contrives to preserve and, even, enhance the trust and confidence the public and its community have on its nonprofit activities. Small businesses, on the other hand, have pointed out the prohibitive costs of implementing the SOX requirements and that the benefits derived from implementing these requirements are much less than these costs. However, there is also positive impact of SOX requirements on small businesses. Small business owners who adopt the SOX requirements may find their competitive advantage increasing, easier access to new capital or loans, more efficient handling of family-related governance issues and an increased opportunity to deter, discover and deal with fraud. With the various accounting and corporate scandals that surprised and shocked the whole business world, the regulators, the stakeholders and the private sector, in general, are all clamoring for more transparency and accountability, as well as a more ethical way of conducting businesses, for the various entities. The passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act is viewed as an important step towards the improvement of these aspects. The SOX is geared towards the publicly-listed, oftentimes large, companies due to their large impact on the economy (in general) and their stakeholders (in particular). However, it is also worthwhile to note that, according to Cynthia Reaves (n.d.), a practitioner in the areas of tax-exempt organization law, the â€Å"inappropriate financial management practices† that were present in most of the companies embroiled in these scandals may also occur in nonprofit entities. McGladrey & Pullen, Certified Public Accountants (n.d.) also pointed out that nonprofit e ntities â€Å"interact with or impact a significant portion of the population†. Based on these, it can be inferred that the SOX also has an

Constitutional Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Constitutional Government - Essay Example For example, federalism allows the national and local government to come together and formulate polices that may be used to regulate how the activities will be executed. However, during the policy making process the level of power and control between the national and local government is not equal, the national government may have more scope to exercise its authority and powers over the national government. A good example of a country that employs corporative federalism is the United States. The theory of federalism emerged after the Second World War and great depression that substantially affected the United State economy and the world at large (Schütze, 2009). The theory of cooperative federalism utilizes a comparison of the marble cake whereby, there is overlapping of responsibilities between the federal government and the state government. One of the major areas where there are such overlapping is on the area like education, security, finance to mention just but a few. For example, the state/local government was give given the mandate to determine the level of qualification among teachers as well as set standards for learners among different students. Any interference by the federal government on education affairs was faced with a lot of criticism by the affected parties. Under the theory of cooperative federalism the state had the powers and authority to supply funds to support education and security at the local level but was not suppose to interfere with administrative duties/responsibilities (Schütze, 2009). . On the contrary, the theory of dual federalism was established via the tenth constitutional amendment. The theory entails a system of governance where the national government is concern with foreign affairs while the state government are directly involved in managing and ruling citizens. Unlike cooperative federalism where authority and powers between the state and federal government are not

The term globalization used in relation to a host of social, economic, Essay

The term globalization used in relation to a host of social, economic, cultural and political processes - Essay Example To provide the reader with a broader meaning of globalization, I provide lists of selected definitions from recent authors and writers. These experts are from different disciplines and organizations as well as from both poor and rich countries. The organizations include the United Nations systems, universities, and leading media outlets. The disciplines include management and journalism. Still, the list must be seen only as a small sample and is not intended to be comprehensive. "It is the inexorable integration of markets, nation-states and technologies to a degree never witnessed before-in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before, and in a way that is enabling the world to reach into individuals, corporations and nation-states farther, faster, deeper, cheaper than ever before." "Globalization is the growing interdependence of the world's people a process integrating not just the economy but culture, technology, and governance. People everywhere are becoming connected-affected by events in far corners of the world." "Present day globalization is a unique convergence of technological, economic and political forces of daunting power and influence, having a massive impact on all aspects of public and private life in economic, social, political and cultural affairs at global, national and local levels. As it influences states and their partner actors, it is also exploited and shaped both positively and negatively by those with the foresight and resources to appreciate its power. Yet, so diverse and overwhelming is globalization's manifold influences that no one group or sector can control or stop it. As such, it has been responded to and manipulated by a range of actors in the public, private and civil society actors, is instigated in good and bad motives, and has benefited some social and economic groups, but has hurt others who have become more vulnerable and disempowered due to its influence." -United Nations (2000:10) "Globalization has three dimensions: cultural-ideational, politico-institutional, and economic. There are three ordinarily ranked levels of economic integration: existence of global infrastructure, harmonization and convergence of economic policies and institutions, and/or borderlessness. To understand the policy implications of cross border economic integration, we need to focus on flow of goods and services as well as factors of production-land, labour, capital, entrepreneurship, and technology." -Aseem Prakash and Jeffery A. Hart (1998:611) "All institutions have to make global competitiveness a strategic goal. No institution, whether a business, a university, or hospital, can hope to survive, let alone to succeed, unless it measures up to the standards set by the leaders in its field, any place in the world. The world economy is increasingly becoming global. National boundaries are impediments and cost centers." -Peter F. Drucker (1999:61, 63)"We cannot live as isolated individuals. As market