Preventing Caregiver Abuse Essay Example for Free

Preventing Caregiver Abuse Essay The term â€Å"caregiver† is used to refer to an individual who assists another who cannot act freely due to certain chronic conditions. There are two main types of caregivers: the â€Å"informal caregivers† are family members or sympathetic friends who care for impaired older people living at home. The â€Å"formal caregivers,† on the other hand, are hired or volunteer workers who are connected either with the health care systems or social service agencies. The tasks associated with caregiving are grouped under two categories, namely: the ‘Activities of Daily Living† (ADLs) and the â€Å"Instrumental Activities of Daily Living† (IADLs). Included under ADLs are activities like getting in or out of bed, taking a bath, getting dressed, and the general toilet use. IADLs, on the other hand, may include meal preparation, general household chores, grocery shopping, and the management of the care receiver’s medication (Nerenberg, 2002). Studies have shown that the greatest negative consequence to caregiving is â€Å"stress† which is believed caused by fatigue due to lack of sleep, improper nutrition, and lack of exercise. Stress is also believed caused by the â€Å"burden† being experienced by caregivers. This burden increases as the level of disability of the care receiver increases, thereby needing a greater extent of care. Some quarters suspect that stress is one of the main reasons for caregivers to â€Å"go over the edge† and consequently abuse their patients (Nerenberg, 2002). For others, however, stress is not a cause but merely an aggravating factor. Abuse, which does not only mean physical injury but also includes â€Å"mental anguish, unreasonable confinement, sexual abuse or exploitation, or financial exploitation† of defenseless older people, are believed by some to be caused by factors like the caregiver’s frustration, sense of isolation, insufficient support from the community, behavior of the care receiver, and the nature of his or her daily tasks (Bratteli, 2003). Bratteli (2003) offered several legal remedies which are expected to prevent caregiver abuse in care facilities, namely: †¢ The care receiver should accomplish a â€Å"Financial Power of Attorney,† a legal document which would appoint his or her attorney-in-fact who will attend to his or her financial matters. This is usually a trusted relative or friend, the appointment of whom will prevent financial exploitation especially when the care receiver is staying in an institution. †¢ Accomplishment of a â€Å"Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. † This is another legal document which appoints an agent who will decide for the care receiver on matters of healthcare. It contains the care receiver’s preferred method of treatment and would prevent neglect on the part of the caregiver in an institution. Nerenberg (2002), on the other hand, pointed to some techniques and services which are now available which could reduce the risk of abuse on the part of caregivers who care for older people at home. According to her, these techniques and services were specifically developed in order to meet the needs of caregivers in terms of assistance and support. One of these is a program aimed at providing relief. Under this program, employees or volunteer workers visit the patient at home and spend several hours with him or her in order to allow the caregiver to have some rest. Other programs arrange for the care receiver to stay for several days in a care facility to allow the caregiver to enjoy an extended break. Some support services take the form of friendly visits and reassuring telephone calls to address the feeling of isolation by providing â€Å"social contact and emotional support. † These practices also relieve the anxiety being felt by the caregiver. Finally, caregivers should also be provided with informative materials which would teach them the techniques for reducing stress like exercise and proper diet (Nerenberg, 2002). References Bratteli, M. (2003). CAREGIVER ABUSE, NEGLECT AND EXPLOITATION: The Journey Through Caregiving. North Dakota Family Caregiver Project, North Dakota State University. Nerenberg, L. (2002). Caregiver Stress and Elder Abuse. National Center on Elder Abuse. Retrieved April 17, 2008 from http://www. ncea. aoa. gov/NCEAroot/Main_Site/pdf/family/caregiver. pdf

Issues Caused by Prison Overcrowding

Issues Caused by Prison Overcrowding Overcrowding: One of the important goals in prison system is that it should guarantee the public safety, prison inmates and staff. (Criminal justice and behavior) holding more prisoners than it is intended to accommodate, then the level of overcrowding in different continents andregions can be shown in terms of the occupancy rate*/the number of prisoners as apercentage of the official capacity of the system  (prison health care and the extent of prison overcrowding) In North and Central America, this is true of nine of the 12 countries on which information is available, as it is of 13 out of 14 Caribbean countries and 12 of the 13 countries in South America.(prison health care and the extent of prison overcrowding) Overall, the prison systems of 109 of the 158 countries on which information is available*/69%*/hold more prisoners than they are intended to accommodate. Over the 6 years since the first edition of the World Prison Population List appeared, the latest information available shows that prison populations have risen in 71% of these countries*/in 62% of countries in Africa, 74% in the Americas, 87% in Asia, 67% inEurope and 69% in Oceania Crowding Can be measure in the floor space per prisoner, prisoner per living unit and institutional population relative to state capacity According to BOP, the population increasing in prison are contribute to the longer sentencing over times for inmates From the GAO, it claimsthatthe population of BOP will increase more than the system Capacity such as they predict thatit will be increasing the additional 15 percent of inmates’ population in the BOP. The number of females inmates housed in bop institution increased 7 percent and the number of the males inmates housed in bop institution increased 10 percent. 48 percent for sentencing drug The problem of overcrowding: Overcrowding can be toxic for the both of the prisoners and staff Lack of privacy, lost to use of gyms and recreation, noise, unsanitary ,there are long lines for the toilet ,poor condition in the prison situation The United Nations ‘‘Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners’’ state that: ‘‘Allaccommodation for the use of prisoners and in particular all sleeping accommodation shallmeet all requirements of health, due regard being paid to climatic conditions andparticularly to cubic content of air, minimum floor space, lighting, heating and ventilation’’(prison health care and the extent of prison overcrowding) It is equally well recognized that, by contributing to health problems in prison, overcrowding is also contributing to health problems in the community, since the vastmajority of prisoners will return to the community in due course, accompanied by anydisease that is then afflicting them Prisoners: Mental health When overcrowding exceeds this figure, the risk to the health of prisoners is obviously greater still. In 67 of the 158 countries on which information is available, the occupancy rate exceeds 120%, including more than 70% of the prison systems in Africa, the Caribbean and South America, and at least 60% of those in Asia and Central America. Indeed, in almost a quarter of the prison systems (22%) The occupancy rate exceeds 150%, and in 15 countries (almost 10%) it exceeds 200%,meaning that more than two prisoners are occupying space intended for one. From the representation of World Health Organization: ‘‘Overcrowding is an obvious cause or contributory factor to many of the health problems inprison, most notably communicable diseases and mental health, including the use ofpsychoactive substances’’( prison health care and the extent of prison overcrowding) Suicide (for the long-term)( which level of security) Self-harm Infraction and stressful. (Prison Crowing A psychological perspective) Human rights and the prison system should have reasonability to keep inmates mental and physical health( Overcrowding in Prisons A Health Risk in Need of (Re)consideration) Poor prison life associate with the mental health such as self-harm, suicide and violent behavior and all of have major implication can affect the inmates and staff. (Criminal justice and behavior) In the long term, this is cause of the high reoffending rates as the mental health, misconduct behavior are associated with the increasing the risk of recidivism (Criminal justice and behavior) (Criminal justice and behavior) Also, the research finds that the linked the overcrowding in prison with increasing the psychological problem such as suicide, rates of violence hypertension and other medical conditioning. The rehabilitation program have been dismantled as the program have never work because the program are underfund and the high unemployment rates make the inmate post-release adjustment are more difficulty (trauma)à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   CAN ARGUE Gaes (1992) found that the stress of crowding and the straggle for resource, space and create the nervous atmosphere can increase the chance of suicide and other formed violence. People always argue that rehabilitation and the mental care programmer can addressthe problem of suicide. However, there are limited setting and space to provide the rehabilitation program for inmates in the overcrowding prison. (HUYEN) Stress->the data provide strong for the conclusion that dormitory crowding is the stressor and is detrimental to health. The relationship of housing of the relationship of autonomic nervous system responses to crowding and by examination of urine chemistry correlates of adrenal catecholamine.P45 There is another importance source of information about health-related problem that can illuminate the extent to which crowded prison conditions are associated with physical and mental pathology-the data on serious health-related incidents such as natural deaths and suicide from the prison archives. P46 The data show that there are the illness of headaches, sleeplessness and blood pressure in the short-term.P46 Crowding could produce stress and that prolonged stress could lead to serious physical and psychological consequence. P46 Evaluating the relationship pf crowding – assessing impact of changes in population over times, assessing difference between large and small institutions within particular prison system. Even when the institutions are equally crowded , thebook find that regarding crowding assume that because of greater socialidentity , the large institutions would yield relatively greater stress and consequently a greater incidence of health-related problems as the increase population within a prison would be reinteraction within the living quarters and or in common use areas.P46 Although the stress can have a direct effect on physical health, it may also have dramatic effects on mental health. ] The disciplinary infraction-> the stress related population pressure in the high density institutions may result in a variety of pathological consequence. If population level is important, the large institutions would be associated with more population-related stress than the small one. In the large institution, housing may not be more crowded, but external activity areas may be more densely populated In the criminal justice behavior, it found that there are strong relationship between the institution infraction and the misconduct behavior such as aggression, impulsiveness and the risk of institution. Also. The large of population in the high security housing, it will be high rates of infraction with the gang activities. Physical health Blood pressure Finding the single cell in us now D, Atri (1975) found that the dormitorities were associated with the elevated blood pressure compare with the single cell housing(P45) In the high population years compared with the low population years, the death rates, it should include those from thediseases of the circulatory system were significantly higher for those over 45years of the age. (ARG) The book analyses indicated that deaths from the natural cause for inmates older than 50years of age increased much more rapidly than the population changes. THE population increased slightly be over 90percent, while the death rates increased by over 200percent P49 Misconduct behavior—public safety From the GAO report, it can find that overcrowding may cause to increase the misconduct behavior with prisoner and it should be more competition of education and training. (The problem of overcrowding) Recidivists, but no reconviction rates The overcrowding will continue increase as the reform policy such as street safety Post release (Overcrowding in Prisons A Health Risk in Need of (Re) consideration) Costs The budget of the mental service Meaningful programmes Increasing the population of prison may cause the overcrowding and affect the relationship between the staff and inmates, prison safety, the condition of confinement and themeaningful programmer for prison. (Criminal justice and behavior) On the other hand, overcrowding can reduce the meaningful work chance to inmates. There are providing some programmer to relate in job operating and maintaining for inmate to participate in such as federal prison industries. Within the overcrowding, it is difficult to arrange for inmates to working in the federal prison industries factory. At the end, the inmates release the jail and they are difficult to find the job and committing crime (like a cycle) (R42937) The GAO reported that there are some problem of overcrowding to be highlight and how this problem to might contribute to inmate misconduct and caused in this facilities. In the report, it showed that the growing of population in prison, the inmates should convert common areas (share to common area) such as television room, temporary house space and they inmates with higher propensity for violence spending more times with other inmates and due to the overcrowding in prison, the inmates may experience crowded bathroom facilities, reduce the shower times and waste of time for services, shorten in meal times and limited recreational activities. On the other hand, the increasing number of inmates in bop facilities will decrease the availability of the programmer as there are longer waiting lists for rehabilitative programmer such as education, vocation training, and substance drug treatment. In fact, the reduction in rehabilitative programmer can manage the prison population. In the BOP, if the inmates complete successfully substance drug treatment, they have up to one year taken off their sentence. However, the longer waiting lists for the substance drug treatment programmer, the limited ability of BOP to allow the inmates earning the maximum reduction in inmate’s sentencing. (R42937) Human rights (linked with the mental Health and crowding conditioning) The public and commercial services union à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   increase the deaths in custody and to basic standard of human dignity ( UNION PROTEST AGAIN PRSION OVERCROWDING) Prison safety The increasing of population in the prison may lead to overcrowding and cause of the prison safety and the relationship between the staff and inmates. One of importance of goal in the prison system is that it should protect the safety of public, inmates and staff in the prison. However the poor environment conditions and adjustment in the prison will link with the mental health such as suicide and self harm for the inmates and the misconduct behavior. all of the behavior will affect the safety of inmates and staff. (Criminal justice behavior) the early identification of inmates in the overcrowding conditions is the risk for the violence behavior and the health (Criminal justice behavior) Staff: For the staff, it can increase the staff pressure and affect their ability to full access theprisoner’s need and provide the quality care and treatment.( UNION PROTEST AGAIN PRSION OVERCROWDING) Arg: Although the private prisons operate (it can reduce the cost of overcrowding in public prison), there is the questionable of privatization deliver lower costs and whether services provided by private prison comparable to services provided by public prison. Whateverthe public prison or private prison operate, the age of prisoner, the economic scale and the prisoner’s security level are the most important factor of daily per diem cost to determine (R42937) Others: Model Early identification of prison -> security level (Criminal justice and behavior) (Lack of the now) In the mid -1980s, the inmate population under the Bureau of Prison has increase from25000 to over 219000 inmates in the 2013. The growth of inmate’s population in the prison system is contributed to policy change in the previous decades such as the mandatory minimum sentences. In the mandatory minimum sentencing, there are many people convicted of states crimes to sentence in the prison for the long-term imprisonment. At that time, theprison populations climbed almost continuously and hold more inmates to the federal prison system in the United States. From the World Prison Population, it showed that there are 74 percent in American has risen over the six years. (Prison health).However, the prison system capacity cannot afford the large inmate’s population and lead to overcrowding. Overcrowding refers the number of inmates actually holding in the federal prison system is higher than the prison system’s capacity and accommodation prison; overcrowding is not only just measure in the primary living environment (external density) such as the floor space prisoner, prisoner, per living unit and institutional population relative to state capacity, but also it can also measure the subjective experience of density-related discomfort of inmates in the prison.When people talk about the pressure problem in the prison system, it should be focus on how the problem can affect the prison system first. In the prison system, the importance goals are that it should guarantee the public safety, prison inmates and staff; rehabilitation for prisoner to come back the society after they released; punishment for the criminal to reduce the future crimes. In fact, there are many importance problems in the prison system, but overcrowding has bought the serious problem to prison system such as health-related problems for staff and inmates, reconviction rates, costing in the prison system.etc; therefore, the most pressing problem in prison system is the overcrowding. ARG According to  BOP officials, without space for disciplinary segregation, they are limited  in how they can address inmate misconduct. Officials further stated that  when a facility has no Special Housing Unit space available, the regional  office may move the inmate to a Special Housing Unit in another facility of  a different security level—a practice referred to as trans-segregation. Alternatively, headquarters officials said that disciplinary hearing officers  may dispense shorter time in segregation or use other sanctions or a  combination of nonsegregation sanctions. As a result, the officials said  that the imposed sanctions may not be as much of a deterrent with the  inmates, which affects the security and safety of inmates and staff. COUET BOP officials did not discount an incident happening at a  low security facility because of the high gang presence in these facilities. They said that although the criminal histories of low security inmates  suggest that they are not a â€Å"high risk† for violence, these inmates may still  be a high risk for problems because of frustrations resulting from crowded  conditions. Second, BOP officials were also concerned that the federal 25 percent double bunking and 75 percent single bunking of cells  within high security facilities, 50 percent double bunking and 50 percent single bunking of cells  within medium security facilities, and 100 percent From fiscal years 2006 through 2011, the percentage crowding in male  medium security facilities increased from 37 percent to 51 percent and  from 53 percent to 55 percent in high security level facilities  BOP’s high security population was about 21,000 in December 2011—or  about 7,000 more than its rated capacity—resulting in 97 percent double  bunking and a 55 percentage crowding. According to BOP, BOP’s ability to increase rated capacity is directly  affected by funding appropriated for new prison construction and to  support contracts with private prison providers for additional inmate bed  space. In fiscal year 2005, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)  placed a moratorium on all new BOP prison construction. To address  BOP’s bed space needs, OMB focused on contracting with private  Page 16 GAO-12-743 Federal Prison Crowding  prisons. P38 BOP’s 2020 long-range capacity plan assumes continued growth in the  federal prison population from fiscal years 2011 through 2020, with about  15 percent growth in the number of inmates BOP will house.38 To address  some of this growth, BOP expects to activate five newly constructed  prisons by 2014, adding about 6,720 beds.39 In addition, BOP is  budgeting for additional contracted bed space—1,000 beds in 2013 and  1,500 the next year, but the addition of these contracted beds is subject  to future appropriations. Despite its plans to add capacity through 2014,  given the expected inmate population growth, BOP projects crowding will  increase from the current rate of 39 percent to 44 percent by 2015.  Figure 3 P53

Ellen Foster Essay -- Essays Papers

Ellen Foster "When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy." [P.1], says eleven-year-old Ellen. Thus the young narrator begins her life-story, in the process painting an extraordinary self-portrait. â€Å"Ellen Foster† is a powerful story of a young girl growing up in a burdensome world. As one reads this work presented by Kaye Gibbons, a chill runs down their back. Ellen, the main character is faced with a hard life dealing with endless losses, with the deaths of both her parents and her grandmother being included. Why would one get a chill you wonder? This individual has thoughts and feelings that many have never experienced and cannot express. Ellen is merely a child no older then the age of ten but if not knowing this fact, readers would think she was an aged woman who has lived their life sufficiently. In this book Ellen refers to herself many times as "Old Ellen." I believe that she uses this name because throughout the book Ellen is always taking care of someone beside herself: her colored friend, Starletta, and her dying mother. Ellen's parents die, and her grandmother dies, but this isn’t really a great loss for Ellen. Her mother was a frail and sick woman whom Ellen was constantly protecting from her drunken father. For a time, Ellen’s Art teacher, Julia, and her husband move Ellen into their home. She feels, for the first time, that she is apart of a loving family. She describes, in the book, â€Å" the three of us could pass for a family on the street...

Alarming Side Effects of Artificial Sweeteners Essay -- Exploratory Es

Alarming Side Effects of Artificial Sweeteners NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure are all brand names for aspartame, a low calorie sugar substitute used in more than 90 countries to sweeten foods and beverages. Aspartame is a synthetic chemical that is created through the combination of the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid, and a small amount of methanol. Aspartame can be found in several products, such as soft drinks, over-the counter drugs, vitamin and herb supplements, instant breakfasts, candy, breath mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum, coffee, juice, and tea beverages, tabletop sweeteners, and gelatin desserts. This product may have seemed like a dream come true when it was first invented in 1981 because its use can substantially lower the number of calories in food and beverage products by substituting the place of sugar. Despite its desirable qualities, the use of aspartame has been controversial since its creation due to its negative side effects that have been linked to the use of the chemica lly produced sugar. Due to the ever increasing use of aspartame, researchers have discovered that aspartame has been closely associated with the function of the brain. In the human brain, there is a blood-brain barrier that acts as a system of specialized capillary structures that are designed to prevent toxic substances from entering the brain. Prior to birth and during the first 12 months of life, the blood-brain barrier is incomplete. The protective enzymes in a baby’s brain are still immature, and therefore are unable to effectively detoxify the excitotoxins, toxins that bind to certain receptors and may cause neuronal cell death when they enter the brain. This would mean that in the case o... ...t pain, headaches, equilibrium problems and manic depression. The Desert Storm incident proved that aspartame is indeed harmful when consumed in excess or when consumed in general. Overall, the consumption of aspartame is not so beneficial. The chemical component of aspartame may be broken down to chemical substances that are potentially harmful and may lead to symptoms such as headaches, vision impairment, hearing loss, memory loss, fatigue, dizziness, and eventually brain tumors. The sweetener may have been developed to lower the amount of calories and be a sugar substitute, but its creation has only produced medical attention. The consumption of aspartame should be limited or not be consumed at all in order to prevent symptoms from occurring. The creation of aspartame may not be so sweet after all. References: www.dorway.com www.webMd.com

Balancing modern and traditional living

It's difficult to hoose because they â€Å"wanna be a part of one world cause it's all shiny and fast but afraid to let go of the other world that's slower and more familiar. â€Å"(pg. 4). This new world, it's fast paced, technologically advanced and overwhelming and it's exceptionally diverse from the peace and calm of life on the reserve. Garnet wants to assimilate to modern society because â€Å"[he] was embarrassed about being an Indian†¦ † (pg. 19) and at various times he was Hawaiian, Polynesian, Mexican orChinese; basically anything other than the â€Å"scary lookin', dirty, drunk, fghtin' in the streets or passed out in the alley'(pg. 22) Indians that his foster father has shown him a while back. The speed of the world is getting faster and faster with the Whitemans inventions and it's hard to differentiate between worlds, the lure of the unknown is great and this modern time is unfamiliar to the ‘born to the land' Indians. Media is, by far, an important source of a lot of our self-education nowadays and we rely on this ermanent source of information to help us learn more about other cultures, beliefs and topics.But it can also be a problematic device as rumours and stereotypical opinions can be spread with a click of the mouse. Back then, books were the major source of information, and when the only books written are by white-men who only are one viewpoint of many in the world, things can get pretty one-sided and it's hard to know what's actually an accurate source of truthful information. Manda Van Os Balancing modern and traditional living By mandavanos ï » ¿Balancing Modern and Traditional Living Balance is an important factor in every life. It’s essential to maintain the control and calm while also experiencing the highs and lows. In Keeper ‘N Me by Richard Wagamese, the protagonist, Garnet Raven, is struggling to figure out his identity knowing that his skin is brown but not understanding how to be â€Å"Indyunn† as he was brought up â€Å"†¦in all-white homes, going to all-white schools [and] playing with all-white kids†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Technology and material items of this new, fast paced life along with media that promotes Indians negatively and the pressure of making your existence count by working so much you have no time to actually enjoy life and all of its values are some of the reasons that balance is even more essential now than ever. The attraction of modern and ‘shiny’ things, as Keeper says, that pull people away from traditional practices and values are indeed, extremely persuasive.It’s difficult to choose because they â€Å"wanna be a part of one world cause it’s all shiny and fast but afraid to let go of the other world that’s slower and more familiar.†. This new world, it’s fast paced, technologically advanced and overwhelming and it’s exceptionally diverse from the peace and calm of life on the reserve. Garnet wants to assimilate to modern society because â€Å"[he] was embarrassed about being an Indian†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and at various times he was Hawaiian, Polynesian, Mexican or Chinese; basically anything other than the â€Å"scary lookin’, dirty, drunk, fightin’ in the streets or passed out in the alley†Indians that his foster father has shown him a while back. The speed of the world is getting faster and faster with the Whitemans inventions and it’s hard to differentiate between worlds, the lure of the unknown is great and this modern time is unfamiliar to the ‘born to the land’ Indians. Media is, by far, an importa nt source of a lot of our self-education nowadays and we rely on this permanent source of information to help us learn more about other cultures, beliefs and topics.But it can also be a problematic device as rumours and stereotypical opinions can be spread with a click of the mouse. Back then, books were the major source of information, and when the only books written are by white-men who only are one viewpoint of many in the world, things can get pretty one-sided and it’s hard to know what’s actually an accurate source of truthful information.

Pharmacia & Upjohn Case Study

Kayem Foods, Inc. Case Study Kayem Foods, Inc Buzz Marketing Al Fresco Chicken Sausage STRATEGIC ISSUES AND PROBLEMS Matt Monkiewicz is the director of marketing for Kayem Foods, Inc.. Mr. Monkiewicz was put under pressure to decide whether or not to us a buzz marketing plan for their Al Fresco chicken sausage brand, which would be implemented as part of their advertising campaign for 2006. The Al Fresco chicken sausage brand was able to capture a large portion of their target market, making them the number-one brand in its target market.The dilemma that Monkiewicz faces is whether or not the increase in sales were due to the buzz marketing campaign they implemented the previous year or if other advertising and promotional campaigns were the sole reason for the increase in sales. In order to make a decision, Monkiewicz must analyze all parts of the advertising and promotional campaigns that they have previously used and decide which of these campaigns actually contributed to the sale s increase and which campaigns didn’t. KAYEM FOODS, INC. Kayem Foods, Inc. as been around for almost a 100 years and is located in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The company has historically made its fortune from selling fresh delicatessen meats, hot dogs, and sausage. Annual sales, from the fiscal year ending February 28, 2004, were approximately $140 million. The majority of their sales came from meat products that were sold under several brand names, with the majority of the meat products being that of hot dogs. They have several brand names for which their products are sold and the most well-known brand is Kayem.There has been a continually rising market for sausage. Breakfast sausage has increased by 2 percent and dinner sausage has increased by 4 percent in 2003. This is why Kayem Foods, Inc. is desperately working to find a way to capture this rapidly growing market. Kayem Foods director of marketing, Matt Monkiewicz, feels that in order to adequately capture a significant po rtion of the market they must be willing to think outside the box and possibly implement non-traditional styles of advertising. Buzz marketing does exactly what Mr.Mankiewicz is looking for in his advertising campaign, which that they have used in the previous year and it has made them the number one-selling brand of chicken sausage, however, not all of the sales force at Kayem believes this increase in sales were due to Buzz marketing. Although Kayem has been able to substantially increase the sales of Al Fresco, they still have a lot of concerns pertaining to their profit margins. In the recent years supermarkets have been able to gain industry power, when it comes to dealing with manufacturers that supply them with products.The supermarkets now demand larger discounts and coupons for their customers. There is also a force keeping prices down due to the tense competition within the industry. In the past two years Kayem’s private label activity has been operating at break-ev en and co-packs have been operating below break-even. Obviously Kayem is in business to make money and not operate at break-even. They must use an aggressive advertising technique to get their profit margin back up. INSIGHTS TO BUZZ MARKETING You can sum up the definition of Buzz marketing in just 3 words,† word of mouth. Many companies have found this advertising approach to be very profitable and appealing to their bottom line. In today’s market, especially due to the rise of social networking, many companies depend on their current customers to help spread the word of their products. Buzz marketing helps companies build brand loyalty and awareness by building a personal relationship with their consumers. Many times consumers can be more easily persuaded towards purchasing a product when it is recommended from someone they know or trust and Buzz marketing does exactly that.Kayem Foods, Inc. previously used a company called Bzz Agent to implement their Buzz marketing c ampaign. Bzz Agent currently had 60,000 agents and these agents volunteered to try the products and then would use word of mouth techniques to get these products in the hands of their friends, acquaintances, and possibly strangers. Most of the Buzz agents actually enjoyed testing new products and then talking about them to their friends, they felt some type of satisfaction for being one of the â€Å"firsts† to discover the product.Bzz Agent also found that most of their agents advertised their products in all of the social networking settings, which also helps spread the word of the products. In recent years, marketing managers have found that product endorsements were more credible when it came from a friend or acquaintance. PLAN OF ACTION Mr. Monkiewicz must decide on which advertising campaign Al Fresco will use for next year. He must decide if they will usual traditional advertising like: television, radio, magazines, and billboards.Another option for his campaign could b e Buzz marketing, which if he decided to use he must develop a better way to track the increase in sales that come from Buzz marketing. He may also decide to implement more than one style of advertising and possibly combine the different approaches together, however, Monkiewicz has only been granted a marketing budget of $185,000 so he must be fully aware of his choices. Some of his choices may also not be feasible because of their high cost. Since Monkiewicz was only allowed $185,000 for advertising campaign, he will not be able to choose the more expensive advertising options like television.What he felt appropriate options for his advertising campaign were Buzz marketing, magazines, and price-off coupons. Based off of the chart above, Better Homes and Gardens magazine will also not be an option. He is left with Buzz marketing, trade marketing, food and wine magazine, cooking light magazine, and price-off coupons. RECOMMENDED AL FRESCO MARKETING STRATEGY The efficiency of buzz mar keting is undeniable, penetrating social networks and building personal relationships with consumers. With that being said, Matt Monkiewicz should choose to implement the Buzz marketing strategy for their advertising campaign.It is also a cheap option that has multiple benefits. In order to track the success of their Buzz marketing campaign he will just simply ask his Bzz agents to have the people they reach out to, for their product, fill out an online survey. This survey will ask questions like: will they continue to buy Al Fresco products, were they satisfied and if not, why? , and also if they were able to find their products at their local super market. Mr. Monkiewicz should combine his Buzz campaign with Trade marketing, with the combination of these two approaches he will surely get the word out there and it will help to build brand awareness.He can also use the remaining, [$185,000 – ($75,000+$80,000) = $30,000], $30,000 for price-off coupons, which will further help to expand their portion of the target market. TARGET MARKET Al Fresco should keep the same target market as before. Their target market should be women that range in age from 25 to 45 years old. This is the best suitable target market for their product, considering that this is the most health conscious market out there. What Al Fresco should do, however, is use their advertising efforts to capture a larger portion of this market. MARKETING MIXProduct Strategy – Al Fresco should keep their product of chicken sausage and their current flavors. Price Strategy – One thing that Al Fresco must do is not discount their products as much. We know that the sales force for Al Fresco thought the primary reason for becoming the number one selling product of chicken sausages was because of constant discounts they were giving away to the supermarkets. If Al Fresco can cut down on their discounts and they can continue to capture the majority of the market then they will be able to se e how effective their Buzz marketing campaign was.Distribution Strategy – The current distribution strategy implemented by Al Fresco has proven to be successful so they should continue to use the same strategy, â€Å"If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. † Advertising and Promotion Strategy – Al Fresco will use the combination of trade marketing, price-off coupons, and Buzz marketing for their advertising campaign. If they can effectively implement these low cost advertising approaches then they should be able to gain back some of their profit margin that they have been so concerned about in the past couple years.

Jesus Christ and Miracles Essay

A miracle is basically an event that cannot be fully explained by science and sometimes defies logic and reasoning. Generally, miracles are attributed to positive things such as a person suddenly being cured from devastating or a person waking from a deep coma after a lot of years. However, miracles are also attributed to persons and possibly the best person whom miracles are associated with is Jesus Christ. According to Wikipedia, Jesus Christ performed many miracles which include curing the sick, exorcising demons from people, controlling nature, and raising dead people, among others. Moreover, possibly the most popular miracles that Jesus performed based on Wikipedia are the turning of water into wine, the exorcism of seven evil spirits from Mary Magdalene, the healing of the mute, the blind, the deaf, and the leper, walking on water, the multiplication of small amounts of fish and bread, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the transubstantiation of bread and wine, and his own resurrection from the dead, among many others. Basically, according to Wikipedia, Jesus performed miracles in order to show everyone that the divine power of God, His Father is real. In addition, the general view of the Catholic Church according to Wikipedia is that Jesus mainly performed miracles not only to help those who are in need but to convert non-believers into believers. However, according to Wikipedia, modern analysts of the Bible claim that miracles that Jesus performed were merely symbols and metaphors. For example, healing the blind served as a symbol for people who could not see the truth even though it is presented clear on their faces and healing the dead was a metaphor for people who could not or refused to listen to the truth. Nevertheless, the prevailing perception still is that miracles are the good, yet improbable things that happen in a person’s life and that Jesus Christ is the main performer of these miracles Works Cited Wikipedia. org. 2008. â€Å"Jesus. † 12 April 2008 .