Modelling and simulating a crisis management system: an organisational perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaawa, Mohamed; Thabet, Inès; Hanachi, Chihab; Ben Said, Lamjed

2017-04-01

Crises are complex situations due to the dynamism of the environment, its unpredictability and the complexity of the interactions among several different and autonomous involved organisations. In such a context, establishing an organisational view as well as structuring organisations' communications and their functioning is a crucial requirement. In this article, we propose a multi-agent organisational model (OM) to abstract, simulate and analyse a crisis management system (CMS). The objective is to evaluate the CMS from an organisational view, to assess its strength as well as its weakness and to provide deciders with some recommendations for a more flexible and reactive CMS. The proposed OM is illustrated through a real case study: a snowstorm in a Tunisian region. More precisely, we made the following contribution: firstly, we provide an environmental model that identifies the concepts involved in the crisis. Then, we define a role model that copes with the involved actors. In addition, we specify the organisational structure and the interaction model that rule communications and structure actors' functioning. Those models, built following the GAIA methodology, abstract the CMS from an organisational perspective. Finally, we implemented a customisable multi-agent simulator based on the Janus platform to analyse, through several performed simulations, the organisational model.

The Cuban Missile Crisis: Evolving Historical Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Medland, William J.

1990-01-01

Presents a synthesis of the views of participants and counterviews of scholars concerning the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. Reviews historical and analytical accounts of the crisis. Describes critical areas of conflicting interpretations by historians and participants. Includes an annotated bibliography of teaching resources. (NL)

Hearing impairment: a family crisis.

PubMed

Goldberg, H K

1979-01-01

This paper reviews the initial crisis for hearing impaired children and their families from the perspective of the clinician who must assess their adjustment at the point of entry into a school for the deaf. The use of crisis theory as it relates to the special needs of this client group is discussed.

When a Crisis Occurs: A Trustee's Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenney, Phyllis Gutierrez

1997-01-01

Argues that, although crises are unavoidable, they can be planned for and that there should be a crisis management model for each situation. Discusses components of an effective crisis management plan, including clear lines of governance, trust, and communication between boards and the president and effective communication with the media and…

The Concept of Collection from the User's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Hur-Li

2005-01-01

This study explores the concept and functions of collection from the perspective of the user. In-depth interviews with ten professors from a social science discipline and a natural science department provided descriptions of their information seeking involving material sources and their perceptions of the library collection. Participants used the…

The representation of healthcare end users' perspectives by surrogates in healthcare decisions: a literature review.

PubMed

Shah, Syed Ghulam Sarwar; Farrow, Alexandra; Robinson, Ian

2009-12-01

The representation of end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions requires involvement of their surrogates when the end users, i.e. certain patients, elderly people, children and people with disabilities, are unable to present their views. To review critical issues, and the advantages and disadvantages of involving surrogates in representing end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions. A systematic review of literature published in peer-reviewed journals from 1990 to 2005. Findings show that surrogates are used widely in health care and that they are necessary to represent end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions when the latter are unable to do so themselves. Critical issues in using surrogates include key ethical, social, cultural, legal and medico-technological factors; ascertaining the best interest of end users; potential conflict of interest; possible biased decisions and the burden on surrogates. The key advantage of surrogate involvement in healthcare decisions is their ability to represent end users' needs, values and wishes. The main disadvantages include potential discrepancies between the decisions and conclusions of surrogates and end users; the failure of surrogates to predict end users' preferences accurately and the lack of certainty that useful information will be obtained through the surrogacy process. This systematic review has revealed that the involvement of surrogates is an additional vital way to represent end users' perspectives in healthcare decisions where for a range of reasons their opinions are unable to be effectively ascertained. However, because of the heterogeneity of surrogates and end users, the selection of appropriate surrogates and deploying surrogate decisions require particularly careful consideration of their value in individual cases; thus, subsequent decision-making must be reviewed on a case-to-case basis to seek to ensure that the best interests, needs and wishes of the end user are fully and accurately

Relocating from out-of-area treatments: service users' perspective.

PubMed

Rambarran, D D

2013-10-01

Asylum closures over recent decades resulted in mental health services being increasingly sited in the community. However, under provision of highly supported accommodation led to service users being placed away from their local area in 'out-of-area treatments' (OATs). OATs have raised major concerns in relation to enabling service users' recovery, owing to limitations in promoting autonomy, social dislocation and costs. In 2004, an OATs project was set up in a London Borough to address these concerns. In the first 4 years, the project succeeded in relocating 22 service users to less restrictive environments locally. This study aims to explore the outcome of relocation from service users' perspective. A qualitative methodology was utilized. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with seven service users who relocated. All seven service users shared a strong aspiration for independent living but there was associated loneliness. Five welcomed increased contact with family and friends, but lacked social confidence, inhibiting social inclusion. Service users with long-term and consistent care managers were more able to address fears. Five out of seven service users concluded that relocation increased their autonomy thus enhanced their quality of life. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Socio-ecological perspective of older age life expectancy: income, gender inequality, and financial crisis in Europe.

PubMed

Kim, Jong In; Kim, Gukbin

2017-08-18

Population is aging rapidly in Europe. Older age life expectancy (OLE) can be influenced by country-level depth of credit information (DCI) as an indicator of financial crisis, gross national income (GNI) per capita, and gender inequality index (GII). These factors are key indicators of socio-ecological inequality. They can be used to develop strategies to reduce country-level health disparity. The objective of this study was to confirm the relationship between socio-ecological factors and OLE in Europe. Data were obtained from World Bank, WHO, and UN database for 34 Europe countries. Associations between socio-ecological factors and OLE were assessed with Pearson correlation coefficients and three regression models. These models assumed that appropriate changes in country-level strategies of healthy aging would produce changes in GNI per capital as personal perspective, GII in social environment perspective, and DCI in public policy perspective to implement socio-ecological changes. Hierarchal linear regression was used for final analysis. Although OLE (women and men) had significant negative correlation with GII (gender inequality index, r = - 0.798, p = 0.001), it had positive correlations with GNI (gross national income per capita, r = 0.834, p = 0.001) and DCI (depth of credit information index, r = 0.704, p = 0.001) levels caused by financial crisis. Higher levels GNI and DCI but lower GII were found to be predictors of OLE (women and men) (R 2  = 0.804, p < 0.001). Factors affecting older age life expectancy in Europe were identified from socio-ecological perspective. Socio-ecological indicators (GII, GNI, and DCI) in Europe appear to have a latent effect on OLE levels. Thus, country-level strategies of successful aging in Europe should target socio-ecological factors such as GII, GNI, and DCI value.

Synthetic environment employing a craft for providing user perspective reference

DOEpatents

Maples, Creve; Peterson, Craig A.

1997-10-21

A multi-dimensional user oriented synthetic environment system allows application programs to be programmed and accessed with input/output device independent, generic functional commands which are a distillation of the actual functions performed by any application program. A shared memory structure allows the translation of device specific commands to device independent, generic functional commands. Complete flexibility of the mapping of synthetic environment data to the user is thereby allowed. Accordingly, synthetic environment data may be provided to the user on parallel user information processing channels allowing the subcognitive mind to act as a filter, eliminating irrelevant information and allowing the processing of increase amounts of data by the user. The user is further provided with a craft surrounding the user within the synthetic environment, which craft, imparts important visual referential an motion parallax cues, enabling the user to better appreciate distances and directions within the synthetic environment. Display of this craft in close proximity to the user's point of perspective may be accomplished without substantially degrading the image resolution of the displayed portions of the synthetic environment.

Has the quality of health care for the immigrant population changed during the economic crisis in Catalonia (Spain)? Opinions of health professionals and immigrant users.

PubMed

Porthé, Victoria; Vargas, Ingrid; Ronda, Elena; Malmusi, Davide; Bosch, Lola; Vázquez, M Luisa

2017-06-02

To analyse changes in health professionals' and immigrant users' perceptions of the quality of care provided to the immigrant population during the crisis. A qualitative descriptive-interpretative and exploratory study was conducted in two areas of Catalonia. Semi-structured individual interviews were used with a theoretical sample of medical (n=24) and administrative (n=10) professionals in primary care (PC) and secondary care (SC), and immigrant users (n=20). Thematic analysis was conducted and the results were triangulated. Problems related to technical and interpersonal quality emerged from the discourse of both professionals and immigrants. These problems were attributed to cutbacks during the economic crisis. Regarding technical quality, respondents reported an increase in erroneous or non-specific diagnoses, inappropriate use of diagnostic tests and non-specific treatments, due to reduction in consultation times as a result of cuts in human resources. With regard to interpersonal quality, professionals reported less empathy, and users also reported worse communication, due to changes in professionals' working conditions and users' attitudes. Finally, a reduction in the resolution capacity of the health services emerged: professionals described unnecessary repeated PC visits and limited responses in SC, while young immigrants reported an insufficient response to their health problems. The results indicate a deterioration in perceived technical and interpersonal quality during the economic crisis, due to cutbacks mainly in human resources. These changes affect the whole population, but especially immigrants. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Changes in access to health care for immigrants in Catalonia during the economic crisis: Opinions of health professionals and immigrant users.

PubMed

Porthé, Victoria; Vargas, Ingrid; Sanz-Barbero, Belén; Plaza-Espuña, Isabel; Bosch, Lola; Vázquez, Maria Luisa

2016-11-01

Policy measures introduced in Spain during the economic crisis included a reduction in public health expenditure and in healthcare entitlements (RDL16/2012), which affected the general population as a whole, but especially immigrants. This paper analyzes changes in immigrants' access to health care during the economic crisis from the perspective of health professionals (medical and administrative) and immigrants. A qualitative descriptive-interpretative study was conducted in Catalonia through individual interviews with a theoretical sample of health professionals (n=34) and immigrant users (n=20). Thematic analysis was conducted and data quality was ensured through triangulation. Informants described barriers to enter the health system related to reduced healthcare entitlements and a stricter enforcement of administrative requirements: while medical professionals highlighted restrictions to accessing the healthcare continuum, immigrants accentuated barriers to obtaining the individual health card. With regard to use of services, an increase in waiting times due to cutbacks in human resources dominated the informants' discourse. Health professionals pointed out organizational changes to increase efficiency that may improve access to primary care. Informants related lower health services utilization to a deterioration in immigrants' living and working conditions. According to health professionals, these conditions limited the use of services during working hours and led to delays in seeking care and treatment interruptions. Results show an aggravation of pre-existing barriers to health services utilization and, simultaneously, the appearance of new barriers to enter the system. These changes in the healthcare services contradict the equity principles of the national health system (NHS), thus policy decisions are needed to address this problem. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Managing a Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pierce, Dennis

2016-01-01

Planning ahead, practicing your response for various scenarios, being open and honest, showing empathy and respect for other peoples' perspectives and assuring stakeholders that you have the situation covered are the foundations of communicating successfully during a crisis, experts say. This article provides strategies for Community College…

From good intentions to real life: introducing crisis resolution teams in Norway.

PubMed

Karlsson, Bengt; Borg, Marit; Kim, Hesook Suzie

2008-09-01

In Norway, as in most western countries, the adult services for people experiencing mental health problems have gone through major changes over the last decades. A report submitted to the Norwegian Parliament in 1997 summarized several areas of improvement in the provision of mental health-care to its population, and led to the introduction of a national mental health programme in 1998 for its implementation to be completed by 2008. The most significant recent development in Norway is 'Crisis Resolution/Home Treatment' (CRHT) teams that provide an alternative to acute hospital care services. The major aim of this study is to explore an emerging form of community mental health-care, and present a framework for establishment and examination of CRHT teams applying the user perspectives. An illustration of user experiences in an already established CRHT team provides a background for understanding implications of this form of service in relation to service users' needs in acute crises.

Crisis Management Demonstration and Development Facility (CM/DDF)

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-01

summaries were input to the DDF in real time over leased communication lines. Thus, EWAMS had an up-to-date database on which to operate. Users were...ready access to the historical record of recent U.S. crisis operations for DOD per- sonnel and to prescribe actions in real - time . The user searched the...personnel showed increasing interest in, and demand for, crisis management tools. Based on the state-of-the-art at the time , it was expected that

The Function of Epideictic and Deliberative Strategies in Presidential Crisis Rhetoric.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dow, Bonnie J.

1989-01-01

Argues for a revised perspective on presidential crisis rhetoric informed by an understanding of differing exigencies and functions. Uses speeches by Ronald Reagan to examine two types of crisis rhetoric. Concludes that crisis rhetoric can not be viewed as a homogeneous type of discourse. (MM)

Continuity of care from the perspective of users.

PubMed

Mendes, Felismina Rosa P; Gemito, Maria Laurência G Parreirinha; Caldeira, Ermelinda do Carmo; Serra, Isaura da Conceição; Casas-Novas, Maria Vitória

2017-03-01

Continuity of care, in addition to ensuring improvement of the quality of care, contributes to the reduction of health costs. The objective of this study was to analyse the continuity of care in health units in the municipality of Évora (south of Portugal), from the perspective of users. This is across-sectional, exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach, with a sample consisting of 342 users of health units. The instrument was a questionnaire adapted from English and Spanish studies. The results show that elements of continuity were identified in the different dimensions of the continuity of care - relational, management, information and some items of flexible continuity. Longitudinal continuity has the lowest values in nursing care. In conclusion, what stands out positively, and in its different dimensions, is relational continuity, in which most users recommend their family doctor and nurse to family and friends, and flexible continuity, which translates into reduced waiting times to be attended by a doctor or nurse and access to care. What stands out negatively is the weak involvement of the user in care by health professionals, in the dimensions of relational continuity.

Crisis on campus: Eating disorder intervention from a developmental-ecological perspective.

PubMed

Taylor, Julia V; Gibson, Donna M

2016-01-01

The purpose of this article is to review a crisis intervention using the developmental-ecological protocol (Collins and Collins, 2005) with a college student presenting with symptomatology of an active eating disorder. Participants included University Wellness Center employees responding to the crisis. Methods include an informal review of the crisis intervention response and application of the ABCDE developmental-ecological crisis model. Results reported include insight into crisis intervention when university counseling and health center is not available as resources. ABCDE Developmental-ecological model recommendations for university faculty and staff are included.

Resource Guide for Crisis Management in Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaPointe, Richard T.; And Others

A crisis can occur at any time, whether or not a school's staff plans for it. This resource guide is a compilation of user-friendly examples of policies, procedures, guidelines, checklists, and forms to help Virginia schools develop and implement a systematic crisis-management plan. Chapter 1 provides an introductory overview of the essential…

Adoption of Library 2.0 Functionalities by Academic Libraries and Users: A Knowledge Management Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Yong-Mi; Abbas, June

2010-01-01

This study investigates the adoption of Library 2.0 functionalities by academic libraries and users through a knowledge management perspective. Based on randomly selected 230 academic library Web sites and 184 users, the authors found RSS and blogs are widely adopted by academic libraries while users widely utilized the bookmark function.…

Institutional and relational determinants in high- and medium-extent food product crises: the inner perspective of a public health crisis.

PubMed

Charlebois, Sylvain; Horan, Hilary

2010-08-01

In 2008, Canada enacted its biggest-ever food recall in response to a Listeria crisis, stemming from a Maple Leaf Foods plant, that killed 22 Canadians. Afterwards, Maple Leaf's market share quickly returned to pre-crisis levels, but the long-term repercussions of the scare still reverberate in Maple Leaf's brand. In this case study, which offers an organizational perspective on the food recall, data was collected, through in-depth interviews of persons involved in the crisis response, and analyzed. The aim of this paper is to make transparent the ways in which Maple Leaf Foods organized their resources to manage the 2008 food recall. Results reveal that institutional and relational determinants are the most important factors in high- and medium-extent food product crises, whereas external and internal effects primarily influence an organization's capacity to cope with severe crises. Based on these findings, a conceptual framework is presented and managerial implications are discussed.

Automotive HMI design and participatory user involvement: review and perspectives.

PubMed

François, Mathilde; Osiurak, François; Fort, Alexandra; Crave, Philippe; Navarro, Jordan

2017-04-01

Automotive human-machine interface (HMI) design is facing new challenges due to the technological advances of the last decades. The design process has to be adapted in order to address human factors and road safety challenges. It is now widely accepted that user involvement in the HMI design process is valuable. However, the current form of user involvement in industry remains at the stages of concept assessment and usability tests. Moreover, the literature in other fields (e.g. information systems) promotes a broader user involvement with participatory design (i.e. the user is fully involved in the development process). This article reviews the established benefits of participatory design and reveals perspectives for automotive HMI quality improvement in a cognitive ergonomic framework. Practitioner Summary: Automotive HMI quality determines, in part, drivers' ability to perform primary driving tasks while using in-vehicle devices. User involvement in the design process is a key point to contribute to HMI quality. This article reports the potential benefits of a broad involvement from drivers to meet automotive HMI design challenges.

World Hunger Crisis Kit. Hope for the Hungry.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woito, Robert, Ed.

This booklet introduces the problem of world hunger and provides information, facts, and perspectives about the crisis. Section one presents the reader with the basic facts of the hunger crisis through a self-survey, a statistical study of the developed Oil Producing Export Countries (OPEC), and a one-page indication of what one would have to give…

Perspectives on distributed computing : thirty people, four user types, and the distributed computing user experience.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Childers, L.; Liming, L.; Foster, I.

2008-10-15

This report summarizes the methodology and results of a user perspectives study conducted by the Community Driven Improvement of Globus Software (CDIGS) project. The purpose of the study was to document the work-related goals and challenges facing today's scientific technology users, to record their perspectives on Globus software and the distributed-computing ecosystem, and to provide recommendations to the Globus community based on the observations. Globus is a set of open source software components intended to provide a framework for collaborative computational science activities. Rather than attempting to characterize all users or potential users of Globus software, our strategy has beenmore » to speak in detail with a small group of individuals in the scientific community whose work appears to be the kind that could benefit from Globus software, learn as much as possible about their work goals and the challenges they face, and describe what we found. The result is a set of statements about specific individuals experiences. We do not claim that these are representative of a potential user community, but we do claim to have found commonalities and differences among the interviewees that may be reflected in the user community as a whole. We present these as a series of hypotheses that can be tested by subsequent studies, and we offer recommendations to Globus developers based on the assumption that these hypotheses are representative. Specifically, we conducted interviews with thirty technology users in the scientific community. We included both people who have used Globus software and those who have not. We made a point of including individuals who represent a variety of roles in scientific projects, for example, scientists, software developers, engineers, and infrastructure providers. The following material is included in this report: (1) A summary of the reported work-related goals, significant issues, and points of satisfaction with the use of Globus

The Status of Crisis Management at NASPA Member Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Catullo, Linda A.; Walker, David A.; Floyd, Deborah L.

2009-01-01

This study assessed the level of crisis preparedness in higher education from the perspective of chief student affairs administrators at residential universities post-September 11, 2001 to pre-Virginia Tech shootings in April 2007. Crisis preparedness was determined by compiling and comparing data results derived from an instrument implemented in…

Trust, confidence, and the 2008 global financial crisis.

PubMed

Earle, Timothy C

2009-06-01

The 2008 global financial crisis has been compared to a "once-in-a-century credit tsunami," a disaster in which the loss of trust and confidence played key precipitating roles and the recovery from which will require the restoration of these crucial factors. Drawing on the analogy between the financial crisis and environmental and technological hazards, recent research on the role of trust and confidence in the latter is used to provide a perspective on the former. Whereas "trust" and "confidence" are used interchangeably and without explicit definition in most discussions of the financial crisis, this perspective uses the TCC model of cooperation to clearly distinguish between the two and to demonstrate how this distinction can lead to an improved understanding of the crisis. The roles of trust and confidence-both in precipitation and in possible recovery-are discussed for each of the three major sets of actors in the crisis, the regulators, the banks, and the public. The roles of trust and confidence in the larger context of risk management are also examined; trust being associated with political approaches, confidence with technical. Finally, the various stances that government can take with regard to trust-such as supportive or skeptical-are considered. Overall, it is argued that a clear understanding of trust and confidence and a close examination of the specific, concrete circumstances of a crisis-revealing when either trust or confidence is appropriate-can lead to useful insights for both recovery and prevention of future occurrences.

Knowledge communication: a key to successful crisis management.

PubMed

Johansson, Anders; Härenstam, Malin

2013-09-01

A winning concept of crisis management can be summarized in 2 words: knowledge communication. If decision makers, communicators, experts, and the public understand what the crisis is about and share their knowledge, the process of handling it will be optimized. Effective crisis communication implies the necessity of an unhindered but purposeful exchange of information within and between authorities, organizations, media, involved individuals, and groups before, during, and after a crisis. This article focuses on the importance of the before, or prevention, part of a crisis since it holds a rich possibility to enhance the chances for successful crisis management of a bioterrorism incident. An extended perspective on crisis communication efficiently links to a more thorough understanding of risk perception with various stakeholders and the public, which also will be helpful for situational awareness. Furthermore, the grounded baseline for the dialogue type of crisis communication suitable in modern society and to modern social media is achieved by linking to those risk communication efforts that are made. The link between risk and crisis should be afforded more attention since, especially in biosecurity, there would be no crisis without risk negligence and poor or malfunctioning preventive efforts.

Active cocaine use does not increase the likelihood of hyperglycemic crisis.

PubMed

Modzelewski, Katherine L; Rybin, Denis V; Weinberg, Janice M; Alexanian, Sara M; McDonnell, Marie E; Steenkamp, Devin W

2017-09-01

Hyperglycemic crisis encompasses a group of diabetes emergencies characterized by insulin deficiency with high morbidity and mortality. Cocaine use is increasingly prevalent in the United States and may be associated with increased risk of diabetic ketoacidosis. The objective was to determine if active cocaine use at hospital admission could be considered a risk factor for development of hyperglycemic crisis. A retrospective case-control analysis was performed on 950 inpatients with hyperglycemia at an urban academic hospital. Patients admitted with non-emergent hyperglycemia were compared to patients who met criteria for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS), and hyperosmolar ketoacidosis (HK), based on the absence or presence of cocaine metabolites on urine toxicology screen. Outcomes included frequency of cocaine use in patients with DKA, HHS, HK, and non-emergent hyperglycemia; phenotypic characteristics of cocaine users vs. non-users with hyperglycemia; phenotypic characteristics of patients with hyperglycemic crisis vs. non-emergent hyperglycemia. 950 patients were admitted with hyperglycemia, 133 of which met criteria for hyperglycemic crisis. There was no significant difference in the frequency of cocaine use in individuals with non-emergent hyperglycemia compared to individuals with hyperglycemic crisis (16.9% vs. 17.2%, p = 0.90). 16.9% of patients with DKA, 16.4% of patients with HHS, and 6.4% of patients with HK were cocaine users. We found no association between active cocaine use at the time of hospital admission and development of hyperglycemic crisis, when compared to non-emergent hyperglycemia. The role of routine screening for cocaine use in patients with hyperglycemic crisis is unclear.

'Dale': an interpretative phenomenological analysis of a service user's experience with a crisis resolution/home treatment team in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Nelson, L J; Miller, P K; Ashman, D

2016-08-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE SUBJECT?: This paper describes crisis resolution/home treatment (CRHT) teams, which are part of mental health services in the United Kingdom. CRHT is expected to assist individuals in building resilience and work within a recovery approach. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This paper arises from an interview with one individual, Dale, as part of a larger study exploring service users' experiences of CRHT. It adds to the body of narrative knowledge in CRHT through Dale's co-authorship of this paper, reflecting on his original interview 4 years later, with co-authors providing critical interpretation of his experience, in turn supported by cognate literature. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Implications for practice are considered, themselves mediated through Dale's own descriptions of how CRHT interventions impacted upon him. These impacts are analysed with respect to three themes: Resilience, Recovery and Power. It is centrally contended that clinicians need to more clearly comprehend three core matters. First, what resilience 'is' for service users as well as the complex process through which these individuals move in developing resilience. Second, the distinction that service users might make between 'recovery' and 'functionality', and how this in turn can impact on individuals both in personal and socioeconomic sense. Finally, the mechanics of power within CRHT contexts and how these interpersonal dynamics can affect the relationship between service user and clinician in practice. Introduction and Aim The central purpose of this paper, part of a larger study exploring the experiences of Service Users (SUs) with CRHT, is to emphasise the importance of the SU voice itself within the domain. Following an interrogation of the historical contexts of CRHT. Method This paper uses interpretative phenomological approach around detailed thematic examination of an extended, semi-structured with a single SU: Dale. Moreover, four

Intervention among Suicidal Men: Future Directions for Telephone Crisis Support Research.

PubMed

Hunt, Tara; Wilson, Coralie J; Woodward, Alan; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian

2018-01-01

Telephone crisis support is a confidential, accessible, and immediate service that is uniquely set up to reduce male suicide deaths through crisis intervention. However, research focusing on telephone crisis support with suicidal men is currently limited. To highlight the need to address service delivery for men experiencing suicidal crisis, this perspective article identifies key challenges facing current telephone crisis support research and proposes that understanding of the role of telephone crisis helplines in supporting suicidal men may be strengthened by careful examination of the context of telephone crisis support, together with the impact this has on help-provision for male suicidal callers. In particular, the impact of the time- and information-poor context of telephone crisis support on crisis-line staff's identification of, and response to, male callers with thoughts of suicide is examined. Future directions for research in the provision of telephone crisis support for suicidal men are discussed.

On the Epistemological Crisis in Genomics

PubMed Central

Dougherty, Edward R

2008-01-01

There is an epistemological crisis in genomics. At issue is what constitutes scientific knowledge in genomic science, or systems biology in general. Does this crisis require a new perspective on knowledge heretofore absent from science or is it merely a matter of interpreting new scientific developments in an existing epistemological framework? This paper discusses the manner in which the experimental method, as developed and understood over recent centuries, leads naturally to a scientific epistemology grounded in an experimental-mathematical duality. It places genomics into this epistemological framework and examines the current situation in genomics. Meaning and the constitution of scientific knowledge are key concerns for genomics, and the nature of the epistemological crisis in genomics depends on how these are understood. PMID:19440447

Enhanced ergonomics approaches for product design: a user experience ecosystem perspective and case studies.

PubMed

Xu, Wei

2014-01-01

This paper first discusses the major inefficiencies faced in current human factors and ergonomics (HFE) approaches: (1) delivering an optimal end-to-end user experience (UX) to users of a solution across its solution lifecycle stages; (2) strategically influencing the product business and technology capability roadmaps from a UX perspective and (3) proactively identifying new market opportunities and influencing the platform architecture capabilities on which the UX of end products relies. In response to these challenges, three case studies are presented to demonstrate how enhanced ergonomics design approaches have effectively addressed the challenges faced in current HFE approaches. Then, the enhanced ergonomics design approaches are conceptualised by a user-experience ecosystem (UXE) framework, from a UX ecosystem perspective. Finally, evidence supporting the UXE, the advantage and the formalised process for executing UXE and methodological considerations are discussed. Practitioner Summary: This paper presents enhanced ergonomics approaches to product design via three case studies to effectively address current HFE challenges by leveraging a systematic end-to-end UX approach, UX roadmaps and emerging UX associated with prioritised user needs and usages. Thus, HFE professionals can be more strategic, creative and influential.

Important wheelchair skills for new manual wheelchair users: health care professional and wheelchair user perspectives.

PubMed

Morgan, Kerri A; Engsberg, Jack R; Gray, David B

2017-01-01

The purpose of this project was to identify wheelchair skills currently being taught to new manual wheelchair users, identify areas of importance for manual wheelchair skills' training during initial rehabilitation, identify similarities and differences between the perspectives of health care professionals and manual wheelchair users and use the ICF to organize themes related to rehabilitation and learning how to use a manual wheelchair. Focus groups were conducted with health care professionals and experienced manual wheelchair users. ICF codes were used to identify focus group themes. The Activities and Participation codes were more frequently used than Structure, Function and Environment codes. Wheelchair skills identified as important for new manual wheelchair users included propulsion techniques, transfers in an out of the wheelchair, providing maintenance to the wheelchair and navigating barriers such as curbs, ramps and rough terrain. Health care professionals and manual wheelchair users identified the need to incorporate the environment (home and community) into the wheelchair training program. Identifying essential components for training the proper propulsion mechanics and wheelchair skills in new manual wheelchair users is an important step in preventing future health and participation restrictions. Implications for Rehabilitation Wheelchair skills are being addressed frequently during rehabilitation at the activity-dependent level. Propulsion techniques, transfers in an out of the wheelchair, providing maintenance to the wheelchair and navigating barriers such as curbs, ramps and rough terrain are important skills to address during wheelchair training. Environment factors (in the home and community) are important to incorporate into wheelchair training to maximize safe and multiple-environmental-setting uses of manual wheelchairs. The ICF has application to understanding manual wheelchair rehabilitation for wheelchair users and therapists for improving

Staff Perspectives of Service User Involvement on Two Clinical Psychology Training Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clarke, Simon P.; Holttum, Sue

2013-01-01

This study investigated both negative and positive staff perspectives of service user involvement on two clinical psychology training courses as part of an ongoing process of service evaluation. Ten clinical psychology staff from two training courses were interviewed over the telephone by a current trainee clinical psychologist using a…

Designing visual displays and system models for safe reactor operations based on the user`s perspective of the system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown-VanHoozer, S.A.

Most designers are not schooled in the area of human-interaction psychology and therefore tend to rely on the traditional ergonomic aspects of human factors when designing complex human-interactive workstations related to reactor operations. They do not take into account the differences in user information processing behavior and how these behaviors may affect individual and team performance when accessing visual displays or utilizing system models in process and control room areas. Unfortunately, by ignoring the importance of the integration of the user interface at the information process level, the result can be sub-optimization and inherently error- and failure-prone systems. Therefore, tomore » minimize or eliminate failures in human-interactive systems, it is essential that the designers understand how each user`s processing characteristics affects how the user gathers information, and how the user communicates the information to the designer and other users. A different type of approach in achieving this understanding is Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The material presented in this paper is based on two studies involving the design of visual displays, NLP, and the user`s perspective model of a reactor system. The studies involve the methodology known as NLP, and its use in expanding design choices from the user`s ``model of the world,`` in the areas of virtual reality, workstation design, team structure, decision and learning style patterns, safety operations, pattern recognition, and much, much more.« less

Intervention among Suicidal Men: Future Directions for Telephone Crisis Support Research

PubMed Central

Hunt, Tara; Wilson, Coralie J.; Woodward, Alan; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian

2018-01-01

Telephone crisis support is a confidential, accessible, and immediate service that is uniquely set up to reduce male suicide deaths through crisis intervention. However, research focusing on telephone crisis support with suicidal men is currently limited. To highlight the need to address service delivery for men experiencing suicidal crisis, this perspective article identifies key challenges facing current telephone crisis support research and proposes that understanding of the role of telephone crisis helplines in supporting suicidal men may be strengthened by careful examination of the context of telephone crisis support, together with the impact this has on help-provision for male suicidal callers. In particular, the impact of the time- and information-poor context of telephone crisis support on crisis-line staff’s identification of, and response to, male callers with thoughts of suicide is examined. Future directions for research in the provision of telephone crisis support for suicidal men are discussed. PMID:29404319

The private-practice perspective of the manpower crisis in radiology: greener pastures?

PubMed

Swayne, Lawrence C

2004-11-01

Rising consumer expectations and a rapidly aging population point to a long-term shortage of all physicians, including radiologists. While attention has been drawn to the escalating manpower crisis in academic radiology departments, the private-practice perspective has been generally overlooked. Although clinical workloads and income are higher in private practice, studies have shown higher satisfaction levels (likely because of a greater variety of work) among academic radiologists. As the distinction between community and teaching hospitals has become increasingly blurred, there is now considerable overlap in the skill sets, sources of job satisfaction, and stresses that are encountered in both practice settings. Perhaps more than at any time in the recent past, diagnostic radiologists in academic and private practice share more in common than any perceived differences. Both groups must work together in concert with the ACR to address the growing manpower shortage, as well as the other challenges that confront diagnostic radiology at the beginning of the 21st century.

Seeking fluid possibility and solid ground: space and movement in mental health service users' experiences of 'crisis'.

PubMed

McGrath, Laura; Reavey, Paula

2015-03-01

Since the closure of the UK asylums, 'the community' has become short hand for describing a variety of disparate and complex spaces, in which service users manage their experiences of distress. An examination of such spaces here forms the basis of an analysis of the way in which service users move through and within space, to establish agency and dis/order while distressed. Seventeen participants, with various experiences of mental distress took part in a qualitative study, and a further textual analysis was conducted on eight published autobiographies. In the context of the interviews, participants presented drawings of the spaces they occupy during times of crisis, wellbeing and recovery. All texts were analysed using a thematic approach, informed by theories of embodiment and relational space. In this paper, the focus is directed towards two key patterns of movement, in order to explore ways in which participants experiencing various forms of mental health crisis used space in order to maintain and manage feelings of agency. Firstly, incidents where participants described moving towards fluid, outside spaces are explored, with agency being established through seeking, and utilising, greater possibilities for action and engaging others. In addition, the opposite pattern of movement is also explored, using incidents where participants described moving indoors, using the private space of the home to establish order and restore feelings of agency and strength, in contrast to overwhelming experiences in public space. Connections between these patterns of movement and particular forms of distress are discussed. It is argued that community and private spaces are integral to the ways in which selfhood, agency and action is experienced in mental distress, which in turn has implications for policy, treatment and community action. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Confidentiality in Crisis Counseling: A Philosophical Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mayo, David J.

1984-01-01

Crisis interventionists frequently confront a moral dilemma when violating client trust seems necessary if self-destructive behavior is to be prevented. Concern for client welfare and respect for client rights and autonomy which are grounded in Utilitarianism and Kantian Formalism, respectively, conflict in such cases. These theories are examined,…

Upper extremity prosthesis user perspectives on unmet needs and innovative technology.

PubMed

Benz, Heather L; Jia Yao; Rose, Laura; Olgac, Okan; Kreutz, Karen; Saha, Anindita; Civillico, Eugene F

2016-08-01

The needs of individuals with upper limb amputation and congenital limb difference are not being fully met by current prostheses, as evidenced by prosthesis rejection, non-wear, and user reports of pain and challenging activities. Emerging technologies such as dexterous sensorized robotic limbs, osseointegrated prostheses, implantable EMG electrodes, and electrical stimulation for sensory feedback have the potential to address unmet needs, but pose additional risks. We plan to assess upper limb prosthesis user needs and perspectives on these new benefits and risks using an extensive quantitative survey. In preparation for this survey, we report here on qualitative interviews with seven individuals with upper limb amputation or congenital limb difference. Unstructured text was mined using topic modeling and the results compared with identified themes. A more complete understanding of how novel technologies could address real user concerns will inform implementation of new technologies and regulatory decision-making.

Upper Extremity Prosthesis User Perspectives on Unmet Needs and Innovative Technology

PubMed Central

Benz, Heather L.; Yao, Jia; Rose, Laura; Olgac, Okan; Kreutz, Karen; Saha, Anindita; Civillico, Eugene F.

2017-01-01

The needs of individuals with upper limb amputation and congenital limb difference are not being fully met by current prostheses, as evidenced by prosthesis rejection, non-wear, and user reports of pain and challenging activities. Emerging technologies such as dexterous sensorized robotic limbs, osseointegrated prostheses, implantable EMG electrodes, and electrical stimulation for sensory feedback have the potential to address unmet needs, but pose additional risks. We plan to assess upper limb prosthesis user needs and perspectives on these new benefits and risks using an extensive quantitative survey. In preparation for this survey, we report here on qualitative interviews with seven individuals with upper limb amputation or congenital limb difference. Unstructured text was mined using topic modeling and the results compared with identified themes. A more complete understanding of how novel technologies could address real user concerns will inform implementation of new technologies and regulatory decision-making. PMID:28268333

Crisis on Campus: Eating Disorder Intervention from a Developmental-Ecological Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Julia V.; Gibson, Donna M.

2016-01-01

Objective: The purpose of this article is to review a crisis intervention using the developmental-ecological protocol (Collins and Collins, 2005) with a college student presenting with symptomatology of an active eating disorder. Participants: Participants included University Wellness Center employees responding to the crisis. Methods: Methods…

Crisis Preparedness in Schools: Evaluating Staff Perspectives and Providing Recommendations for Best Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olinger Steeves, Rachel M.; Metallo, Sarah A.; Byrd, Shelby M.; Erickson, Megan R.; Gresham, Frank M.

2017-01-01

The current study investigated the content of school crisis plans and perceptions of crisis preparedness among school staff in six public elementary schools. Surveys were administered to 72 teachers, administrators, and other school staff members measuring their perceptions of crisis preparedness and performance of activities related to crisis…

Reviewing the definition of crisis in dementia care

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Crisis is a term frequently used in dementia care lacking a standardized definition. This article systematically reviews existing definitions of crisis in dementia care literature to create a standardized definition that can be utilized for research, policy and clinical practice. Methods We systematically searched for articles containing definitions of crisis in the context of dementia care. We created an operational framework of crisis based on retrieved definitions. Recommendations to address crisis situations were reviewed and classified according to care settings. Results Abstracts and titles of 1,113 articles, screened from PubMed and EMBASE, were narrowed down to 27 articles. After review, crisis in dementia was defined as a process where a stressor causes an imbalance requiring an immediate decision to be made which leads to a desired outcome and therefore a resolution of the crisis. If the crisis is not resolved, the cycle continues. Recommendations for resolving crisis involving persons with dementia and their caregivers include awareness therapy after diagnosis and increased contact with general practitioners, case manager consultations, caregiver support and education. Furthermore, nursing home staff should be attuned to the environmental, physical and psychological needs of persons with dementia. Conclusions This is the first article to review the definition of crisis in the context of dementia care. A review of the literature indicated that the definition of a crisis is idiosyncratic. Therefore, it is difficult to prevent or plan for all crises. We used an operational framework to compile types of crisis stressors and recommendations from the crisis literature based on three different perspectives; the person with the dementia, the caregiver and the healthcare providers. PMID:23374634

Reviewing the definition of crisis in dementia care.

PubMed

MacNeil Vroomen, Janet; Bosmans, Judith E; van Hout, Hein P J; de Rooij, Sophia E

2013-02-01

Crisis is a term frequently used in dementia care lacking a standardized definition. This article systematically reviews existing definitions of crisis in dementia care literature to create a standardized definition that can be utilized for research, policy and clinical practice. We systematically searched for articles containing definitions of crisis in the context of dementia care. We created an operational framework of crisis based on retrieved definitions. Recommendations to address crisis situations were reviewed and classified according to care settings. Abstracts and titles of 1,113 articles, screened from PubMed and EMBASE, were narrowed down to 27 articles. After review, crisis in dementia was defined as a process where a stressor causes an imbalance requiring an immediate decision to be made which leads to a desired outcome and therefore a resolution of the crisis. If the crisis is not resolved, the cycle continues. Recommendations for resolving crisis involving persons with dementia and their caregivers include awareness therapy after diagnosis and increased contact with general practitioners, case manager consultations, caregiver support and education. Furthermore, nursing home staff should be attuned to the environmental, physical and psychological needs of persons with dementia. This is the first article to review the definition of crisis in the context of dementia care. A review of the literature indicated that the definition of a crisis is idiosyncratic. Therefore, it is difficult to prevent or plan for all crises. We used an operational framework to compile types of crisis stressors and recommendations from the crisis literature based on three different perspectives; the person with the dementia, the caregiver and the healthcare providers.

Tools Used to Evaluate Written Medicine and Health Information: Document and User Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luk, Alice; Aslani, Parisa

2011-01-01

This study aims to identify and review tools used to evaluate consumer-oriented written medicine (WMI) and health (WHI) information from a document and user perspective. Articles that met the following inclusion criteria were reviewed: studies evaluating readability, presentation, suitability, quality of WMI/WHI. A total of 152 articles were…

Treating first episode psychosis--the service users' perspective: a focus group evaluation.

PubMed

O'Toole, M S; Ohlsen, R I; Taylor, T M; Purvis, R; Walters, J; Pilowsky, L S

2004-06-01

UK national guidance has prioritized developing specialist services for first episode psychosis. Such services are in the early stages of development and a definitive treatment model has yet to be established. The aim of this study was to explore service users' experiences of a first episode intervention designed along evidence-based 'best practice' guidelines and to establish specific elements seen as effective to help inform future service planning and provision. Twelve users of a specialist first episode service participated in focus groups. These were then analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, a specialized form of content analysis. Key elements identified by the service users included the 'human' approach as a key to the recovery process, being involved in treatment decisions, flexibility of appointments, high nurse to patient ratio, reduction in psychotic symptoms, increased confidence and independence and the provision of daily structure. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic qualitative evaluation of users' experience of a specialist first episode treatment intervention. Our findings indicate that adherence to best practice guidelines was appreciated. Regular focus groups provide a continuous audit cycle incorporating service improvements in line with government recommendations, centrally informed by the service users' and caregivers' perspective.

The implementation of psychiatric advance directives: experiences from a Dutch crisis card initiative.

PubMed

van der Ham, Alida J; Voskes, Yolande; van Kempen, Nel; Broerse, Jacqueline E W; Widdershoven, Guy A M

2013-06-01

The crisis card is a specific form of psychiatric advance directive, documenting mental clients' treatment preferences in advance of a potential psychiatric crisis. In this paper, we aim to provide insight into implementation issues surrounding the crisis card. A Dutch crisis-card project formed the scope of this study. Data were collected through interviews with 15 participants from six stakeholder groups. Identified implementation issues are: (a) The role of the crisis-card counselor, (b) lack of distribution and familiarity, (c) care professionals' routines, and (d) client readiness. The crisis-card counselor appears to play a key role in fostering benefits of the crisis card by supporting clients' perspectives. More structural integration of the crisis card in care processes may enhance its impact, but should be carefully explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

The Crisis of Divorce: Growth Promoting or Pathogenic?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kraus, Sharon

1979-01-01

Examines the pathogenic perspective on divorce, pointing out its methodological and conceptual shortcomings. A conceptual model of the divorce experience based upon crisis theory is presented. Provides a framework for understanding short- and long-term reactions to divorce. (Author)

Interactive pediatric emergency checklists to the palm of your hand - How the Pedi Crisis App traveled around the world.

PubMed

Gálvez, Jorge A; Lockman, Justin L; Schleelein, Laura E; Simpao, Allan F; Ahumada, Luis M; Wolf, Bryan A; Shah, Maully J; Heitmiller, Eugenie; Rehman, Mohamed

2017-08-01

Cognitive aids help clinicians manage critical events and have been shown to improve outcomes by providing critical information at the point of care. Critical event guidelines, such as the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia's Critical Events Checklists described in this article, can be distributed globally via interactive smartphone apps. From October 1, 2013 to January 1, 2014, we performed an observational study to determine the global distribution and utilization patterns of the Pedi Crisis cognitive aid app that the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia developed. We analyzed distribution and utilization metrics of individuals using Pedi Crisis on iOS (Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA) devices worldwide. We used Google Analytics software (Google Inc., Mountain View, CA) to monitor users' app activity (eg, screen views, user sessions). The primary outcome measurement was the number of user-sessions and geographic locations of Pedi Crisis user sessions. Each user was defined by the use of a unique Apple ID on an iOS device. Google Analytics correlates session activity with geographic location based on local Internet service provider logs. Pedi Crisis had 1 252 active users (both new and returning) and 4 140 sessions across 108 countries during the 3-month study period. Returning users used the app longer and viewed significantly more screens that new users (mean screen views: new users 1.3 [standard deviation +/-1.09, 95% confidence interval 1.22-1.55]; returning users 7.6 [standard deviation +/-4.19, 95% confidence interval 6.73-8.39]P<.01) CONCLUSIONS: Pedi Crisis was used worldwide within days of its release and sustained utilization beyond initial publication. The proliferation of handheld electronic devices provides a unique opportunity for professional societies to improve the worldwide dissemination of guidelines and evidence-based cognitive aids. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluation Studies of Robotic Rollators by the User Perspective: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Werner, Christian; Ullrich, Phoebe; Geravand, Milad; Peer, Angelika; Hauer, Klaus

2016-01-01

Robotic rollators enhance the basic functions of established devices by technically advanced physical, cognitive, or sensory support to increase autonomy in persons with severe impairment. In the evaluation of such ambient assisted living solutions, both the technical and user perspectives are important to prove usability, effectiveness and safety, and to ensure adequate device application. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the methodology of studies evaluating robotic rollators with focus on the user perspective and to give recommendations for future evaluation studies. A systematic literature search up to December 31, 2014, was conducted based on the Cochrane Review methodology using the electronic databases PubMed and IEEE Xplore. Articles were selected according to the following inclusion criteria: evaluation studies of robotic rollators documenting human-robot interaction, no case reports, published in English language. Twenty-eight studies were identified that met the predefined inclusion criteria. Large heterogeneity in the definitions of the target user group, study populations, study designs and assessment methods was found across the included studies. No generic methodology to evaluate robotic rollators could be identified. We found major methodological shortcomings related to insufficient sample descriptions and sample sizes, and lack of appropriate, standardized and validated assessment methods. Long-term use in habitual environment was also not evaluated. Apart from the heterogeneity, methodological deficits in most of the identified studies became apparent. Recommendations for future evaluation studies include: clear definition of target user group, adequate selection of subjects, inclusion of other assistive mobility devices for comparison, evaluation of the habitual use of advanced prototypes, adequate assessment strategy with established, standardized and validated methods, and statistical analysis of study results. Assessment

Geomicrobiological perspective on the pattern and causes of the 5-million-year Permo/Triassic biotic crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Shucheng; Wang, Yongbiao

2011-03-01

The pattern and causes of Permo/Triassic biotic crisis were mainly documented by faunal and terrestrial plant records. We reviewed herein the geomicrobiological perspective on this issue based on the reported cyanobacterial record. Two episodic cyanobacterial blooms were observed to couple with carbon isotope excursions and faunal mass extinction at Meishan section, suggestive of the presence of at least two episodic biotic crises across the Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB). The two episodes of cyanobacterial blooms, carbon isotope excursions and faunal mass extinction were, respectively, identified in several sections of the world, inferring the presence of two global changes across the PTB. Close associations among the three records (cyanobacterial bloom, shift in carbon isotope composition, and faunal extinction) were subsequently observed in three intervals in the Early Triassic, the protracted recovery period as previously thought, inferring the occurrence of more episodes of global changes. Spatiotemporal association of cyanobacterial blooms with volcanic materials in South China, and probably in South-east Asia, infers their causal relationship. Volcanism is believed to trigger the biotic crisis in several ways and to cause the close association among microbial blooms, the carbon isotope excursions and faunal mass extinctions in four intervals from the latest Permian to the Early Triassic. The major episodes of the well-known Siberian flood eruption are proposed to be responsible for the extinctions in the Early Triassic, but their synchronicity with the end-Permian extinction awaits more precise dating data to confirm. Geomicrobial records are thus suggestive of a long-term episodic biotic crisis (at least four episodes) lasting from the latest Permian to the end of the Early Triassic, induced by the global volcanic eruptions and sea level changes during Pangea formation.

Perspectives on User Satisfaction Surveys.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cullen, Rowena

2001-01-01

Discusses academic libraries, digital environments, increasing competition, the relationship between service quality and user satisfaction, and user surveys. Describes the SERVQUAL model that measures service quality and user satisfaction in academic libraries; considers gaps between user expectations and managers' perceptions of user…

Advance statements for borderline personality disorder: a qualitative study of future crisis treatment preferences.

PubMed

Borschmann, Rohan; Trevillion, Kylee; Henderson, R Claire; Rose, Diana; Szmukler, George; Moran, Paul

2014-06-01

Little is known about the crisis treatment preferences of people with borderline personality disorder. Clinicians may also question service users' ability to make considered decisions about their treatment when in crisis. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to investigate crisis treatment preferences of a sample of community-dwelling adults with borderline personality disorder. Participants were 41 adults with borderline personality disorder who had created joint crisis plans during a randomized controlled trial. Data from all 41 joint crisis plans were analyzed iteratively via a thematic analysis framework. Participants gave clear statements in their crisis plans relating to the desire to recover from the crisis and to improve their social functioning. Key themes included the desire to be treated with dignity and respect and to receive emotional and practical support from clinicians. Many participants spoke of the importance of connecting with others during periods of crisis, but several reported a clear desire to be left alone during a future crisis. Other themes concerned preferences for specific treatment refusals during crises, including particular types of psychotropic medication and involuntary treatment. The variation of participants' preferences underscores the importance of developing individually tailored crisis plans for people with borderline personality disorder. The need to be treated with dignity and respect and to be given autonomy in decision making--also identified in global surveys of people with severe mental illness--is important to people with borderline personality disorder. Key messages for clinicians, service users, and policy makers, in addition to staff training issues, are discussed.

Crisis Speeches Delivered during World War II: A Historical and Rhetorical Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramos, Tomas E.

2010-01-01

Rhetorical analyses of speeches made by United States presidents and world leaders abound, particularly studies about addresses to nations in times of crisis. These are important because what presidents say amidst uncertainty and chaos defines their leadership in the eyes of the public. But with new forms of crisis rhetoric, our understanding of…

The Promise and Challenge of Producing Biofuel Feedstocks: An Ecological Perspective (2010 JGI User Meeting)

ScienceCinema

DeLucia, Evan

2018-02-13

Evan DeLucia of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Energy Biosciences Institute talks about The Promise and Challenge of Producing Biofuel Feedstocks: An Ecological Perspective on March 25, 2010 at the 5th Annual DOE JGI User Meeting.

Androgyny, Ego Development and Psychosocial Crisis Resolution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prager, Karen J.; Bailey, John M.

The present study examined the relationship of psychological androgyny with ego development in the context of Loevinger's theory, and with psychosocial crisis resolution from the perspective of Erikson's theory. A sample of 30 male and 30 female adults completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Washington University Sentence Completion Test and the…

The Graphical User Interface: Crisis, Danger, and Opportunity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, L. H.; And Others

1990-01-01

This article describes differences between the graphical user interface and traditional character-based interface systems, identifies potential problems posed by graphic computing environments for blind computer users, and describes some programs and strategies that are being developed to provide access to those environments. (Author/JDD)

Don't panic--prepare: towards crisis-aware models of emergency department operations.

PubMed

Ceglowski, Red; Churilov, Leonid; Wasserheil, Jeff

2005-12-01

The existing models of Emergency Department (ED) operations that are based on the "flow-shop" management logic do not provide adequate decision support in dealing with the ED overcrowding crises. A conceptually different crisis-aware approach to ED modelling and operational decision support is introduced in this paper. It is based on Perrow's theory of "normal accidents" and calls for recognizing the inevitable nature of ED overcrowding crises within current health system setup. Managing the crisis before it happens--a standard approach in crisis management area--should become an integral part of ED operations management. The potential implications of adopting such a crisis-aware perspective for health services research and ED management are outlined.

Crisis Management Systems: A Case Study for Aspect-Oriented Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kienzle, Jörg; Guelfi, Nicolas; Mustafiz, Sadaf

The intent of this document is to define a common case study for the aspect-oriented modeling research community. The domain of the case study is crisis management systems, i.e., systems that help in identifying, assessing, and handling a crisis situation by orchestrating the communication between all parties involved in handling the crisis, by allocating and managing resources, and by providing access to relevant crisis-related information to authorized users. This document contains informal requirements of crisis management systems (CMSs) in general, a feature model for a CMS product line, use case models for a car crash CMS (CCCMS), a domain model for the CCCMS, an informal physical architecture description of the CCCMS, as well as some design models of a possible object-oriented implementation of parts of the CCCMS backend. AOM researchers who want to demonstrate the power of their AOM approach or technique can hence apply the approach at the most appropriate level of abstraction.

Day hospital treatment for people with severe mental illness according to users' perspectives: what helps and what hinders recovery?

PubMed

Agrest, Martín; Barruti, Silvina; Gabriel, Raquel; Zalazar, Virginia; Wikinski, Silvia; Ardila-Gómez, Sara

2018-02-01

Scarce information is available about how users experience treatment at mental health day hospitals, particularly in South America. To explore users' perspectives about elements of day hospital treatment that facilitate or hinder the recovery process in a mental health facility in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Semi-structured individual interviews (n = 8) and focus groups (n = 4) were carried out with a convenience sample of users of a mental health day hospital program based on a formulation, testing and redevelopment of propositions approach. Results were analyzed through grounded theory techniques. Categories indicating recovery were: starting to do things, being able to see themselves from a new perspective, mood improvement and changes in interpersonal relationships. Aspects facilitating recovery were: activities organized by the facility, the group approach, the care provided by facility workers and the physical environment. Hindering aspects were: heterogeneity of users in terms of age, severity, diagnosis and being underestimated by staff. Being active again was considered to be the main recovery indicator in this cultural context and participating in activities led by skilled facilitators was the most beneficial factor of the program according to the users.

SISNeT/EGNOS as a tool in Crisis Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trómiński, Paweł; Fellner, Andrzej; Sulkowski, Jarosław; Zadrä G, Paweł

2010-05-01

Crisis management can be studied on many aspects of our modern societies. Many of public services are involved in dealing with it more often. The paper covers fire-brigade operation. The case was examined in Polish cities Chełm and Warszawa. Fire brigade deals daily with many emergency situations such as fires, floods, earthquakes, accidents occurring during transportation of hazardous materials or traffic accidents. Every mentioned situation can result in injuries and even loss of lives. It means that all possible means have to be used for the most efficient dealing with an unpredictable event that occurred - the best technologies should be used on every stage of crisis management to minimize negative consequences. In this case SISNeT/EGNOS data implemented and used for dealing with crisis is considered. The fundamental purpose of the task is to develop and test monitoring platform based on GNSS and data from SISNeT/EGNOS corrections, which fulfils following conditions: accuracy, reliability and continuity of service at a level required by a highly demanding user (fire service unit). The project identifies benefits and potential of SISNeT/EGNOS system especially for user like public forces who have to assess, understand, and cope with a serious situations. The Crisis Management part of SISNeT Application project is aimed at an experimental augmentation of the positioning and monitoring system used by fire-brigade units with EGNOS/SISNeT corrections: defining the enhanced system, implementing and testing it in real operational conditions.

Modeling cascading failures with the crisis of trust in social networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, Chengqi; Bao, Yuanyuan; Jiang, Jingchi; Xue, Yibo

2015-10-01

In social networks, some friends often post or disseminate malicious information, such as advertising messages, informal overseas purchasing messages, illegal messages, or rumors. Too much malicious information may cause a feeling of intense annoyance. When the feeling exceeds a certain threshold, it will lead social network users to distrust these friends, which we call the crisis of trust. The crisis of trust in social networks has already become a universal concern and an urgent unsolved problem. As a result of the crisis of trust, users will cut off their relationships with some of their untrustworthy friends. Once a few of these relationships are made unavailable, it is likely that other friends will decline trust, and a large portion of the social network will be influenced. The phenomenon in which the unavailability of a few relationships will trigger the failure of successive relationships is known as cascading failure dynamics. To our best knowledge, no one has formally proposed cascading failures dynamics with the crisis of trust in social networks. In this paper, we address this potential issue, quantify the trust between two users based on user similarity, and model the minimum tolerance with a nonlinear equation. Furthermore, we construct the processes of cascading failures dynamics by considering the unique features of social networks. Based on real social network datasets (Sina Weibo, Facebook and Twitter), we adopt two attack strategies (the highest trust attack (HT) and the lowest trust attack (LT)) to evaluate the proposed dynamics and to further analyze the changes of the topology, connectivity, cascading time and cascade effect under the above attacks. We numerically find that the sparse and inhomogeneous network structure in our cascading model can better improve the robustness of social networks than the dense and homogeneous structure. However, the network structure that seems like ripples is more vulnerable than the other two network

[Relationships between health care professionals and users from a gender perspective].

PubMed

Gomes, Romeu; Couto, Márcia Thereza

2014-12-01

The objective of this article is to analyze relationships between health professionals and users from a gender perspective. Using Pierre Bourdieu as a theoretical reference, we critically analyze data from two studies carried out in Brazil in which we took part as authors. The first of these studies was based in Rio de Janeiro and the second was a multicenter and ethnographical study carried out in eight health care facilities distributed throughout four Brazilian states, two in the Southeast region and two in the Northeast region. Among the principal results of the present study, we found that although the relationships between health professionals and users demonstrate varied opinions, all are marked by a gendered habitus. We conclude that, among other aspects, the construction of diverse femininities and masculinities and the way in which these are exercised in health care contexts are the product of process that is both socio-historical and personal.

ITS user services document

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-01-01

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) user services are surface transportation services that can be provided by some aspect of ITS. These ITS user services document what ITS should do from the user's perspective. A broad range of users are consider...

Norplant: users' perspective in Pakistan.

PubMed

Rehan, N; Inayatullah, A; Chaudhary, I

1999-01-01

Five hundred and eighteen Norplant acceptors (260 ever-users and 258 current users) were interviewed to assess their perceptions about Norplant. The mean age of the acceptors was 32.6+/-5.7 years (mean +/- SD). The mean parity was 4.3 and many of the users (40.2%) were illiterate. The most common reason to choose Norplant was its long duration of action (70.1%) followed by doctor's advice (10.4%) and use by other women (10.1%). Norplant was recommended by family planning workers in 35.3% cases, doctors in 29.2% cases and friends in 17.4% cases. Advertisement did not play any role in the women's choice of Norplant. In 77.3% cases, the decision to use Norplant was a joint decision. Only 15% of the users had fears/anxieties before insertion. Most of these women (44%) were concerned about possible ill-effects of Norplant on their health rather than efficacy. The social acceptance of Norplant was very high (76%) and more than half of the users (52.5%) were satisfied with the method. Among current users, 83.9% wanted to continue Norplant for 5 years. Only 39 users (15.1%) intended to discontinue. The main reason for discontinuation was menstrual disturbance (69.2%), followed by weight gain (12.7%). The study suggests that long duration of effective action and high social acceptance are likely to make Norplant a popular method among Pakistani women.

Collaboration in crisis: Carer perspectives on police and mental health professional's responses to mental health crises.

PubMed

Brennan, Alice; Warren, Narelle; Peterson, Violeta; Hollander, Yitzchak; Boscarato, Kara; Lee, Stuart

2016-10-01

For many situations involving a mental health crisis, carers (e.g. family or friends) are present and either attempt to help the person overcome the crisis or request assistance from professional services (e.g. mental health or police). Comparatively, little research has explored how carers experience the crisis, the professional response and how the nature of the response, in turn, impacts carers. The current study was conducted to explore these issues during individual interviews with nine carers who had previous contact with police and mental health services during a crisis response. Collected data described the definition and perceived impact of a mental health crisis for carers, how carers had experienced a crisis response from police and mental health services, and how the professional response had impacted on carers. Of importance was the finding that carers were often themselves traumatized by witnessing or being involved in the crisis, however, were rarely offered direct education or support to help them cope or prevent future crises. A number of carers described a reluctance to request assistance from professional services due to previous poor experiences. This highlighted the importance of implementing strategies to deliver more timely, respectful, specialist and collaborative crisis responses to improve carer and consumer outcomes. © 2016 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

An assessment of primary care attributes from the perspective of female healthcare users1

PubMed Central

Lima, Eliane de Fátima Almeida; Sousa, Ana Inês; Primo, Cândida Caniçali; Leite, Francielie Marabotti Costa; Lima, Rita de Cassia Duarte; Maciel, Ethel Leonor Nóia

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: this study sought to assess the quality of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) and investigated the association between primary care attributes (PCAs) and the sociodemographic characteristics of users. METHOD: a total of 215 female FHS users were interviewed for this descriptive and cross-sectional study. The Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCATool), Adult Edition was used, and the results were analyzed using Fisher's exact tests, Pearson's chi-square tests and logistic regressions. RESULTS: the lowest average score corresponded to the dimension "accessibility" (1.80), and the highest score corresponded to "access" (8.76). The results corresponding to the attributes "longitudinality", "coordination", "comprehensiveness", and "orientation" were not significant. No association was found between the participants' sociodemographic characteristics and the essential, derivative, and general attributes (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: several attributes must be improved across all the investigated services from the perspective of female FHS users. PMID:26155006

Managing knowledge integration in a national health-care crisis: lessons learned from combating SARS in Singapore.

PubMed

Devadoss, Paul Raj; Pan, Shan Ling; Singh, Shreyan

2005-06-01

The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is the first severe and readily transmissible disease to emerge in the 21st century. Often one new infection meant tracing of several people to monitor their health conditions as well. In Singapore, several agencies coordinated their efforts to quickly bring the outbreak under control. The current breed of health-care information systems (HCIS) was not sufficient to handle new information-sharing needs during the crisis. In this paper, we take a look at the measures taken during the crisis in Singapore through a knowledge integration perspective. This perspective reveals interesting implications for HCIS.

A mobile user-interface for elderly care from the perspective of relatives.

PubMed

Warpenius, Erika; Alasaarela, Esko; Sorvoja, Hannu; Kinnunen, Matti

2015-03-01

As the number of elderly people rises, relatives' care-taking responsibilities increase accordingly. This creates a need for developing new systems that enable relatives to keep track of aged family members. To develop new mobile services for elderly healthcare we tried to identify the most wanted features of a mobile user-interface from the perspective of relatives. Feature mapping was based on two online surveys: one administered to the relatives (N = 32) and nurses (N = 3) of senior citizens and the other to nursing students (N = 18). Results of the surveys, confirmed by face-to-face interviews of the relatives (N = 8), indicated that the most valued features of the mobile user-interface are Accident Reporting (e.g. falling), Alarms (e.g. fire-alarm), Doctor Visits and evaluation of the General Condition of the Senior. The averaged importance ratings of these features were 9.2, 9.0, 8.6 and 8.5, respectively (on a scale from 0 to 10). Other important considerations for the user-interface development are aspiration to simplicity and ease-of-use. We recommend that the results are taken into account, when designing and implementing mobile services for elderly healthcare.

Clinical and Insurance Perspectives on Intermediate Levels of Care in Psychiatry.

PubMed

Plakun, Eric M

2018-03-01

This column compares a clinical perspective on the continuum of care for mental health and substance use disorders with a different perspective derived from publicly available insurance company documents and experience dealing with managed care utilization reviewers. The latter perspective tends to determine the need for access to levels of care based on the need for crisis stabilization, whereas the generally accepted clinical standard is more nuanced than the need for crisis stabilization alone. The column proposes that this discrepancy in perspectives makes a substantial contribution to disagreements between treating clinicians, such as therapists, and insurance utilization reviewers concerning the medical necessity of various requested levels of care.

The sudden removal of user fees: the perspective of a frontline manager in Burundi.

PubMed

Nimpagaritse, Manassé; Bertone, Maria Paola

2011-11-01

In May 2006, the President of Burundi announced the removal of user fees in all health centres and hospitals for children under 5 and women giving birth. As other studies also point out, the policy was adopted extremely suddenly, without much reflection on its ultimate aims and on the operational dimension of its implementation. From the perspective of a frontline manager, this paper provides a descriptive case study of the abolition of user fees in the Muramvya District and a first-hand account of the effects of the sudden reform in the management of a district and a district hospital. The analysis highlights the challenges that the district and hospital teams faced. The main issues were: the reduction of financial flows, which prevented the possibility of investments and caused frequent drugs stock-outs; the reduced quality of the services and the disruption of the referral system; the motivation of the health staff who saw the administrative workload increase (not necessarily because of increased utilization) and faced 'ethical dilemmas' caused by the imprecise targeting of the reform. Undoubtedly, the removal of user fees for certain groups was an equitable and necessary measure in an extremely poor country such as Burundi. However, the suddenness of the decision and the lack of preparation had critical and long-lasting consequences for the entire health system. This analysis, performed from the frontline perspective, clarifies the importance of a rigorous planning of any reform, as well as of involving peripheral actors and understanding the complex challenges that they face.

Model testing on the crisis interventions and actions to prevent medical disputes: a Taiwanese nursing perspective.

PubMed

Tzeng, Huey-Ming

2006-05-01

This study investigated the contributions of comprehensiveness and necessity scales on crisis interventions and actions toward nursing practice-related medical disputes in Taiwanese hospitals and institutions' demographic characteristics, to overall satisfaction toward nursing-related crisis management policies and interventions and overall satisfaction toward their institution's crisis management system. In a health-care environment that is focused on cost containment, for overworked nurses and understaffed medical wards, patients still expect nurses to provide high quality, compassionate care. Patients usually regard nurses as the principal link between the technical and interpersonal aspects of their care. However, current hospital systems tend to require patients to be self-reliant in managing their own care. Patient mistrust of medical care providers might have contributed to the current medical error/dispute crisis. In this cross-sectional study, the subjects were nursing directors of Taiwanese hospitals (197 valid subjects). The author developed the questionnaire used in this study. The ordinal logistic regression analyses demonstrated that being a public hospital managed by the government, being a hospital operated by a corporate body, the more comprehensive the technical/structural aspect and the assessment aspect and the more needed the psychological aspect, contribute to higher general satisfaction levels toward nursing-related crisis management. The more comprehensive the strategic aspect and having more acute beds, contributes to higher satisfaction levels with their institution's overall crisis management activities. These findings inferred a possible change in a hospital's resource allocation or power structure when dealing with issues of patient care quality, including nursing practice-related crisis management policies, interventions and actions. RELEVANT TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: A good crisis management system may help to keep a crisis from worsening

Informed, advance refusals of treatment by people with severe mental illness in a randomised controlled trial of joint crisis plans: demand, content and correlates.

PubMed

Henderson, Claire; Farrelly, Simone; Flach, Clare; Borschmann, Rohan; Birchwood, Max; Thornicroft, Graham; Waheed, Waquas; Szmukler, George

2017-11-24

In the UK, crisis planning for mental health care should acknowledge the right to make an informed advance treatment refusal under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Our aims were to estimate the demand for such treatment refusals within a sample of service users who had had a recent hospital admission for psychosis or bipolar disorder, and to examine the relationship between refusals, and service user characteristics. To identify refusals we conducted content analysis of Joint Crisis Plans, which are plans formulated by service users and their clinical team with involvement from an external facilitator, and routine care plans in sub-samples from a multi-centre randomised controlled trial of Joint Crisis Plans (plus routine mental health care) versus routine care alone (CRIMSON) in England. Factors hypothesised to be associated with refusals were identified using the trial data collected through baseline interviews of service users and clinicians and collection of routine clinical data. Ninety-nine of 221 (45%) of the Joint Crisis Plans contained a treatment refusal compared to 10 of 424 (2.4%) baseline routine care plans. No Joint Crisis Plans recorded disagreement with refusals on the part of clinicians. Among those with completed Joint Crisis Plans, adjusted analyses indicated a significant association between treatment refusals and perceived coercion at baseline (odds ratio = 1.21, 95% CI 1.02-1.43), but not with baseline working alliance or a past history of involuntary admission. We demonstrated significant demand for written treatment refusals in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which had not previously been elicited by the process of treatment planning. Future treatment/crisis plans should incorporate the opportunity for service users to record a treatment refusal during the drafting of such plans. ISRCTN11501328 Registered 13th March 2008.

Complex Network for a Crisis Contagion on AN Interbank System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tirado, Mariano

2012-09-01

The main focus of this research is the contagion of a financial crisis on an interbank debt network. In order to simulate the crisis propagation a weighted community complex network based on growth strategy has been created. The contagion is described by a new way of disease propagation perspective based on the concept of a financial virus. The model reproduces the existence of TBTF banks and shows the impact that an initial TBTF bank crash produces in the interbank network depending on the magnitude of the initial crash and on the resistance that the network offers against the contagion propagation.

PERSPECTIVE: Consideration of user priorities when developing neural prosthetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Kim D.

2009-10-01

For too long there has been separation of basic science, biomedical engineering, clinical science and the people these disciplines are serving. A key ingredient to understanding the real-life consequences of many neurologic disorders that produce physical disabilities, such as spinal cord injury, is to obtain valuable information from the individuals that are actually living with the disorders everyday. This information can be obtained in an objective and usable format, which can then be used to direct biomedical research in a manner that is meaningful to the intended beneficiaries. In particular, the field of neural prosthetics for spinal cord injury can make great strides if user input is obtained throughout the stages of development. Presented here is the perspective of a scientist who also has 20 years of experience living with a cervical spinal cord injury.

Crisis, What Crisis?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Ken

2010-01-01

Responding to the recent work of Andrew Gamble, the article discusses the extent to which the British situation can be described in terms of crisis. It suggests that an essential element of crisis is that of political and social contestation, and explores the terms on which contestation is taking shape in and around British education.

An Examination of Leaders' Perceptions and Strategies in Addressing Faculty Recruitment, Retention and Support in Times of Economic Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Little-Wiles, Julie M.

2012-01-01

Using the embedded case study method, this investigation described the experiences, relationships, and perspectives of administrative leaders within the higher education environment during the most recent economic crisis, specifically attempting to answer the question of, "How does an economic crisis, like the most current recession, impact a…

Homelessness, Mental Health and Suicidality Among LGBTQ Youth Accessing Crisis Services.

PubMed

Rhoades, Harmony; Rusow, Joshua A; Bond, David; Lanteigne, Amy; Fulginiti, Anthony; Goldbach, Jeremy T

2018-01-10

LGBTQ youth experience increased risks of homelessness, mental health disorder symptoms, and suicidality. Utilizing data from LGBTQ youth contacting a suicide crisis services organization, this study examined: (a) rates of homelessness among crisis services users, (b) the relationship between disclosure of LGBTQ identity to parents and parental rejection and homelessness, and (c) the relationship between homelessness and mental health disorder outcomes and suicidality. A nationwide sample of LGBTQ youth was recruited for a confidential online survey from an LGBTQ-focused crisis services hotline. Overall, nearly one-third of youth contacting the crisis services hotline had experienced lifetime homelessness, and those who had disclosed their LGBTQ identity to parents or experienced parental rejection because of LGBTQ status experienced higher rates of homelessness. Youth with homelessness experiences reported more symptoms of several mental health disorders and higher rates of suicidality. Suggestions for service providers are discussed.

Power-law behavior in complex organizational communication networks during crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uddin, Shahadat; Murshed, Shahriar Tanvir Hasan; Hossain, Liaquat

2011-08-01

Communication networks can be described as patterns of contacts which are created due to the flow of messages and information shared among participating actors. Contemporary organizations are now commonly viewed as dynamic systems of adaptation and evolution containing several parts, which interact with one another both in internal and in external environment. Although there is limited consensus among researchers on the precise definition of organizational crisis, there is evidence of shared meaning: crisis produces individual crisis, crisis can be associated with positive or negative conditions, crises can be situations having been precipitated quickly or suddenly or situations that have developed over time and are predictable etc. In this research, we study the power-law behavior of an organizational email communication network during crisis from complexity perspective. Power law simply describes that, the probability that a randomly selected node has k links (i.e. degree k) follows P(k)∼k, where γ is the degree exponent. We used social network analysis tools and techniques to analyze the email communication dataset. We tested two propositions: (1) as organization goes through crisis, a few actors, who are prominent or more active, will become central, and (2) the daily communication network as well as the actors in the communication network exhibit power-law behavior. Our preliminary results support these two propositions. The outcome of this study may provide significant advancement in exploring organizational communication network behavior during crisis.

Learning Crisis Unit through Post-Crisis: Characteristics and Mechanisms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chebbi, Hela; Pündrich, Aline Pereira

2015-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to identify the characteristics that a crisis unit should have to achieve effective learning after crisis. Literature has identified many relations between learning organizations and crisis; yet, there is a dearth of research on specific studies about crisis units and their post-crisis learning features. Thus, this paper…

Failing Boys! Beyond Crisis, Moral Panic and Limiting Stereotypes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martino, Wayne

2011-01-01

For some time now, school boards, Ministries of Education, and the popular media have been expressing concerns about failing boys and how best to meet their needs, framing these concerns in terms of a crisis in which boys are the "new disadvantaged". This perspective does not provide an accurate representation of the problem and, in fact, detracts…

Improving Decision Making Skill Using an Online Volcanic Crisis Simulation: Impact of Data Presentation Format

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barclay, Elizabeth J.; Renshaw, Carl E.; Taylor, Holly A.; Bilge, A. Reyan

2011-01-01

Creating effective computer-based learning exercises requires an understanding of optimal user interface designs for improving higher order cognitive skills. Using an online volcanic crisis simulation previously shown to improve decision making skill, we find that a user interface using a graphical presentation of the volcano monitoring data…

The importance of service-users' perspectives: A systematic review of qualitative evidence reveals overlooked critical features of weight management programmes.

PubMed

Sutcliffe, Katy; Melendez-Torres, G J; Burchett, Helen E D; Richardson, Michelle; Rees, Rebecca; Thomas, James

2018-03-14

Extensive research effort shows that weight management programmes (WMPs) targeting both diet and exercise are broadly effective. However, the critical features of WMPs remain unclear. To develop a deeper understanding of WMPs critical features, we undertook a systematic review of qualitative evidence. We sought to understand from a service-user perspective how programmes are experienced, and may be effective, on the ground. We identified qualitative studies from existing reviews and updated the searches of one review. We included UK studies capturing the views of adult WMP users. Thematic analysis was used inductively to code and synthesize the evidence. Service users were emphatic that supportive relationships, with service providers or WMP peers, are the most critical aspect of WMPs. Supportive relationships were described as providing an extrinsic motivator or "hook" which helped to overcome barriers such as scepticism about dietary advice or a lack confidence to engage in physical activity. The evidence revealed that service-users' understandings of the critical features of WMPs differ from the focus of health promotion guidance or descriptions of evaluated programmes which largely emphasize educational or goal setting aspects of WMPs. Existing programme guidance may not therefore fully address the needs of service users. The study illustrates that the perspectives of service users can reveal unanticipated intervention mechanisms or underemphasized critical features and underscores the value of a holistic understanding about "what happens" in complex psychosocial interventions such as WMPs. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Framework See-Think as a Tool for Crowdsourcing Support - Case Study on Crisis Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Netek, R.; Panek, J.

2016-06-01

See-Think-Do is a framework originally used as an approach focused on a service and product marketing on the Internet. Customers can be classified into three groups according to their involvement from potential users to real customers. The article presents an idea of public involvement in community mapping in three levels: "See"—almost any user; "Think"—potential contributors; and "Do"—interested users. The case study implements the See-Think-Do framework as an awareness-based approach used for The Crisis Map of the Czech Republic. It is an Ushahidi-based crowdsourcing platform for sharing spatial and multimedia information during crisis situations, e.g. disaster floods in 2013. While the current crisis projects use public mapping just at the onset of the disaster, according to See-Think-Do any user can be considered as a potential contributor even during the dormant period. The focus is put on the "See" and "Think" groups of contributors, which are currently ignored. The objective of this paper is to summarize approaches (social networks, mass-media, emailing, gamification, …) and tools (GIT/GIS, ICT, multimedia) for increasing the awareness about the project within the resting phase. That recruits a higher number of both active and passive users during the disaster. It allows the training in ICT, cartographical, spatial and GIS skills in a non-stressful way and the targeting on specific operators. Volunteers from the "Think" group may be used for data processing or rectification, GIS professionals from the "Do" group for data verification. The results refer that contributors with already established skills and required literacy (interface, data uploading) provide data faster and more accurate, the usability of the project increases based on users' comments.

CRIMSON [CRisis plan IMpact: Subjective and Objective coercion and eNgagement] protocol: a randomised controlled trial of joint crisis plans to reduce compulsory treatment of people with psychosis.

PubMed

Thornicroft, Graham; Farrelly, Simone; Birchwood, Max; Marshall, Max; Szmukler, George; Waheed, Waquas; Byford, Sarah; Dunn, Graham; Henderson, Claire; Lester, Helen; Leese, Morven; Rose, Diana; Sutherby, Kim

2010-11-05

The use of compulsory treatment under the Mental Health Act (MHA) has continued to rise in the UK and in other countries. The Joint Crisis Plan (JCP) is a statement of service users' wishes for treatment in the event of a future mental health crisis. It is developed with the clinical team and an independent facilitator. A recent pilot RCT showed a reduction in the use of the MHA amongst service users with a JCP. The JCP is the only intervention that has been shown to reduce compulsory treatment in this way. The CRIMSON trial aims to determine if JCPs, compared with treatment as usual, are effective in reducing the use of the MHA in a range of treatment settings across the UK. This is a 3 centre, individual-level, single-blind, randomised controlled trial of the JCP compared with treatment as usual for people with a history of relapsing psychotic illness in Birmingham, London and Lancashire/Manchester. 540 service users will be recruited across the three sites. Eligible service users will be adults with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder (including bipolar disorder), treated in the community under the Care Programme Approach with at least one admission to a psychiatric inpatient ward in the previous two years. Current inpatients and those subject to a community treatment order will be excluded to avoid any potential perceived pressure to participate. Research assessments will be conducted at baseline and 18 months. Following the baseline assessment, eligible service users will be randomly allocated to either develop a Joint Crisis Plan or continue with treatment as usual. Outcome will be assessed at 18 months with assessors blind to treatment allocation. The primary outcome is the proportion of service users treated or otherwise detained under an order of the Mental Health Act (MHA) during the follow-up period, compared across randomisation groups. Secondary outcomes include overall costs, service user engagement, perceived coercion and therapeutic relationships

The Quest to Extend Health Services to Vulnerable Substance Users in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Context of an Unfolding Economic Crisis

PubMed Central

Krawczyk, Noa; Kerrigan, Deanna; Bastos, Francisco Inácio

2018-01-01

Calls to address crack-cocaine use in Brazil among homeless and street-frequenting populations who are in urgent need of health services have questioned the capacity of the Brazilian Unified Health System to attend to the nation’s most marginalized citizens. In recent years, Brazil has launched several actions to escalate care for substance users, yet many obstacles hindering accessibility and effectiveness of services remain. Paradoxically, these actions have been implemented in the context of a growing economic crisis, and expanding services for a population of poor and stigmatized substance users while cutting other government programs tends to elicit harsh criticism from citizens. In consequence of such prospects, this commentary aims to discuss barriers marginalized substance users face in accessing health services that are at risk of worsening with government cutbacks. Using Rio de Janeiro as an example, we explore two primary issues: the resource-strained, under-staffed and decentralized nature of the Brazilian Unified Health System and the pervading stigma that bars vulnerable citizens from official structures and services. Abandoning initiated government efforts to increase access to health services would risk maintaining vulnerable citizens at the margins of public structures, inhibiting the opportunity to offer this population humane and urgently needed treatment and care. PMID:27856941

The Quest to Extend Health Services to Vulnerable Substance Users in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Context of an Unfolding Economic Crisis.

PubMed

Krawczyk, Noa; Kerrigan, Deanna; Bastos, Francisco Inácio

2017-07-01

Calls to address crack-cocaine use in Brazil among homeless and street-frequenting populations who are in urgent need of health services have questioned the capacity of the Brazilian Unified Health System to attend to the nation's most marginalized citizens. In recent years, Brazil has launched several actions to escalate care for substance users, yet many obstacles hindering accessibility and effectiveness of services remain. Paradoxically, these actions have been implemented in the context of a growing economic crisis, and expanding services for a population of poor and stigmatized substance users while cutting other government programs tends to elicit harsh criticism from citizens. In consequence of such prospects, this commentary aims to discuss barriers marginalized substance users face in accessing health services that are at risk of worsening with government cutbacks. Using Rio de Janeiro as an example, we explore two primary issues: the resource-strained, under-staffed and decentralized nature of the Brazilian Unified Health System and the pervading stigma that bars vulnerable citizens from official structures and services. Abandoning initiated government efforts to increase access to health services would risk maintaining vulnerable citizens at the margins of public structures, inhibiting the opportunity to offer this population humane and urgently needed treatment and care.

The value of instructional communication in crisis situations: restoring order to chaos.

PubMed

Sellnow, Timothy L; Sellnow, Deanna D; Lane, Derek R; Littlefield, Robert S

2012-04-01

This article explores the nature of instructional communication in responding to crisis situations. Through the lens of chaos theory, the relevance of instructional messages in restoring order is established. This perspective is further advanced through an explanation of how various learning styles impact the receptivity of various instructional messages during the acute phase of crises. We then summarize an exploratory study focusing on the relationship between learning styles and the demands of instructional messages in crisis situations. We conclude the article with a series of conclusions and implications. © 2011 Society for Risk Analysis.

Gym-based exoskeleton walking: A preliminary exploration of non-ambulatory end-user perspectives.

PubMed

Cahill, Aoife; Ginley, Orna Mc; Bertrand, Courtney; Lennon, Olive

2018-07-01

Robotic walking devices (RWD) have shown many physical benefits in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) rehabilitation. No study to date has explored end-user perceptions of these devices or gained insight into the use of these devices in a gym-based setting. This preliminary study explores the perspectives of four non-ambulatory individuals with SCI on using an exoskeleton walking device in a gym-based community setting. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four SCI individuals living in the community. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive thematic analysis established common overarching themes and subthemes. Four primary themes emerged addressing "The Psychological Adjustments Around Using RWDs with Respect to Disability", "Perceived Physical, Social and Psychological Benefits of Using an Exoskeleton", "The Role of External Influences", and "A Wellness Model to Health". A fully integrated gym setting was found to provide a positive and encouraging space to utilise the device. In addition, both the ability to set training goals and the positive attitude of robotic trainers were deemed to be important factors. This preliminary study provides detailed perspectives of four non-ambulatory individuals with SCI on utilising an exoskeleton walking device in a community setting. It suggests that gym-based RWDs impact positively on the users' lives and enhance their perceived wellbeing and sense of community integration. Enabling access to similar, community-based facilities should be prioritised for those with longstanding SCI disability. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contribution of the voluntary sector to mental health crisis care in England: protocol for a multimethod study

PubMed Central

Newbigging, Karen; Mohan, John; Rees, James; Harlock, Jenny; Davis, Alex

2017-01-01

Introduction Timely access to the right kind of support for people experiencing a mental health crisis can be problematic. The voluntary sector (VS) plays a key role in providing support and enabling access, but there is a knowledge gap concerning its contribution and interface with public services in mental health crisis care. This study aims to address this. Methods and analysis The study has three empirical elements: (1) a national survey of voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) in England and national stakeholder interviews to develop a typology of organisations and interventions provided by VSOs; (2) detailed mapping of VS services in two regions through interviews and extending the national survey; (3) four case studies, identified from the regional mapping, of VS mental health crisis services and their interface with National Health Service (NHS) and local authority services, at both a system and individual level. Data collection will involve interviews with commissioners; VSO and NHS or local authority providers; and focus groups with people who have experience of VSO crisis support, both service users and carers; and mapping the crisis trajectory of 10 service users in each study site through narrative interviews with service users and informal carers to understand the experience of VSO crisis care and its impact. Ethics and dissemination The University of Birmingham Humanities and Social Sciences Ethical Review Committee granted ethical approval (reference ERN_16–1183) for the national and regional elements of the study. Ethical review by the Health Research Authority will be required for the case study research once the sites have been identified from the first two elements of the study. A range of methods including a policy seminar, publication in academic journals and a tool kit for commissioners and practitioners will be produced to maximise the impact of the findings on policy and practice. PMID:29122807

Videographic Education: Owning the Polar Crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vachon, R. W.; Buhr, S. M.

2007-12-01

Television and internet-served video is an increasingly important media tool for reaching into society. This talk will present clips from a film designed to educate the public about warming in the polar regions, the socioeconomic and environmental implications of this warming; and the actions we can take to slow down human contributions to climate change. This talk will present a short film Owning the Polar Crisis, which is drawn from footage for Polar Visions, a four segment film available for educational audiences and the public.. The films are unique in that they draw from the perspectives of well-known climate scientists, citizens from all over the planet and natives of the Arctic. The compelling images were taken from numerous locations around the Arctic, including Alaska and Greenland. Owning the Polar Crisis was filmed, directed and produced by Dr. Ryan Vachon, a climate scientist and videographer with an intimate knowledge of the subject matter.

Fueling a Crisis: Public Argument and the 1988 Yellowstone Fire Debate.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hardy-Short, Dayle; Short, C. Brant

Debate surrounding the 1988 Yellowstone National Park fires provides material for a case study into the relationship between a crisis and public argument. Studies like this reflect the importance of a recent trend in higher education, namely, the analysis of environmental issues from different academic perspectives. In this case, analysis of…

Fit for purpose: perspectives on rapid reviews from end-user interviews.

PubMed

Hartling, Lisa; Guise, Jeanne-Marie; Hempel, Susanne; Featherstone, Robin; Mitchell, Matthew D; Motu'apuaka, Makalapua L; Robinson, Karen A; Schoelles, Karen; Totten, Annette; Whitlock, Evelyn; Wilt, Timothy J; Anderson, Johanna; Berliner, Elise; Gozu, Aysegul; Kato, Elisabeth; Paynter, Robin; Umscheid, Craig A

2017-02-17

There is increasing demand for rapid reviews and timely evidence synthesis. The goal of this project was to understand end-user perspectives on the utility and limitations of rapid products including evidence inventories, rapid responses, and rapid reviews. Interviews were conducted with key informants representing: guideline developers (n = 3), health care providers/health system organizations (n = 3), research funders (n = 1), and payers/health insurers (n = 1). We elicited perspectives on important characteristics of systematic reviews, acceptable methods to streamline reviews, and uses of rapid products. We analyzed content of the interview transcripts and identified themes and subthemes. Key informants identified the following as critical features of evidence reviews: (1) originating from a reliable source (i.e., conducted by experienced reviewers from an established research organization), (2) addressing clinically relevant questions, and (3) trusted relationship between the user and producer. Key informants expressed strong preference for the following review methods and characteristics: use of evidence tables, quality rating of studies, assessments of total evidence quality/strength, and use of summary tables for results and conclusions. Most acceptable trade-offs to increase efficiencies were limiting the literature search (e.g., limiting search dates or language) and performing single screening of citations and full texts for relevance. Key informants perceived rapid products (particularly evidence inventories and rapid responses) as useful interim products to inform downstream investigation (e.g., whether to proceed with a full review or guideline, direction for future research). Most key informants indicated that evidence analysis/synthesis and quality/strength of evidence assessments were important for decision-making. They reported that rapid reviews in particular were useful for guideline development on narrow topics, policy decisions

From the Users' Perspective-The UCSD Libraries User Survey Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talbot, Dawn E.; Lowell, Gerald R.; Martin, Kerry

1998-01-01

Discussion of a user-driven survey conducted at the University of California, San Diego libraries focuses on the methodology that resulted in a high response rate. Highlights goals for the survey, including acceptance of data by groups outside the library and for benchmarking data; planning; user population; and questionnaire development. (LRW)

Assessing responsiveness of health care services within a health insurance scheme in Nigeria: users' perspectives.

PubMed

Mohammed, Shafiu; Bermejo, Justo Lorenzo; Souares, Aurélia; Sauerborn, Rainer; Dong, Hengjin

2013-12-01

Responsiveness of health care services in low and middle income countries has been given little attention. Despite being introduced over a decade ago in many developing countries, national health insurance schemes have yet to be evaluated in terms of responsiveness of health care services. Although this responsiveness has been evaluated in many developed countries, it has rarely been done in developing countries. The concept of responsiveness is multi-dimensional and can be measured across various domains including prompt attention, dignity, communication, autonomy, choice of provider, quality of facilities, confidentiality and access to family support. This study examines the insured users' perspectives of their health care services' responsiveness. This retrospective, cross-sectional survey took place between October 2010 and March 2011. The study used a modified out-patient questionnaire from a responsiveness survey designed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Seven hundred and ninety six (796) enrolees, insured for more than one year in Kaduna State-Nigeria, were interviewed. Generalized ordered logistic regression was used to identify factors that influenced the users' perspectives on responsiveness to health services and quantify their effects. Communication (55.4%), dignity (54.1%), and quality of facilities (52.0%) were rated as "extremely important" responsiveness domains. Users were particularly contented with quality of facilities (42.8%), dignity (42.3%), and choice of provider (40.7%). Enrolees indicated lower contentment on all other domains. Type of facility, gender, referral, duration of enrolment, educational status, income level, and type of marital status were most related with responsiveness domains. Assessing the responsiveness of health care services within the NHIS is valuable in investigating the scheme's implementation. The domains of autonomy, communication and prompt attention were identified as priority areas for action to improve

Crisis Communication and Management: Surviving a Public Relations Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eramo, Eric M.

2009-01-01

Crisis management, or crisis communication, is never a good thing for a business to experience. It is, however, a public relations' professional moment to shine and put their honed skills to good use. A good crisis management plan is not only action during the crisis but preparation and reflection. Hiring a PR firm that deals with crisis…

An Examination of Crisis Preparedness of Christian-Affiliated Institutions of Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burrell, Stacy M.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine crisis preparedness at Christian-affiliated institutions of higher education. Second, this study examined Christian-affiliated institutions of higher education presidents' perspective of their institution's ability to prepare for crises based upon the four critical indicators of organizational crisis…

[Use of illicit drugs and critical perspectives of drug users' relatives and acquaintances in Northern Rio de Janeiro City, Brazil].

PubMed

Vargens, Octavio Muniz da Costa; Brands, Bruna; Adlaf, Edward; Giesbrecht, Norman; Simich, Laura; Wright, Maria da Gloria Miotto

2009-01-01

This article presents the partial results of a multicenter, qualitative study, which involved seven Latin-American countries and Canada. The results presented refer to Northern Rio de Janeiro (city), Brazil. The objective of the study was to describe the perspective of relatives/acquaintances of illicit drug users about protective and risk factors, prevention initiatives, treatment services, and legal aspects regarding illicit drugs. Interviews were performed with 99 individuals, who reported being affected by their relationship with an illicit drug user (relative or acquaintance), approaching their perspectives regarding the key-domains. Most participants were women (73.7%); relatives who used drugs were mostly men (78.2%); the most consumed drug was marijuana (77.8%). The highlighted protective factor was having recreational-sports activities in the community (88.9%), and the risk factor was curiosity for trying something new (94.4%). The main treatment services were Church Groups (51.5%), and participants stated that laws should be more punitive (82.8%). In conclusion, this information is essential to fight against drug use/abuse, showing that there is a need for actions that consider different perspectives at different levels.

911! A Manual for Schools and the Media during a Campus Crisis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Digitale, Robert

School district communications planning rarely includes ways to work with the media during an emergency. This short guide is aimed at providing both school officials and media professionals with specific perspectives and recommendations for cooperating to deliver crucial information to parents and the community during a crisis on campus. The…

AANA Journal course: update for nurse anesthetists--ERR WATCH: anesthesia crisis resource management from the nurse anesthetist's perspective.

PubMed

Fletcher, J L

1998-12-01

Anesthesia crisis resource management (ACRM) was developed by David Gaba, MD, and colleagues at Stanford University in the early 1990s. Derived from cockpit resource management of the aviation industry, ACRM addresses the issues of human performance and patient safety in anesthesia. Due to the inherent complexity of our dynamic work environment, we are frequently faced with situations that could escalate into critical incidents. ACRM explains the role of personal and environmental factors that can contribute to the evolution of critical incidents and provides the practitioner with some behavioral and intellectual guidelines to manage the risks more effectively. ERR WATCH is an acronym I developed to interpret the principles of ACRM from the nurse anesthetist's perspective. It provides a quick review of the major principles of ACRM, which are Environment, Resources, Reevaluation, Workload, Attention, Teamwork, Communication, and Help. Used together with good clinical management, these principles may provide an edge in solving complex problems and improving performance.

Service user involvement enhanced the research quality in a study using interpretative phenomenological analysis - the power of multiple perspectives.

PubMed

Mjøsund, Nina Helen; Eriksson, Monica; Espnes, Geir Arild; Haaland-Øverby, Mette; Jensen, Sven Liang; Norheim, Irene; Kjus, Solveig Helene Høymork; Portaasen, Inger-Lill; Vinje, Hege Forbech

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine how service user involvement can contribute to the development of interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology and enhance research quality. Interpretative phenomenological analysis is a qualitative methodology used in nursing research internationally to understand human experiences that are essential to the participants. Service user involvement is requested in nursing research. We share experiences from 4 years of collaboration (2012-2015) on a mental health promotion project, which involved an advisory team. Five research advisors either with a diagnosis or related to a person with severe mental illness constituted the team. They collaborated with the research fellow throughout the entire research process and have co-authored this article. We examined the joint process of analysing the empirical data from interviews. Our analytical discussions were audiotaped, transcribed and subsequently interpreted following the guidelines for good qualitative analysis in interpretative phenomenological analysis studies. The advisory team became 'the researcher's helping hand'. Multiple perspectives influenced the qualitative analysis, which gave more insightful interpretations of nuances, complexity, richness or ambiguity in the interviewed participants' accounts. The outcome of the service user involvement was increased breadth and depth in findings. Service user involvement improved the research quality in a nursing research project on mental health promotion. The interpretative element of interpretative phenomenological analysis was enhanced by the emergence of multiple perspectives in the qualitative analysis of the empirical data. We argue that service user involvement and interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology can mutually reinforce each other and strengthen qualitative methodology. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Contribution of the voluntary sector to mental health crisis care in England: protocol for a multimethod study.

PubMed

Newbigging, Karen; Mohan, John; Rees, James; Harlock, Jenny; Davis, Alex

2017-11-08

Timely access to the right kind of support for people experiencing a mental health crisis can be problematic. The voluntary sector (VS) plays a key role in providing support and enabling access, but there is a knowledge gap concerning its contribution and interface with public services in mental health crisis care. This study aims to address this. The study has three empirical elements: (1) a national survey of voluntary sector organisations (VSOs) in England and national stakeholder interviews to develop a typology of organisations and interventions provided by VSOs; (2) detailed mapping of VS services in two regions through interviews and extending the national survey; (3) four case studies, identified from the regional mapping, of VS mental health crisis services and their interface with National Health Service (NHS) and local authority services, at both a system and individual level. Data collection will involve interviews with commissioners; VSO and NHS or local authority providers; and focus groups with people who have experience of VSO crisis support, both service users and carers; and mapping the crisis trajectory of 10 service users in each study site through narrative interviews with service users and informal carers to understand the experience of VSO crisis care and its impact. The University of Birmingham Humanities and Social Sciences Ethical Review Committee granted ethical approval (reference ERN_16-1183) for the national and regional elements of the study. Ethical review by the Health Research Authority will be required for the case study research once the sites have been identified from the first two elements of the study. A range of methods including a policy seminar, publication in academic journals and a tool kit for commissioners and practitioners will be produced to maximise the impact of the findings on policy and practice. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights

The Graphical User Interface Crisis: Danger and Opportunity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boyd, Lawrence H.; And Others

This paper examines graphic computing environments, identifies potential problems in providing access to blind people, and describes programs and strategies being developed to provide this access. The paper begins with an explanation of how graphic user interfaces differ from character-based systems in their use of pixels, visual metaphors such as…

"Neither we are satisfied nor they"-users and provider's perspective: a qualitative study of maternity care in secondary level public health facilities, Uttar Pradesh, India.

PubMed

Bhattacharyya, Sanghita; Issac, Anns; Rajbangshi, Preety; Srivastava, Aradhana; Avan, Bilal I

2015-09-27

Quality of care provided during childbirth is a critical determinant of preventing maternal mortality and morbidity. In the studies available, quality has been assessed either from the users' perspective or the providers'. The current study tries to bring both perspectives together to identify common key focus areas for quality improvement. This study aims to assess the users' (recently delivered women) and care providers' perceptions of care to understand the common challenges affecting provision of quality maternity care in public health facilities in India. A qualitative design comprising of in-depth interviews of 24 recently delivered women from secondary care facilities and 16 health care providers in Uttar Pradesh, India. The data were analysed thematically to assess users' and providers' perspectives on the common themes. The common challenges experienced regarding provision of care were inadequate physical infrastructure, irregular supply of water, electricity, shortage of medicines, supplies, and gynaecologist and anaesthetist to manage complications, difficulty in maintaining privacy and lack of skill for post-delivery counselling. However, physical access, cleanliness, interpersonal behaviour, information sharing and out-of-pocket expenditure were concerns for only users. Similarly, providers raised poor management of referral cases, shortage of staff, non-functioning of blood bank, lack of incentives for work as their concerns. The study identified the common themes of care from both the perspectives, which have been foundrelevant in terms of challenges identified in many developing countries including India. The study framework identified new themes like management of emergencies in complicated cases, privacy and cost of care which both the group felt is relevant in the context of providing quality care during childbirth in low resource setting. The key challenges identified by both the groups can be prioritized, when developing quality improvement

Neighborhood Reputation and Resident Sentiment in the Wake of the Las Vegas Foreclosure Crisis

PubMed Central

Pais, Jeremy; Batson, Christie D.; Monnat, Shannon M.

2014-01-01

This study examines how two major components of a neighborhood’s reputation—perceived disorder and collective efficacy—shape individuals’ sentiments toward their neighborhoods during the foreclosure crisis triggered by the Great Recession. Of central interest are whether neighborhood reputations are durable in the face of a crisis (neighborhood resiliency hypothesis) or whether neighborhood reputations wane during times of duress (foreclosure crisis hypothesis). Geo-coded individual-level data from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Social Survey merged with data on census tract foreclosure rates are used to address this question. The results provide qualified support for both perspectives. In support of the neighborhood resiliency hypothesis, collective efficacy is positively associated with how residents feel about the quality of their neighborhoods, and this relationship is unaltered by foreclosure rates. In support of the foreclosure crisis hypothesis, foreclosure rates mediate the effects of neighborhood disorder on resident sentiment. The implications of these findings for community resiliency are discussed. PMID:25678735

A Preliminary Investigation of User Perception and Behavioral Intention for Different Review Types: Customers and Designers Perspective

PubMed Central

Qazi, Atika; Waheed, Mahwish; Abraham, Ajith

2014-01-01

Existing opinion mining studies have focused on and explored only two types of reviews, that is, regular and comparative. There is a visible gap in determining the useful review types from customers and designers perspective. Based on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and statistical measures we examine users' perception about different review types and its effects in terms of behavioral intention towards using online review system. By using sample of users (N = 400) and designers (N = 106), current research work studies three review types, A (regular), B (comparative), and C (suggestive), which are related to perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioral intention. The study reveals that positive perception of the use of suggestive reviews improves users' decision making in business intelligence. The results also depict that type C (suggestive reviews) could be considered a new useful review type in addition to other types, A and B. PMID:24711739

The Global Economic Crisis, Poverty and Education: A Perspective from India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nambissan, Geetha B.

2010-01-01

Debates on the global economic recession have failed to draw adequate attention to the meaning of the crisis for the poor and their education, especially in later developing societies. In this paper, I focus on the education of children of the poor in India--a country that has experienced economic slowdown rather than recession. Available research…

School Crisis Management: A Model of Dynamic Responsiveness to Crisis Life Cycle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liou, Yi-Hwa

2015-01-01

Purpose: This study aims to analyze a school's crisis management and explore emerging aspects of its response to a school crisis. Traditional linear modes of analysis often fail to address complex crisis situations. The present study applied a dynamic crisis life cycle model that draws on chaos and complexity theory to a crisis management case,…

A study on real-time low-quality content detection on Twitter from the users' perspective.

PubMed

Chen, Weiling; Yeo, Chai Kiat; Lau, Chiew Tong; Lee, Bu Sung

2017-01-01

Detection techniques of malicious content such as spam and phishing on Online Social Networks (OSN) are common with little attention paid to other types of low-quality content which actually impacts users' content browsing experience most. The aim of our work is to detect low-quality content from the users' perspective in real time. To define low-quality content comprehensibly, Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm is first used to coarsely classify low-quality tweets into four categories. Based on this preliminary study, a survey is carefully designed to gather users' opinions on different categories of low-quality content. Both direct and indirect features including newly proposed features are identified to characterize all types of low-quality content. We then further combine word level analysis with the identified features and build a keyword blacklist dictionary to improve the detection performance. We manually label an extensive Twitter dataset of 100,000 tweets and perform low-quality content detection in real time based on the characterized significant features and word level analysis. The results of our research show that our method has a high accuracy of 0.9711 and a good F1 of 0.8379 based on a random forest classifier with real time performance in the detection of low-quality content in tweets. Our work therefore achieves a positive impact in improving user experience in browsing social media content.

Hyperglycemic crisis.

PubMed

Van Ness-Otunnu, Ronald; Hack, Jason B

2013-11-01

Hyperglycemic crisis is a metabolic emergency associated with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus that may result in significant morbidity or death. Acute interventions are required to manage hypovolemia, acidemia, hyperglycemia, electrolyte abnormalities, and precipitating causes. Despite advances in the prevention and management of diabetes, its prevalence and associated health care costs continue to increase worldwide. Hyperglycemic crisis typically requires critical care management and hospitalization and contributes to global health expenditures. Diagnostic and resolution criteria and management strategies for diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar hyperglycemic crisis are provided. A discussion of prevalence, mortality, pathophysiology, risk factors, clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, evaluation, and management considerations for hyperglycemic crisis are included. Emergency physicians confront the most severe sequelae of uncontrolled diabetes and provide crucial, life-saving management. With ongoing efforts from diabetes societies to incorporate the latest clinical research to refine treatment guidelines, management and outcomes of hyperglycemic crisis in the emergency department continue to improve. We provide an overview of the evaluation and treatment of hyperglycemic crisis and offer a concise, targeted management algorithm to aid the practicing emergency physician. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploiting social media for Army operations: Syrian crisis use case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kase, Sue E.; Bowman, Elizabeth K.; Al Amin, Tanvir; Abdelzaher, Tarek

2014-05-01

Millions of people exchange user-generated information through online social media (SM) services. The prevalence of SM use globally and its growing significance to the evolution of events has attracted the attention of the Army and other agencies charged with protecting national security interests. The information exchanged in SM sites and the networks of people who interact with these online communities can provide value to Army intelligence efforts. SM could facilitate the Military Decision Making Process by providing ongoing assessment of military actions from a local citizen perspective. Despite potential value, there are significant technological barriers to leveraging SM. SM collection and analysis are difficult in the dynamic SM environment and deception is a real concern. This paper introduces a credibility analysis approach and prototype fact-finding technology called the "Apollo Fact-finder" that mitigates the problem of inaccurate or falsified SM data. Apollo groups data into sets (or claims), corroborating specific observations, then iteratively assesses both claim and source credibility resulting in a ranking of claims by likelihood of occurrence. These credibility analysis approaches are discussed in the context of a conflict event, the Syrian civil war, and applied to tweets collected in the aftermath of the Syrian chemical weapons crisis.

Business Performer-Centered Design of User Interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sousa, Kênia; Vanderdonckt, Jean

Business Performer-Centered Design of User Interfaces is a new design methodology that adopts business process (BP) definition and a business performer perspective for managing the life cycle of user interfaces of enterprise systems. In this methodology, when the organization has a business process culture, the business processes of an organization are firstly defined according to a traditional methodology for this kind of artifact. These business processes are then transformed into a series of task models that represent the interactive parts of the business processes that will ultimately lead to interactive systems. When the organization has its enterprise systems, but not yet its business processes modeled, the user interfaces of the systems help derive tasks models, which are then used to derive the business processes. The double linking between a business process and a task model, and between a task model and a user interface model makes it possible to ensure traceability of the artifacts in multiple paths and enables a more active participation of business performers in analyzing the resulting user interfaces. In this paper, we outline how a human-perspective is used tied to a model-driven perspective.

Accessibility to Specialized Public Oral Health Services from the Perspective of Brazilian Users

PubMed Central

de Castro, Ricardo Dias; Rangel, Marianne de Lucena; da Silva, Marcos André Azevedo; de Lucena, Brunna Thaís Lucwu; Cavalcanti, Alessandro Leite; Bonan, Paulo Rogério Ferreti; Oliveira, Julyana de Araújo

2016-01-01

The Specialized Dental Clinics (SDCs) represent the first government initiative in Latin America aimed at providing specialized oral health services. This study sought to evaluate the organizational accessibility to specialized oral health care services in Brazil and to understand the factors that may be associated with accessibility from the user’s perspective. This epidemiological, cross-sectional and quantitative study was conducted by means of interviews with individuals who sought specialized public oral health services in the city of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil, and consisted of a sample of 590 individuals. Users expressed a favorable view of the classification and resolutive nature of specialized services offered by Brazilian public health. The binary logistic regression analysis revealed weak points highlighting the difficulty involved in obtaining such treatments leading to unfavorable evaluations. In the resolutive nature item, difficulty in accessing the location, queues and lack of materials and equipment were highlighted as statistically significant unfavorable aspects. While many of the users considered the service to be resolutive, weaknesses were mentioned that need to be detected to promote improvements and to prevent other health models adopted worldwide from reproducing the same flaws. PMID:27775584

Marking Time: Some Methodological and Historical Perspectives on the "Crisis of Childhood"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myers, Kevin

2012-01-01

Historical amnesia besets the consensus that Britain faces an unprecedented "crisis of childhood", and of child well-being. Drawing on evidence about changing uses of instruments and measures of well-being over time, this article explores and critiques claims about historical change and trends over time that are central to the imagined…

EXETRA Perspectives: Concepts in Therapeutic Recreation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neal, Larry L.; Edginton, Christopher R.

Fifteen papers address issues in therapeutic recreation for disabled persons from the perspectives of practitioners, educators, and students. The following papers are presented. "Therapeutic Recreation Service: The Past and Challenging Present" (H. Sessoms); "Therapeutic Recreatiion in an Era of Limits: A Crisis...A Challenge... An Opportunity"…

Psychological interventions for housebound people with psychosis: service user and therapist perspectives in South East London.

PubMed

Iredale, Catherine; Fornells-Ambrojo, Miriam; Jolley, Suzanne

2016-06-01

People with psychosis often have difficulty leaving their homes to perform tasks of daily living, which also limits their access to clinic-based interventions to support recovery. Home-based psychological therapy may offer a solution. To examine service user and therapist perspectives on (i) houseboundness in psychosis and (ii) the value of home-based psychological interventions, as a first step towards a systematic evaluation. Semistructured interviews with 10 service users and 12 therapists from a large inner city mental health NHS Foundation Trust were thematically analysed. Houseboundness most commonly resulted from anxiety, paranoia and amotivation, indicating the potential usefulness of targeted psychological therapies. Home-based therapy was offered unsystematically, with variable goals. Although beneficial for engagement and assessment, little gain was reported from undertaking a full course of therapy at home. Home visits could be offered by psychological therapists to engage and assess housebound service users, but home-based therapy may be best offered on a short-term basis, targeting paranoia, anxiety and amotivation to increase access to other resources. Given the increased cost associated with home-based psychological interventions, a systematic evaluation of their impact is warranted.

An evaluation of crisis hotline outcomes. Part 1: Nonsuicidal crisis callers.

PubMed

Kalafat, John; Gould, Madelyn S; Munfakh, Jimmie Lou Harris; Kleinman, Marjorie

2007-06-01

The effectiveness of telephone crisis services/hotlines, examining proximal outcomes as measured by changes in callers' crisis state from the beginning to the end of their calls to eight centers in the U.S. and intermediate outcomes within 3 weeks of their calls, was evaluated. Between March 2003 and July 2004, 1,617 crisis callers were assessed during their calls and 801 (49.5%) participated in the followup assessment. Significant decreases in callers' crisis states and hopelessness were found during the course of the telephone session, with continuing decreases in crisis states and hopelessness in the following weeks. A majority of callers were provided with referrals and/or plans of actions for their concerns and approximately one third of those provided with mental health referrals had followed up with the referral by the time of the follow-up assessment. While crisis service staff coded these callers as nonsuicidal, at follow-up nearly 12% of them reported having suicidal thoughts either during or since their call to the center. The need to conduct suicide risk assessments with crisis callers and to identify strategies to improve referral follow-up is highlighted.

Connections and consequences in complex systems: insights from a case study of the emergence and local impact of crisis resolution and home treatment services.

PubMed

Hannigan, Ben

2013-09-01

In this article the broad contours of a complexity perspective are outlined. Complexity ideas are then drawn on to frame an empirical examination of the connections running between different levels of organisation in health and social care, and to underpin investigation into the intended and unintended local system consequences of service development. Data are used from a study conducted in the UK's mental health field. Here, macro-level policy has led to the supplementing of longstanding community mental health teams by newer, more specialised, services. An example includes teams providing crisis resolution and home treatment (CRHT) care as an alternative to hospital admission. Using an embedded case study design, where 'the case' examined was a new CRHT team set in its surrounding organisational environment, ethnographic data (with interviews predominating) were generated in a single site in Wales over 18 months from the middle of 2007. In a large-scale context favourable to local decision-making, and against a background of a partial and disputed evidence base, the move to establish the new standalone service was contested. Whilst users valued the work of the team, and local practitioners recognised the quality of its contribution, powerful effects were also triggered across the locality's horizontal interfaces. Participants described parts of the interconnected system being closed to release resources, staff gravitating to new crisis services leaving holes elsewhere, and the most needy service users being cared for by the least experienced workers. Some community mental health team staff described unexpected increases in workload, and disputes over eligibility for crisis care with implications for system-wide working relations. Detailed data extracts are used to illustrate these connections and consequences. Concluding lessons are drawn on the use of evidence to inform policy, on the significance of local contexts and system interfaces, and on anticipating the

The health workforce crisis: the brain drain scourge.

PubMed

Ike, Samuel O

2007-01-01

The magnitude of the health workforce crisis engendered by brain drain particularly in Africa, and nay more especially Nigeria, has been assuming increasingly alarming proportions in the past three decades. The challenge it poses in meeting the manpower needs in the healthcare sector as well as in the larger economy of the sending countries is enormous. This paper thus sets out to highlight the scope of this brain drain, its effects and the reasons sustaining it, as well as makes concrete suggestions to help stern the tide. A review of the literature on brain drain with particular emphasis on the health workforce sector was done, with focus on Africa, and specifically Nigeria. Literature search was done using mainly the Medline, as well as local journals. The historical perspectives, with the scope of external and internal brain drain are explored. The glaring effects of brain drain both in the global workforce terrain and specifically in the health sectors are portrayed. The countries affected most and the reasons for brain drain are outlined. Strategic steps to redress the brain drain crisis are proffered in this paper. The health workforce crisis resulting from brain drain must be brought to the front-burner of strategic policy decisions leading to paradigm shift in political, social and economic conditions that would serve as incentives to curb the scourge.

Questioning the role of Facebook in maintaining Syrian social capital during the Syrian crisis.

PubMed

Ramadan, Reem

2017-12-01

The Syrian crisis is considered the 'world's single largest crisis for almost a quarter of a century that has the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation' (UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 2016). The rapid adoption of Facebook among Syrians questions whether it helps in maintaining the social capital of a war-torn nation and a dispersed Syrian population worldwide. Data was collected by means of a Facebook survey from 964 Syrian users. Results indicated that Facebook enhanced social identity and social capital through facilitating communication, collaboration and resource sharing among dispersed Syrians inside and outside the country. However, the offline rift of the nation was extended to Facebook through promoting hate speech among opposed parties. Results of this study may advance the understanding of the role of Facebook on social capital in countries going through similar crisis situations.

Public Opinion toward User Fees in Public Libraries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kinnucan, Mark T.; Estabrook, Leigh; Ferguson, Mark R.

1998-01-01

A reanalysis of data from a national telephone poll (n1181) conducted in 1991 determined that if local libraries faced a fiscal crisis, 47% favored raising taxes, 44% preferred instituting user fees, and 9% advocated reducing services. Frequent library use, urban residence, higher level of education, and greater income were associated with a…

Exploring powered wheelchair users and their caregivers' perspectives on potential intelligent power wheelchair use: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Kairy, Dahlia; Rushton, Paula W; Archambault, Philippe; Pituch, Evelina; Torkia, Caryne; El Fathi, Anas; Stone, Paula; Routhier, François; Forget, Robert; Demers, Louise; Pineau, Joelle; Gourdeau, Richard

2014-02-21

Power wheelchairs (PWCs) can have a positive impact on user well-being, self-esteem, pain, activity and participation. Newly developed intelligent power wheelchairs (IPWs), allowing autonomous or collaboratively-controlled navigation, could enhance mobility of individuals not able to use, or having difficulty using, standard PWCs. The objective of this study was to explore the perspectives of PWC users (PWUs) and their caregivers regarding if and how IPWs could impact on current challenges faced by PWUs, as well as inform current development of IPWs. A qualitative exploratory study using individual interviews was conducted with PWUs (n = 12) and caregivers (n = 4). A semi-structured interview guide and video were used to facilitate informed discussion regarding IPWs. Thematic analysis revealed three main themes: (1) "challenging situations that may be overcome by an IPW" described how the IPW features of obstacle avoidance, path following, and target following could alleviate PWUs' identified mobility difficulties; (2) "cautious optimism concerning IPW use revealed participants" addresses concerns regarding using an IPW as well as technological suggestions; (3) "defining the potential IPW user" revealed characteristics of PWUs that would benefit from IPW use. Findings indicate how IPW use may help overcome PWC difficulties and confirm the importance of user input in the ongoing development of IPWs.

Effects of financial crisis on the industry sector of Chinese stock market — from a perspective of complex network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chunxia; Chen, Yanhua; Hao, Weiwei; Shen, Ying; Tang, Minxuan; Niu, Lei

2014-05-01

In this paper, we use mutual information to measure the statistical interdependence between 23 industry sectors of Shanghai stock market and construct corresponding correlation network to analyze the shock of 2008 financial crisis on industry sectors. The obtained meaningful facts are as follows. First, such crisis has only a limited impact on leading industries such as Manufacturing, Commercial trade and Machinery & Equipment, which still play an important role in Chinese economy. Second, the crisis badly attacks China's export industries like Electronics, Wood & Furniture and Textile & Clothing. The damage further hurts other industries, and then export industries' influence becomes larger. Third, the crisis adversely impacts the import industries like Petrochemical, Metal & Nonmetal and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. While due to the stimulation of macroeconomic policies, the influence of crisis on import industries is limited. Similarly, due to relatively strict capital control and the macroeconomic policies stimulating the domestic demand, those industries like Construction, Real Estate and Financial Services are slightly wounded. All these findings suggest that Chinese government should transform from the external demand to the domestic consumption to sustain economic growth.

Understanding the needs of hand control users, driver rehabilitation specialists, and dealers/installers.

PubMed

Lowe, Evan; Drouin, Nathalie; Venhovens, Paul J; Brooks, Johnell O

2014-10-01

Understanding unique perspectives from key stakeholder groups involved in the hand control (HC) industry, including driver rehabilitation specialists (DRSs) who train users how to use their HCs, dealers/installers, and users, may become increasingly important in the United States due to increases in elderly, diabetic, and wounded warrior amputee driving populations. In this exploratory study, phone interviews were conducted with 20 DRSs, 20 dealers/installers, and 20 users regarding their perspectives about HC training, maintenance and operation, and design improvements. Results revealed common views and differences in perspectives about whether HC users should receive training and for how long, when and how often users should receive maintenance on their HCs, and what DRSs, dealers/installers, and users would like to see in the future.

Crisis management strategies.

PubMed

Koster, Maria C; Politis-Norton, Helen

2004-01-01

This paper discusses the different facets of crisis as experienced within the pharmaceutical industry but which are also prevalent throughout other industries. It highlights the importance of early identification and management of crises and issues, which in return are strongly intertwined with a fundamental positive internal corporate climate. A corporate philosophy should always embrace crisis management with the attitude of 'when' and not 'if'; therefore, a company should act today and not tomorrow once a crisis is on its doorstep. Preparation is of utmost importance and there are several items that can be addressed even before a crisis has arisen. Further, this paper also provides guidance on how to deal with the media, what to do and what not to do, and how to appoint the appropriate spokesperson. In this era of fast exchange of information, crisis, which previously may have stayed behind corporate doors, may not do so any longer. Image is very important and should therefore not be risked. Crisis and issue management should therefore be integrated in every company's philosophy and standard operating procedures.

A Qualitative Study of Prescription Contraception Use: The Perspectives of Users, General Practitioners and Pharmacists.

PubMed

Sweeney, Leigh-Ann; Molloy, Gerard J; Byrne, Molly; Murphy, Andrew W; Morgan, Karen; Hughes, Carmel M; Ingham, Roger

2015-01-01

The oral contraceptive pill (OCP) remains the most popular form of prescription contraception in many countries, despite adherence difficulties for many. Uptake of long acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), which are less reliant on user adherence, remains low. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of, and attitudes towards, prescription contraception amongst samples of contraception users, general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists. We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 18 contraception users, 18 GPs and 9 pharmacists. The study took place in Galway, Republic of Ireland between June and September 2014. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Overall, contraception users were more familiar with the OCP, and all the women interviewed began their prescription contraception journey using this method. All participants identified episodes of poor adherence throughout the reproductive life course. The identified barriers for use of LARCs were lack of information, misconceptions, lack of access and high cost. In contrast, GPs believed that adherence to the OCP was good and stated they were more likely to prescribe the OCP than other methods, as they were most familiar with this option. Barriers to prescribing LARCSs were time, cost to practice, training and deskilling. Pharmacists also believed that adherence to the OCP was generally good and that their role was limited to dispensing medication and providing information when asked. There are contrasting perspectives between contraception service providers and contraceptive users. Training for healthcare providers is required to support informed contraceptive choice and adherence. It is necessary to address the practice barriers of cost and lack of time, to promote better communication around adherence issues and prescription contraception options. There is a need for more easily-accessible public health information to promote awareness on all methods of

A Qualitative Study of Prescription Contraception Use: The Perspectives of Users, General Practitioners and Pharmacists

PubMed Central

Sweeney, Leigh-Ann; Molloy, Gerard J.; Byrne, Molly; Murphy, Andrew W.; Morgan, Karen; Hughes, Carmel M.; Ingham, Roger

2015-01-01

Background The oral contraceptive pill (OCP) remains the most popular form of prescription contraception in many countries, despite adherence difficulties for many. Uptake of long acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), which are less reliant on user adherence, remains low. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of, and attitudes towards, prescription contraception amongst samples of contraception users, general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists. Methodology and Findings We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 18 contraception users, 18 GPs and 9 pharmacists. The study took place in Galway, Republic of Ireland between June and September 2014. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Overall, contraception users were more familiar with the OCP, and all the women interviewed began their prescription contraception journey using this method. All participants identified episodes of poor adherence throughout the reproductive life course. The identified barriers for use of LARCs were lack of information, misconceptions, lack of access and high cost. In contrast, GPs believed that adherence to the OCP was good and stated they were more likely to prescribe the OCP than other methods, as they were most familiar with this option. Barriers to prescribing LARCSs were time, cost to practice, training and deskilling. Pharmacists also believed that adherence to the OCP was generally good and that their role was limited to dispensing medication and providing information when asked. Discussion and Conclusion There are contrasting perspectives between contraception service providers and contraceptive users. Training for healthcare providers is required to support informed contraceptive choice and adherence. It is necessary to address the practice barriers of cost and lack of time, to promote better communication around adherence issues and prescription contraception options. There is a need for more easily-accessible public

Methods for Improving the User-Computer Interface. Technical Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCann, Patrick H.

This summary of methods for improving the user-computer interface is based on a review of the pertinent literature. Requirements of the personal computer user are identified and contrasted with computer designer perspectives towards the user. The user's psychological needs are described, so that the design of the user-computer interface may be…

Virtual reality games for rehabilitation of people with stroke: perspectives from the users.

PubMed

Lewis, Gwyn N; Woods, Claire; Rosie, Juliet A; McPherson, Kathryn M

2011-01-01

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and users' perspectives of a novel virtual reality (VR) game-based rehabilitation intervention for people with stroke. METHOD. Six people with upper limb hemiplegia participated in a 6-week intervention that involved VR games. A series of eight progressively complex games was developed that required participants to navigate a submarine in a virtual ocean environment. Movement of the submarine was directed by forces applied to an arm interface by the affected limb. Outcome measures included assessments of arm function, questionnaires evaluating the intervention and a semi-structured interview concerning the participants' opinion of the intervention. RESULTS. All participants improved their performance on the games, although there were limited changes in clinical measures of arm function. All participants reported that they enjoyed the intervention with a wide range of overall perceptions of the experience of using VR. Three themes emerging from the interview data were: stretching myself, purpose and expectations of the intervention and future improvements. CONCLUSIONS. Participants found that taking part in this pilot study was enjoyable and challenging. Participants' feedback suggested that the games may be motivating and engaging for future users and have provided a basis for further development of the intervention.

Crisis resolution and home treatment: stakeholders' views on critical ingredients and implementation in England.

PubMed

Morant, Nicola; Lloyd-Evans, Brynmor; Lamb, Danielle; Fullarton, Kate; Brown, Eleanor; Paterson, Beth; Istead, Hannah; Kelly, Kathleen; Hindle, David; Fahmy, Sarah; Henderson, Claire; Mason, Oliver; Johnson, Sonia

2017-07-17

Crisis resolution teams (CRTs) can provide effective home-based treatment for acute mental health crises, although critical ingredients of the model have not been clearly identified, and implementation has been inconsistent. In order to inform development of a more highly specified CRT model that meets service users' needs, this study used qualitative methods to investigate stakeholders' experiences and views of CRTs, and what is important in good quality home-based crisis care. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with service users (n = 41), carers (n = 20) and practitioners (CRT staff, managers and referrers; n = 147, 26 focus groups, 9 interviews) in 10 mental health catchment areas in England, and with international CRT developers (n = 11). Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Three domains salient to views about optimal care were identified. 1. The organisation of CRT care: Providing a rapid initial responses, and frequent home visits from the same staff were seen as central to good care, particularly by service users and carers. Being accessible, reliable, and having some flexibility were also valued. Negative experiences of some referral pathways, and particularly lack of staff continuity were identified as problematic. 2. The content of CRT work: Emotional support was at the centre of service users' experiences. All stakeholder groups thought CRTs should involve the whole family, and offer a range of interventions. However, carers often feel excluded, and medication is often prioritised over other forms of support. 3. The role of CRTs within the care system: Gate-keeping admissions is seen as a key role for CRTs within the acute care system. Service users and carers report that recovery is quicker compared to in-patient care. Lack of knowledge and misunderstandings about CRTs among referrers are common. Overall, levels of stakeholder agreement about the critical ingredients of good crisis care were high, although

An Evaluation of Crisis Hotline Outcomes. Part 1: Nonsuicidal Crisis Callers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalafat, John; Gould, Madelyn S.; Munfakh, Jimmie Lou Harris; Kleinman, Marjorie

2007-01-01

The effectiveness of telephone crisis services/hotlines, examining proximal outcomes as measured by changes in callers' crisis state from the beginning to the end of their calls to eight centers in the U.S. and intermediate outcomes within 3 weeks of their calls, was evaluated. Between March 2003 and July 2004, 1,617 crisis callers were assessed…

Volunteer and user evaluation of the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline.

PubMed

Finn, Jerry; Garner, Michelle D; Wilson, Jen

2011-08-01

The National Sexual Assault Online Hotline (NSAOH) is a new model for delivery of rape and sexual assault crisis services through a secure, confidential chat-based online hotline. This paper presents a program evaluation drawn from volunteer counselor and user perceptions and experiences during the second year of operation of the NSAOH. Outcome data are presented from 731 session evaluations submitted by 94 volunteers and session evaluations from 4609 user sessions collected between June 1, 2008 and May 30, 2009. Evaluation includes ratings of usefulness, topics discussed, length of sessions, services provided, and session difficulties. The results indicate that the model is viable and useful, and the majority of volunteers and users are satisfied. Volunteer knowledge and skills are strongly associated with satisfaction with the hotline. Nevertheless, one-fifth of volunteers rate their session as not useful and users rate 8.2% of volunteers low in knowledge and skills. NSAOH is reaching many who have not previously sought services or did not resolve issues through other means. Findings suggest the importance of preparing volunteers in both crisis intervention and a wide variety of long-term issues related to sexual assault. Recommendations for program development, evaluation, and further research are presented. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hemolytic crisis

MedlinePlus

Hemolytic crisis occurs when large numbers of red blood cells are destroyed over a short time. The loss of ... During a hemolytic crisis, the body cannot make enough red blood cells to replace those that are destroyed. This causes acute and often ...

Managing the water crisis: A youth perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simataa, Faith

2017-04-01

The youth are identified as a key group to include in effective engagement and decision-making for water security and sustainable development. An increase in severe droughts in Namibia has highlighted its destructive impacts and led to a growing concern about the societal exposure of communities. Acknowledging the benefit of access to safe drinking water to humanity, in reality a disproportionate burden of protecting environmental benefits such as clean water is borne by the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. As a result, a key consideration highlighted in the Hyogo and Sendai Frameworks is the inclusion of gender & age perspectives, and vulnerable groups in planning for disaster risk reduction. Therefore, the paper argues that empowering the youth with knowledge and skills capability in disaster risk issues becomes essential for a sustainable management approach, and a potential 'rescue' mechanism from the web of poverty. The paper also illustrates that there is indeed weak adherence to good governance and that the government needs to improve structures for youth coordination to ensure water stewardship. Realizing this gap in knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of resilience at all levels of society, the paper offers a perspective on the role of youth in the development agenda of Namibia and how they can influence decision-making processes in addressing water insecurity in the country. Keywords: Empowerment, Namibia, Water insecurity, Youth

Perspectives of the Continuing Education Unit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Huey B.

1974-01-01

The article discusses the Continuing Education Unit's chameleon-like nature by focusing on its definition and background and possible perceptions from the academic perspective, the user group perspective and the individual learner's perspective. (AG)

Phaeochromocytoma [corrected] crisis.

PubMed

Whitelaw, B C; Prague, J K; Mustafa, O G; Schulte, K-M; Hopkins, P A; Gilbert, J A; McGregor, A M; Aylwin, S J B

2014-01-01

Phaeochromocytoma [corrected] crisis is an endocrine emergency associated with significant mortality. There is little published guidance on the management of phaeochromocytoma [corrected] crisis. This clinical practice update summarizes the relevant published literature, including a detailed review of cases published in the past 5 years, and a proposed classification system. We review the recommended management of phaeochromocytoma [corrected] crisis including the use of alpha-blockade, which is strongly associated with survival of a crisis. Mechanical circulatory supportive therapy (including intra-aortic balloon pump or extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation) is strongly recommended for patients with sustained hypotension. Surgical intervention should be deferred until medical stabilization is achieved. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Before Crisis Hits: Building a Strategic Crisis Plan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Larry L.; Millar, Dan P.

This guide offers suggestions to college administrators for dealing with a variety of emergency or crisis situations that could affect a community college's effectiveness. The authors used the Institute for Crisis Management's (ICM) four types of crises in higher education as the framework for the guide. The four types of crises are: (1) sudden;…

EUROPE IN CRISIS

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-06

the only international organization that can manage the Syrian refugee security crisis causing problems for the EU from root to branch because NATO is...AIR WAR COLLEGE AIR UNIVERSITY EUROPE IN CRISIS By Peter Halseth, Civilian, Defense Logistics Agency A Research Report Submitted...Syrian refugee crisis and providing intelligence assistance to member countries in the European Union (EU) of foreign fighters returning from the

[The economic-financial crisis and health in Spain. Evidence and viewpoints. SESPAS report 2014].

PubMed

Cortès-Franch, Imma; González López-Valcárcel, Beatriz

2014-06-01

The objectives of the SESPAS 2014 Report are as follows: a) to analyze the impact of the economic crisis on health and health-related behaviors, on health inequalities, and on the determinants of health in Spain; b) to describe the changes in the Spanish health system following measures to address the crisis and assess its potential impact on health; c) to review the evidence on the health impact of economic crises in other countries, as well as policy responses; and d) to suggest policy interventions alternative to those carried out to date with a population health perspective and scientific evidence in order to help mitigate the impact of the economic downturn on health and health inequalities. The report is organized in five sections: 1) the economic, financial and health crisis: causes, consequences, and contexts; 2) the impact on structural determinants of health and health inequalities; 3) the impact on health and health-related behaviors, and indicators for monitoring; 4) the impact on health systems; and 5) the impact on specific populations: children, seniors, and immigrants. There is some evidence on the relationship between the crisis and the health of the Spanish population, health inequalities, some changes in lifestyle, and variations in access to health services. The crisis has impacted many structural determinants of health, particularly among the most vulnerable population groups. Generally, policy responses on how to manage the crisis have not taken the evidence into account. The crisis may contribute to making public policy vulnerable to corporate action, thus jeopardizing the implementation of healthy policies. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Sickle Cell Crisis (For Teens)

MedlinePlus

... Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Sickle Cell Crisis (Pain Crisis) KidsHealth / For Teens / Sickle Cell ... drepanocíticas (Crisis de dolor) What Is a Sickle Cell Crisis? Sickle cell disease changes the shape of ...

The potential impact of intelligent power wheelchair use on social participation: perspectives of users, caregivers and clinicians.

PubMed

Rushton, Paula W; Kairy, Dahlia; Archambault, Philippe; Pituch, Evelina; Torkia, Caryne; El Fathi, Anas; Stone, Paula; Routhier, François; Forget, Robert; Pineau, Joelle; Gourdeau, Richard; Demers, Louise

2015-05-01

To explore power wheelchair users', caregivers' and clinicians' perspectives regarding the potential impact of intelligent power wheelchair use on social participation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with power wheelchair users (n = 12), caregivers (n = 4) and clinicians (n = 12). An illustrative video was used to facilitate discussion. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified based on the experiences of the power wheelchair users, caregivers and clinicians: (1) increased social participation opportunities, (2) changing how social participation is experienced and (3) decreased risk of accidents during social participation. Findings from this study suggest that an intelligent power wheelchair would enhance social participation in a variety of important ways, thereby providing support for continued design and development of this assistive technology. An intelligent power wheelchair has the potential to: Increase social participation opportunities by overcoming challenges associated with navigating through crowds and small spaces. Change how social participation is experienced through "normalizing" social interactions and decreasing the effort required to drive a power wheelchair. Decrease the risk of accidents during social participation by reducing the need for dangerous compensatory strategies and minimizing the impact of the physical environment.

Bioinformatics meets user-centred design: a perspective.

PubMed

Pavelin, Katrina; Cham, Jennifer A; de Matos, Paula; Brooksbank, Cath; Cameron, Graham; Steinbeck, Christoph

2012-01-01

Designers have a saying that "the joy of an early release lasts but a short time. The bitterness of an unusable system lasts for years." It is indeed disappointing to discover that your data resources are not being used to their full potential. Not only have you invested your time, effort, and research grant on the project, but you may face costly redesigns if you want to improve the system later. This scenario would be less likely if the product was designed to provide users with exactly what they need, so that it is fit for purpose before its launch. We work at EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), and we consult extensively with life science researchers to find out what they need from biological data resources. We have found that although users believe that the bioinformatics community is providing accurate and valuable data, they often find the interfaces to these resources tricky to use and navigate. We believe that if you can find out what your users want even before you create the first mock-up of a system, the final product will provide a better user experience. This would encourage more people to use the resource and they would have greater access to the data, which could ultimately lead to more scientific discoveries. In this paper, we explore the need for a user-centred design (UCD) strategy when designing bioinformatics resources and illustrate this with examples from our work at EMBL-EBI. Our aim is to introduce the reader to how selected UCD techniques may be successfully applied to software design for bioinformatics.

Waiting for a Crisis: Case Studies of Crisis Leaders in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muffet-Willett, Stacy L.

2010-01-01

This study examines the system of crisis leadership in higher education. Using case study methods, five crisis leadership participants were interviewed to develop a deep understanding of how they perceive their university crisis leadership system. Two participants were from a private institution, and three were from a public institution. Higher…

Internet Ethics for Users and Providers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ben-Jacob, Marion G.

2017-01-01

This article deliberates concepts of Internet ethics from the perspectives of user and providers. It discusses concerns of the users from different disciplines. It addresses issues and corresponding regulations of service providers. It considers matters of privacy. The culmination is an exercise for students that incorporates usage of the Internet…

The Accounting Network: How Financial Institutions React to Systemic Crisis

PubMed Central

Puliga, Michelangelo; Flori, Andrea; Pappalardo, Giuseppe; Chessa, Alessandro; Pammolli, Fabio

2016-01-01

The role of Network Theory in the study of the financial crisis has been widely spotted in the latest years. It has been shown how the network topology and the dynamics running on top of it can trigger the outbreak of large systemic crisis. Following this methodological perspective we introduce here the Accounting Network, i.e. the network we can extract through vector similarities techniques from companies’ financial statements. We build the Accounting Network on a large database of worldwide banks in the period 2001–2013, covering the onset of the global financial crisis of mid-2007. After a careful data cleaning, we apply a quality check in the construction of the network, introducing a parameter (the Quality Ratio) capable of trading off the size of the sample (coverage) and the representativeness of the financial statements (accuracy). We compute several basic network statistics and check, with the Louvain community detection algorithm, for emerging communities of banks. Remarkably enough sensible regional aggregations show up with the Japanese and the US clusters dominating the community structure, although the presence of a geographically mixed community points to a gradual convergence of banks into similar supranational practices. Finally, a Principal Component Analysis procedure reveals the main economic components that influence communities’ heterogeneity. Even using the most basic vector similarity hypotheses on the composition of the financial statements, the signature of the financial crisis clearly arises across the years around 2008. We finally discuss how the Accounting Networks can be improved to reflect the best practices in the financial statement analysis. PMID:27736865

The Accounting Network: How Financial Institutions React to Systemic Crisis.

PubMed

Puliga, Michelangelo; Flori, Andrea; Pappalardo, Giuseppe; Chessa, Alessandro; Pammolli, Fabio

2016-01-01

The role of Network Theory in the study of the financial crisis has been widely spotted in the latest years. It has been shown how the network topology and the dynamics running on top of it can trigger the outbreak of large systemic crisis. Following this methodological perspective we introduce here the Accounting Network, i.e. the network we can extract through vector similarities techniques from companies' financial statements. We build the Accounting Network on a large database of worldwide banks in the period 2001-2013, covering the onset of the global financial crisis of mid-2007. After a careful data cleaning, we apply a quality check in the construction of the network, introducing a parameter (the Quality Ratio) capable of trading off the size of the sample (coverage) and the representativeness of the financial statements (accuracy). We compute several basic network statistics and check, with the Louvain community detection algorithm, for emerging communities of banks. Remarkably enough sensible regional aggregations show up with the Japanese and the US clusters dominating the community structure, although the presence of a geographically mixed community points to a gradual convergence of banks into similar supranational practices. Finally, a Principal Component Analysis procedure reveals the main economic components that influence communities' heterogeneity. Even using the most basic vector similarity hypotheses on the composition of the financial statements, the signature of the financial crisis clearly arises across the years around 2008. We finally discuss how the Accounting Networks can be improved to reflect the best practices in the financial statement analysis.

User Perspectives on Exergames Designed to Explore the Hemineglected Space for Stroke Patients With Visuospatial Neglect: Usability Study

PubMed Central

Knols, Ruud H; Borghese, N Alberto; de Bruin, Eling D

2017-01-01

Background Visuospatial neglect due to stroke is characterized by the inability to perceive stimuli emerging in the area opposite to the side of brain damage. Besides adopting conventional rehabilitation methods to treat neglect symptoms, the use of virtual reality (VR) is becoming increasingly popular. We designed a series of 9 exergames aimed to improve exploration of the neglected side of space. When new VR interventions are designed, it is important to assess the usability aspects of such management strategies within the target population. To date, most studies used questionnaires to assess user satisfaction with the intervention or product being tested. However, only a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data allows a full picture of user perspective. Objective The purpose of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively assess patient and therapist perspectives of a VR intervention based on the series of 9 exergames designed to explore hemineglected space. Specifically, we wanted to evaluate (1) perceived-user friendliness of the exergames, (2) attitude towards using the exergames, and (3) intention to use the exergames in the future. Methods A total of 19 participants (7 patients, 12 therapists) evaluated the exergames they had used 5 times a week during 3 weeks. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) questionnaire was filled out after the intervention. Based on those responses, we conducted focus group interviews (with therapists) and individual interviews (with patients). To analyze the TAM questionnaires, we used descriptive statistics. We adopted content and comparative analysis to analyze the interviews and drew illustration maps to analyze the focus group interviews. Results The therapists took a more critical stance with a mean TAM questionnaire total score of 48.6 (SD 4.5) compared to the patients who had a mean total score of 56.1 (SD 12.3). The perceived user-friendliness score was 5.6 (SD 1.4) for patients and 4.9 (SD 1.4) for

Recovery in Psychosis from a Service User Perspective: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis of Current Qualitative Evidence.

PubMed

Wood, L; Alsawy, S

2017-11-29

There is a growing number of qualitative accounts regarding recovery from psychosis from a service user perspective. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of these qualitative accounts. A thematic synthesis was utilised to synthesise and analyse seventeen studies included in the review. Studies were included if they used a qualitative methodology to explore service users' experiences of recovery from psychosis as a primary research question. All included studies were subjected to a quality assessment. The analysis outlined three subordinate themes: the recovery journey, facilitators of recovery (e.g. faith and spirituality, personal agency and hope), and barriers to recovery (e.g. stigma and discrimination, negative effects of mental health services and medication). Recovery is an idiosyncratic process but includes key components which are important to people who experience psychosis. These should be explored within clinical practice.

Crisis Management: Research Summaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brock, Stephen E., Ed.; Dorman, Sally; Anderson, Luke; McNair, Daniel

2013-01-01

This article presents summaries of three studies relevant to school crisis response. The first report, "A Framework for International Crisis Intervention" (Sally Dorman), is a review of how existing crisis intervention models (including the NASP PREPaRE model) have been adapted for international use. The second article, "Responding…

Determination of Appropriate Service Delivery Level for Quantitative Attributes of Household Toilets in Rural Settlements of India from Users' Perspective.

PubMed

Rashid, Mohammad; Pandit, Debapratim

2018-04-01

Improvement of quality of sanitation services in rural settlements is an important development goal in developing countries including India and accordingly several strategies are adopted which promote the demand and use of household toilets through creating awareness and providing subsidies to poor people for construction of household toilets with service-level standards specified from experts' perspective. In many cases, users are unsatisfied with the quality of toilets constructed using subsidies and the same remain unused. Users' satisfaction depends on their perceptions of service quality of individual attributes and overall service quality of the household toilets, which is an important determinant of sustainability and sustained use of toilets. This study aims to assess and benchmark the appropriate service delivery level for quantitative attributes of rural household toilets based on user perception. The service quality is determined with the help of level of service (LOS) scales developed using successive interval scaling technique, the zone of tolerance (ZOT), and users satisfaction level (USL) which relates service delivery levels with user satisfaction directly. The study finds that the service quality of most of the attributes of household toilets constructed using subsidies is perceived as poor. The results also suggest that most of the users expect to have a toilet with the service level of attributes ranging between LOS A and LOS B.

Determination of Appropriate Service Delivery Level for Quantitative Attributes of Household Toilets in Rural Settlements of India from Users' Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rashid, Mohammad; Pandit, Debapratim

2018-04-01

Improvement of quality of sanitation services in rural settlements is an important development goal in developing countries including India and accordingly several strategies are adopted which promote the demand and use of household toilets through creating awareness and providing subsidies to poor people for construction of household toilets with service-level standards specified from experts' perspective. In many cases, users are unsatisfied with the quality of toilets constructed using subsidies and the same remain unused. Users' satisfaction depends on their perceptions of service quality of individual attributes and overall service quality of the household toilets, which is an important determinant of sustainability and sustained use of toilets. This study aims to assess and benchmark the appropriate service delivery level for quantitative attributes of rural household toilets based on user perception. The service quality is determined with the help of level of service (LOS) scales developed using successive interval scaling technique, the zone of tolerance (ZOT), and users satisfaction level (USL) which relates service delivery levels with user satisfaction directly. The study finds that the service quality of most of the attributes of household toilets constructed using subsidies is perceived as poor. The results also suggest that most of the users expect to have a toilet with the service level of attributes ranging between LOS A and LOS B.

School-Based Crisis Intervention: Preparing All Personnel to Assist. Practical Intervention in the Schools Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heath, Melissa Allen; Sheen, Dawn

2005-01-01

When a student is in dire need of emotional support, caring adults in the school can make a difference. This essential resource helps practitioners prepare all school personnel to respond sensitively and effectively to children and adolescents in crisis. Packed with user-friendly features--including over 50 reproducible tools--the book provides…

Consumer experience of formal crisis-response services and preferred methods of crisis intervention.

PubMed

Boscarato, Kara; Lee, Stuart; Kroschel, Jon; Hollander, Yitzchak; Brennan, Alice; Warren, Narelle

2014-08-01

The manner in which people with mental illness are supported in a crisis is crucial to their recovery. The current study explored mental health consumers' experiences with formal crisis services (i.e. police and crisis assessment and treatment (CAT) teams), preferred crisis supports, and opinions of four collaborative interagency response models. Eleven consumers completed one-on-one, semistructured interviews. The results revealed that the perceived quality of previous formal crisis interventions varied greatly. Most participants preferred family members or friends to intervene. However, where a formal response was required, general practitioners and mental health case managers were preferred; no participant wanted a police response, and only one indicated a preference for CAT team assistance. Most participants welcomed collaborative crisis interventions. Of four collaborative interagency response models currently being trialled internationally, participants most strongly supported the Ride-Along Model, which enables a police officer and a mental health clinician to jointly respond to distressed consumers in the community. The findings highlight the potential for an interagency response model to deliver a crisis response aligned with consumers' preferences. © 2014 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

The Status of the Writing Crisis: A Retrospective and Prospective Report on the 1980 Symposium on Literacy at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blau, Sheridan

The presentations and discussion at the 1980 Symposium on the Writing Crisis held in Santa Barbara, California, yielded two different but complementary perspectives on the problems of writing and writing instruction--a political perspective and a professional one. From a political standpoint there was general agreememt that the notion of a…

Husserl's Crisis as a crisis of psychology.

PubMed

Feest, Uljana

2012-06-01

This paper places Husserl's mature work, The Crisis of the European Sciences, in the context of his engagement with--and critique of--experimental psychology at the time. I begin by showing (a) that Husserl accorded psychology a crucial role in his philosophy, i.e., that of providing a scientific analysis of subjectivity, and (b) that he viewed contemporary psychology--due to its naturalism--as having failed to pursue this goal in the appropriate manner. I then provide an analysis of Husserl's views about naturalism and scientific philosophy. Some central themes of the Crisis are traced back to Husserl's earlier work and to his relationship with his teacher, Franz Brentano, with whom he disagreed about the status of "inner perception" as the proper scientific method for a phenomenological analysis. The paper then shows that Husserl was well aware of at least one publication about the crisis of psychology (Bühler's 1927 book), and it teases out some aspects of the complicated relationship between Husserl and members of the Würzburg School of thought psychology: The latter had drawn on Husserl's writings, but Husserl felt that they had misunderstood his central thesis. I conclude by placing Husserl's work in the wider context of scientific, cultural, and political crisis-discourses at the time. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Crisis Communication Plans: Poor Predictors of Excellent Crisis Public Relations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marra, Francis J.

1998-01-01

Argues that newly developed theory in crisis public relations suggests a shift is necessary in the way practitioners view crises. Notes that the new paradigm defines excellent crisis public relations very differently from the literature of the past 20 years. (RS)

CRISIS2012: An Updated Tool to Compute Seismic Hazard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ordaz, M.; Martinelli, F.; Meletti, C.; D'Amico, V.

2013-05-01

may be freely developed and integrated without having to recompile the core code. Therefore, the users can build new external classes implementing custom GMPM modules by adhering to the programming-interface specification, which is delivered as part of the executable program. On the other hand, generalized attenuation models are non-parametric probabilistic descriptions of the ground motions produced by individual earthquakes with known magnitude and location. In the context of CRISIS, a generalized attenuation model is a collection of probabilistic footprints, one for each of the events considered in the analysis. Each footprint gives the geographical distribution of the intensities produced by this event. CRISIS permits now the inclusion of local site effects in hazard computations. Site effects are given to CRISIS in terms of amplification factors that depend on site location, period, and ground-motion level (in order to account for soil non-linearity). Enhanced capabilities to make logic-tree computations and to produce seismic disaggregation charts. A new presentation layer, developed for accessing the same functionalities of the desktop version via web (CRISISWeb). Examples will be presented and the program will be made available to all interested persons.

Parental participation in the habilitation process--evaluation from a user perspective.

PubMed

Granat, T; Lagander, B; Börjesson, M C

2002-11-01

To develop a national instrument for evaluation of parental participation: (1) to obtain a functional measure of quality from a user perspective; (2) as part of quality development in child habilitation services departments; (3) to create common grounds for the evaluation of important aspects of the habilitation process based on the opinions of users and care professionals; (4) to enable evaluation of individual service departments from a more general viewpoint and to highlight areas for improvement; and (5) to enable comparisons of individual service departments in the future against those of others via benchmarking. The Measurement of Processes of Care (MPOC) was deemed to be the method that corresponded most closely with these formulated aims. A shortened version, MPOC 20, had already been produced and was awaiting publication. This shortened version measures the same important aspects of habilitation as the original MPOC. It also has a new scale, with verbal clarification for each step. This makes it more user friendly, as the results are easier to interpret. MPOC 20 was modified to become MPOC 28. This questionnaire was sent out in 11 of 26 counties in Sweden. The target group for the questionnaires was families with children up to 18 years of age who had been in contact with a habilitation services department for at least 1 year. The sample group comprised 4013 randomly selected families. A total of 3391 (84.5%) returned the questionnaire, and 2458 (61%) had responded to the questions. Twelve particular questions that can be regarded as fundamental to the habilitation processes emerged from the questionnaire in the regression analysis. These are measures of good quality in the habilitation process as perceived by the parents and are important in their overall satisfaction with habilitation services. Apart from the specific information category, these questions represented all the factors, i.e. enabling/partnership, general information, co

Massachusetts Dental Schools Respond to the Prescription Opioid Crisis: A Statewide Collaboration.

PubMed

Keith, David A; Kulich, Ronald J; Bharel, Monica; Boose, Robert E; Brownstein, Jennifer; Da Silva, John D; D'Innocenzo, Richard; Donoff, R Bruce; Factor, Ellen; Hutter, Jeffrey W; Shaefer, Jeffry R; Karimbux, Nadeem Y; Jack, Helen; Thomas, Huw F

2017-12-01

The prescription opioid crisis has involved all sectors of U.S. society, affecting every community, socioeconomic group, and age group. While federal and state agencies are actively working to deal with the epidemic, medical and dental providers have been tasked to increase their awareness of the issues and consider ways to safely prescribe opioids and, at the same time, effectively treat their patients' pain. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, under the leadership of Governor Charles D. Baker and his administration, challenged the state's four medical schools and three dental schools to improve their curricula to prepare the next generation of clinicians to deal with this crisis in an evidence-based, effective, and sympathetic way. This Perspectives article outlines the national prescription opioid crisis, details its effects in Massachusetts, and describes the interdisciplinary collaboration among the Commonwealth, the three dental schools, the Massachusetts Dental Society, and a concerned student group. The article also describes the efforts each dental school is undertaking as well as an assessment of the challenges and limitations in implementing the initiative. The authors hope that the Massachusetts model will be a useful resource for dental schools in other states.

The Effect of Bad News and CEO Apology of Corporate on User Responses in Social Media

PubMed Central

Cha, Meeyoung; Jeong, Jaeseung

2015-01-01

While social media has become an important platform for social reputation, the emotional responses of users toward bad news have not been investigated thoroughly. We analyzed a total of 20,773 Twitter messages by 15,513 users to assess the influence of bad news and public apology in social media. Based on both computerized, quantitative sentiment analysis and in-depth qualitative analysis, we found that rapid public apology effectively and immediately reduced the level of negative sentiment, where the degree of change in sentiments differed by the type of interactions users engaged in. The majority of users who directly conversed with corporate representatives on the new media were not typical consumers, but experts and practitioners. We extend the existing cognitive model and suggest the audiences’ psychological reaction model to describe the information processing process during and after an organizational crisis and response. We also discuss various measures through which companies can respond to a crisis properly in social media in a fashion that is different from conventional mass media. PMID:25951231

The Effect of Bad News and CEO Apology of Corporate on User Responses in Social Media.

PubMed

Kim, Hoh; Park, Jaram; Cha, Meeyoung; Jeong, Jaeseung

2015-01-01

While social media has become an important platform for social reputation, the emotional responses of users toward bad news have not been investigated thoroughly. We analyzed a total of 20,773 Twitter messages by 15,513 users to assess the influence of bad news and public apology in social media. Based on both computerized, quantitative sentiment analysis and in-depth qualitative analysis, we found that rapid public apology effectively and immediately reduced the level of negative sentiment, where the degree of change in sentiments differed by the type of interactions users engaged in. The majority of users who directly conversed with corporate representatives on the new media were not typical consumers, but experts and practitioners. We extend the existing cognitive model and suggest the audiences' psychological reaction model to describe the information processing process during and after an organizational crisis and response. We also discuss various measures through which companies can respond to a crisis properly in social media in a fashion that is different from conventional mass media.

Liquidity crisis detection: An application of log-periodic power law structures to default prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wosnitza, Jan Henrik; Denz, Cornelia

2013-09-01

We employ the log-periodic power law (LPPL) to analyze the late-2000 financial crisis from the perspective of critical phenomena. The main purpose of this study is to examine whether LPPL structures in the development of credit default swap (CDS) spreads can be used for default classification. Based on the different triggers of Bear Stearns’ near bankruptcy during the late-2000 financial crisis and Ford’s insolvency in 2009, this study provides a quantitative description of the mechanism behind bank runs. We apply the Johansen-Ledoit-Sornette (JLS) positive feedback model to explain the rise of financial institutions’ CDS spreads during the global financial crisis 2007-2009. This investigation is based on CDS spreads of 40 major banks over the period from June 2007 to April 2009 which includes a significant CDS spread increase. The qualitative data analysis indicates that the CDS spread variations have followed LPPL patterns during the global financial crisis. Furthermore, the univariate classification performances of seven LPPL parameters as default indicators are measured by Mann-Whitney U tests. The present study supports the hypothesis that discrete scale-invariance governs the dynamics of financial markets and suggests the application of new and fast updateable default indicators to capture the buildup of long-range correlations between creditors.

ConformRank: A conformity-based rank for finding top-k influential users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qiyao; Jin, Yuehui; Cheng, Shiduan; Yang, Tan

2017-05-01

Finding influential users is a hot topic in social networks. For example, advertisers identify influential users to make a successful campaign. Retweeters forward messages from original users, who originally publish messages. This action is referred to as retweeting. Retweeting behaviors generate influence. Original users have influence on retweeters. Whether retweeters keep the same sentiment as original users is taken into consideration in this study. Influence is calculated based on conformity from emotional perspective after retweeting. A conformity-based algorithm, called ConformRank, is proposed to find top-k influential users, who make the most users keep the same sentiment after retweeting messages. Emotional conformity is introduced to denote how users conform to original users from the emotional perspective. Conforming weights are introduced to denote how two users keep the same sentiment after retweeting messages. Emotional conformity is applied for users and conforming weights are used for relations. Experiments were conducted on Sina Weibo. Experimental results show that users have larger influence when they publish positive messages.

Users as essential contributors to spatial cyberinfrastructures

PubMed Central

Poore, Barbara S.

2011-01-01

Current accounts of spatial cyberinfrastructure development tend to overemphasize technologies to the neglect of critical social and cultural issues on which adoption depends. Spatial cyberinfrastructures will have a higher chance of success if users of many types, including nonprofessionals, are made central to the development process. Recent studies in the history of infrastructures reveal key turning points and issues that should be considered in the development of spatial cyberinfrastructure projects. These studies highlight the importance of adopting qualitative research methods to learn how users work with data and digital tools, and how user communities form. The author's empirical research on data sharing networks in the Pacific Northwest salmon crisis at the turn of the 21st century demonstrates that ordinary citizens can contribute critical local knowledge to global databases and should be considered in the design and construction of spatial cyberinfrastructures. PMID:21444825

Users as essential contributors to spatial cyberinfrastructures.

PubMed

Poore, Barbara S

2011-04-05

Current accounts of spatial cyberinfrastructure development tend to overemphasize technologies to the neglect of critical social and cultural issues on which adoption depends. Spatial cyberinfrastructures will have a higher chance of success if users of many types, including nonprofessionals, are made central to the development process. Recent studies in the history of infrastructures reveal key turning points and issues that should be considered in the development of spatial cyberinfrastructure projects. These studies highlight the importance of adopting qualitative research methods to learn how users work with data and digital tools, and how user communities form. The author's empirical research on data sharing networks in the Pacific Northwest salmon crisis at the turn of the 21st century demonstrates that ordinary citizens can contribute critical local knowledge to global databases and should be considered in the design and construction of spatial cyberinfrastructures.

Users as essential contributors to spatial cyberinfrastructures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poore, B.S.

2011-01-01

Current accounts of spatial cyberinfrastructure development tend to overemphasize technologies to the neglect of critical social and cultural issues on which adoption depends. Spatial cyberinfrastructures will have a higher chance of success if users of many types, including nonprofessionals, are made central to the development process. Recent studies in the history of infrastructures reveal key turning points and issues that should be considered in the development of spatial cyberinfrastructure projects. These studies highlight the importance of adopting qualitative research methods to learn how users work with data and digital tools, and how user communities form. The author's empirical research on data sharing networks in the Pacific Northwest salmon crisis at the turn of the 21st century demonstrates that ordinary citizens can contribute critical local knowledge to global databases and should be considered in the design and construction of spatial cyberinfrastructures.

Provider and service-user perspectives of volunteer health-worker service provision in Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Watt, Nicola; Yupar, Aye; Sender, Paul; Campbell, Fiona; Legido-Quigley, Helena; Howard, Natasha

2016-12-09

To explore perspectives and reported experiences of service users, community providers and policymakers related to volunteer health-worker services provision in a rural area of Myanmar. A qualitative interview study was conducted in rural communities with 54 service users and 17 community providers in Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar, and with 14 national managers and policymakers in Yangon Myanmar. Topics included reasons for seeking health services, views and experiences, and comparison with experiences of other services. Data were analysed thematically using deductive and inductive coding. Accessibility and affordability were important to all participants. Service users described the particular relevance of trust, familiarity and acceptability in choosing a provider. Perceived quality and effectiveness were necessary for trust to develop. Perceived value of volunteers was a cross-cutting dimension, which was interpreted differently by different participants. Results suggest that volunteers are appropriate and valued, and support 'availability', 'accessibility' and 'acceptability' as dimensions of health services access in this setting. However, social complexities should be considered to ensure effective service delivery. Further research into trust-building, developing quality perceptions and resulting service-user choices would be useful to inform effective policy and planning. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Pitfalls of Personal Development Plans--The User Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grohnert, Therese; Beausaert, Simon; Segers, Mien

2014-01-01

This study was conducted to investigate which pitfalls users of personal development plans (PDPs) perceive in business and governmental organisations with mandatory PDP use. Hundred and thirty-one written statements of PDP users across three Dutch organisations were analysed and categorised into nine pitfalls. Next to an overall lack of use and…

ALMA from the Users' Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Kelsey

2010-05-01

After decades of dreaming and preparation, the call for early science with ALMA is just around the corner. The goal of this talk is to illustrate the process of preparing and carrying out a research program with ALMA. This presentation will step through the user interface for proposal preparation, proposal review, project tracking, data acquisition, and post-processing. Examples of the software tools, including the simulator and spectral line catalog, will be included.

Exploring Powered Wheelchair Users and Their Caregivers’ Perspectives on Potential Intelligent Power Wheelchair Use: A Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

Kairy, Dahlia; Rushton, Paula W.; Archambault, Philippe; Pituch, Evelina; Torkia, Caryne; El Fathi, Anas; Stone, Paula; Routhier, François; Forget, Robert; Demers, Louise; Pineau, Joelle; Gourdeau, Richard

2014-01-01

Power wheelchairs (PWCs) can have a positive impact on user well-being, self-esteem, pain, activity and participation. Newly developed intelligent power wheelchairs (IPWs), allowing autonomous or collaboratively-controlled navigation, could enhance mobility of individuals not able to use, or having difficulty using, standard PWCs. The objective of this study was to explore the perspectives of PWC users (PWUs) and their caregivers regarding if and how IPWs could impact on current challenges faced by PWUs, as well as inform current development of IPWs. A qualitative exploratory study using individual interviews was conducted with PWUs (n = 12) and caregivers (n = 4). A semi-structured interview guide and video were used to facilitate informed discussion regarding IPWs. Thematic analysis revealed three main themes: (1) “challenging situations that may be overcome by an IPW” described how the IPW features of obstacle avoidance, path following, and target following could alleviate PWUs’ identified mobility difficulties; (2) “cautious optimism concerning IPW use revealed participants” addresses concerns regarding using an IPW as well as technological suggestions; (3) “defining the potential IPW user” revealed characteristics of PWUs that would benefit from IPW use. Findings indicate how IPW use may help overcome PWC difficulties and confirm the importance of user input in the ongoing development of IPWs. PMID:24566051

Crisis averted: How consumers experienced a police and clinical early response (PACER) unit responding to a mental health crisis.

PubMed

Evangelista, Eloisa; Lee, Stuart; Gallagher, Angela; Peterson, Violeta; James, Jo; Warren, Narelle; Henderson, Kathryn; Keppich-Arnold, Sandra; Cornelius, Luke; Deveny, Elizabeth

2016-08-01

When mental health crisis situations in the community are poorly handled, it can result in physical and emotional injuries. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the experiences and opinions of consumers about the way police and mental health services worked together, specifically via the Alfred Police and Clinical Early Response (A-PACER) model, to assist people experiencing a mental health crisis. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 mental health consumers who had direct contact with the A-PACER team between June 2013 and March 2015. The study highlighted that people who encountered the A-PACER team generally valued and saw the benefit of a joint police-mental health clinician team response to a mental health crisis situation in the community. In understanding what worked well in how the A-PACER team operated, consumers perspectives can be summarized into five themes: communication and de-escalation, persistence of the A-PACER team, providing a quick response and working well under pressure, handover of information, and A-PACER helped consumers achieve a preferred outcome. All consumers acknowledged the complementary roles of the police officer and mental health clinician, and described the A-PACER team's supportive approach as critical in gaining their trust, engagement and in de-escalating the crises. Further education and training for police officers on how to respond to people with a mental illness, increased provision of follow-up support to promote rehabilitation and prevent future crises, and measures to reduce public scrutiny for the consumer when police responded, were proposed opportunities for improvement. © 2016 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Crisis GIS: Preparing for the Next Volcanic Crisis in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramsey, D. W.; Robinson, J. E.; Schilling, S. P.; Schaefer, J. R.; Kimberly, P.; Trusdell, F. A.; Guffanti, M. C.; Mayberry, G. C.; Cameron, C. E.; Smith, J. G.; McIntire, J. A.; Snedigar, S.; Ewert, J. W.

2004-12-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialists from the Volcano Hazards Program (VHP) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), including personnel at Menlo Park, California, the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington, the Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in Hawaii National Park, Hawaii, and the Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program in Washington, DC, are developing a GIS response plan in the event of a volcano crisis. This plan, referred to as "Crisis GIS", outlines how VHP can ensure rapid, reliable delivery of spatial and ancillary information for data analysis and visualization at any required location during a volcanic crisis or event within the United States. An effective Crisis GIS needs the capacity to store multiple, large datasets, including: base layer data, elevation data, geologic maps, hazard assessment maps, satellite data, and aerial photography for volcanoes around the U.S. It must be readily accessible by VHP GIS specialists stationed around the Nation. Such a GIS should also support installations of monitoring instruments and telemetry equipment that relay monitoring signals, and provision of updates to public officials, the media, and the public during a crisis. GIS technology has proven to be an invaluable tool for crisis response. Recently, GIS was applied as part of the response efforts to two large-scale crises: the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the Southern California wildfires of Fall 2003. In each case, GIS was used to organize large quantities of spatial data and to produce electronic and paper maps that illustrated hazards, supported decision making, and communicated developing situations to responsible emergency-management authorities and to the populace affected (Kant, 2002, and Pratt, 2003). VHP GIS specialists are currently testing the software and hardware employed in recent major crisis response efforts and are learning to adapt

Modified crisis intervention for personality disorder.

PubMed

Rudnick, A

1998-01-01

This study proposes that the goal of crisis intervention for persons with personality disorders should be to return them to their pre-crisis level of functioning, even though this is maladaptive. This is contrasted with standard crisis intervention, which aims to return normal or neurotic persons to their pre-crisis normal or neurotic functioning, usually by means of few and short-term therapeutic encounters. The modification proposed costs more time and resources in persons with personality disorders in crisis and fits the intervention to the personality type. This is illustrated by the case of Eve, a patient in crisis, whose pre-crisis functioning was maladaptive because of a dependent personality disorder. The goal of (modified) crisis intervention in this case was to return the patient to her dependent lifestyle, by means of pharmacotherapy combined with intensive supportive psychotherapy during 3-4 months of partial (day) hospitalization. The special nature of crisis in personality disorders is discussed.

Mobile crisis management teams as part of an effective crisis management system for rural communities.

PubMed

Trantham, Doug; Sherry, Anne

2012-01-01

Mobile crisis management teams provide crisis prevention and intervention services in community settings. The Appalachian Community Services crisis management program shows how such teams can be used to effectively serve rural communities.

The future of the welfare state: crisis myths and crisis realities.

PubMed

Castles, Francis G

2002-01-01

Accounts of the future of the welfare state are often presented in crisis terms. Some commentators identify globalization as a force that has already led to a major retreat by the state and is likely to lead to further downsizing of the public sector. Others see the future burden of an aging population as creating huge public expenditure pressures that can be countered only by increased parsimony in most areas of spending. Although both crisis scenarios contain elements of truth, analysis of recent public expenditure trends shows that both are substantially exaggerated as general representations of likely developments over the next two or three decades. However, unnoticed by most commentators, a real, longer-term crisis is beginning to make itself felt. This crisis arises, in part, from the demographic impact of a cultural transformation in the labor market, in progress for several decades. Extreme scenarios of possible consequences over the next 50 to 100 years include population implosion, mass migration, increasingly dangerous eruptions of right-wing populism, and, possibly, territorial conflict between developed and underdeveloped nations. This is not a crisis of the welfare state but rather a crisis for which the welfare state may be an essential part of the answer. The only way Western societies can lessen the future impact of the ongoing cultural transformation of the labor market is through the redesign of welfare state institutions to confront these new challenges.

Perspectives on medicine adherence in service users and carers with experience of legally sanctioned detention and medication: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Gault, Iris; Gallagher, Ann; Chambers, Mary

2013-01-01

To explore and analyze perceptions of service users and caregivers on adherence and nonadherence to medication in a mental health care context. Mental health medication adherence is considered problematic and legal coercion exists in many countries. This was a qualitative study aiming to explore perceptions of medication adherence from the perspective of the service user (and their caregiver, where possible). Eighteen mental health service users (and six caregivers) with histories of medication nonadherence and repeated compulsory admission were recruited from voluntary sector support groups in England. Data were collected between 2008 and 2010. Using qualitative coding techniques, the study analyzed interview and focus group data from service users, previously subjected to compulsory medication under mental health law, or their caregivers. The process of medication adherence or nonadherence is encapsulated in an explanatory narrative. This narrative constitutes participants' struggle to negotiate acceptable and effective routes through variable quality of care. Results indicated that service users and caregivers eventually accepted the reality of their own mental illness and their need for safety and treatment. They perceived the behavior of professionals as key in their recovery process. Professionals could be enabling or disabling with regard to adherence to medication. This study investigated service user and caregiver perceptions of medication adherence and compulsory treatment. Participants described a process perceived as variable and potentially doubly faceted. The behavior of professionals was seen as crucial in collaborative decision making on medication adherence.

[The impact of the economic crisis on health systems of OECD countries].

PubMed

Paris, Valérie

2014-10-01

This paper describes measures adopted by OECD countries in the health sector in response to the economic crisis which began in 2008: increase and diversification of revenues collected for health, increases in user charges, reductions in staff, salaries and prices of health goods and services; and policies aiming to increase health systems efficiency. It then reviews the impact of these policies on health spending trends. © 2014 médecine/sciences – Inserm.

User Perspectives on Exergames Designed to Explore the Hemineglected Space for Stroke Patients With Visuospatial Neglect: Usability Study.

PubMed

Tobler-Ammann, Bernadette C; Surer, Elif; Knols, Ruud H; Borghese, N Alberto; de Bruin, Eling D

2017-08-25

Visuospatial neglect due to stroke is characterized by the inability to perceive stimuli emerging in the area opposite to the side of brain damage. Besides adopting conventional rehabilitation methods to treat neglect symptoms, the use of virtual reality (VR) is becoming increasingly popular. We designed a series of 9 exergames aimed to improve exploration of the neglected side of space. When new VR interventions are designed, it is important to assess the usability aspects of such management strategies within the target population. To date, most studies used questionnaires to assess user satisfaction with the intervention or product being tested. However, only a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data allows a full picture of user perspective. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively assess patient and therapist perspectives of a VR intervention based on the series of 9 exergames designed to explore hemineglected space. Specifically, we wanted to evaluate (1) perceived-user friendliness of the exergames, (2) attitude towards using the exergames, and (3) intention to use the exergames in the future. A total of 19 participants (7 patients, 12 therapists) evaluated the exergames they had used 5 times a week during 3 weeks. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) questionnaire was filled out after the intervention. Based on those responses, we conducted focus group interviews (with therapists) and individual interviews (with patients). To analyze the TAM questionnaires, we used descriptive statistics. We adopted content and comparative analysis to analyze the interviews and drew illustration maps to analyze the focus group interviews. The therapists took a more critical stance with a mean TAM questionnaire total score of 48.6 (SD 4.5) compared to the patients who had a mean total score of 56.1 (SD 12.3). The perceived user-friendliness score was 5.6 (SD 1.4) for patients and 4.9 (SD 1.4) for therapists. The attitude towards using

Hypertensive crisis in children.

PubMed

Chandar, Jayanthi; Zilleruelo, Gastón

2012-05-01

Hypertensive crisis is rare in children and is usually secondary to an underlying disease. There is strong evidence that the renin-angiotensin system plays an important role in the genesis of hypertensive crisis. An important principle in the management of children with hypertensive crisis is to determine if severe hypertension is chronic, acute, or acute-on-chronic. When it is associated with signs of end-organ damage such as encephalopathy, congestive cardiac failure or renal failure, there is an emergent need to lower blood pressures to 25-30% of the original value and then accomplish a gradual reduction in blood pressure. Precipitous drops in blood pressure can result in impairment of perfusion of vital organs. Medications commonly used to treat hypertensive crisis in children are nicardipine, labetalol and sodium nitroprusside. In this review, we discuss the pathophysiology, differential diagnosis and recent developments in management of hypertensive crisis in children.

Randomised controlled trial of joint crisis plans to reduce compulsory treatment for people with psychosis: economic outcomes.

PubMed

Barrett, Barbara; Waheed, Waquas; Farrelly, Simone; Birchwood, Max; Dunn, Graham; Flach, Clare; Henderson, Claire; Leese, Morven; Lester, Helen; Marshall, Max; Rose, Diana; Sutherby, Kim; Szmukler, George; Thornicroft, Graham; Byford, Sarah

2013-01-01

Compulsory admission to psychiatric hospitals may be distressing, disruptive to patients and families, and associated with considerable cost to the health service. Improved patient experience and cost reductions could be realised by providing cost-effective crisis planning services. Economic evaluation within a multi-centre randomised controlled trial comparing Joint Crisis Plans (JCP) plus treatment as usual (TAU) to TAU alone for patients aged over 16, with at least one psychiatric hospital admission in the previous two years and on the Enhanced Care Programme Approach register. JCPs, containing the patient's treatment preferences for any future psychiatric emergency, are a form of crisis intervention that aim to mitigate the negative consequences of relapse, including hospital admission and use of coercion. Data were collected at baseline and 18-months after randomisation. The primary outcome was admission to hospital under the Mental Health Act. The economic evaluation took a service perspective (health, social care and criminal justice services) and a societal perspective (additionally including criminal activity and productivity losses). The addition of JCPs to TAU had no significant effect on compulsory admissions or total societal cost per participant over 18-months follow-up. From the service cost perspective, however, evidence suggests a higher probability (80%) of JCPs being the more cost-effective option. Exploration by ethnic group highlights distinct patterns of costs and effects. Whilst the evidence does not support the cost-effectiveness of JCPs for White or Asian ethnic groups, there is at least a 90% probability of the JCP intervention being the more cost-effective option in the Black ethnic group. The results by ethnic group are sufficiently striking to warrant further investigation into the potential for patient gain from JCPs among black patient groups. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN11501328.

Managing stress in a crisis.

PubMed

Wright-Reid, Alison

2018-01-01

Crisis situations are inherently uncertain and threatening. Although the primal stress reactions they provoke deliver some advantages, they so severely restrict intellect and behaviour that consultants observe crisis teams making the same mistakes over and again. Stress risks can be managed before, during and after a crisis. Crisis planning can select the right people, control the crisis team environment, and mitigate fatigue risks and memory demands. Because stress reactions are primitive, stress can be manipulated at a remarkably primitive level and teams can increase their resilience through such basics as sleep and breathing skills. Teams can learn to manipulate perceptions of danger, to tolerate uncertainty and to become comfortable making decisions which were reasonable at the time. Crisis leaders can frame the crisis as a challenge and options as gains, and can ensure the team avoids groupthink and challenges the paradigm. Where individuals are trained to apply critical thinking processes, intuitive decision-making is not only fast, but also accurate, and helps to challenge assumptions, predictions and groupthink. Crises are more easily recognised and managed where training has covered critical decision methods.

K-12 School Leaders and School Crisis: An Exploration of Principals' School Crisis Competencies and Preparedness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarty, Sean P.

2012-01-01

On any given day, principals could find themselves faced with a situation that could define their roles as crisis leaders. This dissertation research offers an exploratory study in the field of crisis response and educational leadership. From experts in the field of crisis response, the author compiled a list of crisis management competencies…

Managing crisis: the role of primary care for people with serious mental illness.

PubMed

Lester, Helen; Tritter, Jonathan Q; Sorohan, Helen

2004-01-01

More than 30% of patients with serious mental illness in the United Kingdom now receive all their health care solely from primary care. This study explored the process of managing acute mental health crises from the dual perspective of patients and primary care health professionals. Eighteen focus groups involving 45 patients, 39 general practitioners, and eight practice nurses were held between May and November 2002 in six Primary Care Trusts across the British West Midlands. The topic guide explored perceptions of gold standard care, current issues and critical incidents in receiving/providing care, and ideas on improving services. Themes relevant to the management of acute crisis included issues of process, such as access, advocacy, communication, continuity, and coordination of care; the development of more structured care that might reduce the need for crisis responses; and issues raised by the development of a more structured approach to care. Access to services is a complicated yet crucial feature of managing care in a crisis, with patients identifying barriers at the level of primary care and health professionals at the interface with secondary care. The development of more structured systems as a solution may generate its own ethical and pragmatic challenges.

When Crisis Strikes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caudle, Melissa

1994-01-01

School crises may be categorized as emergency situations, human-made crises, natural events, medical emergencies, and mechanical crises. Central to any successful crisis-management plan are onsite and district-level crisis response teams. Plans should specify staff responsibilities; provide for communication codes, devices, and procedures;…

Profiles of and practices in crisis resolution and home treatment teams in Norway: a longitudinal survey study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Crisis resolution and home treatment (CRHT) is one of the more recent modes of delivering acute mental health care in the community. The objective of the study was to describe the standardizations and variations in the CRHT teams in Norway in order to gain knowledge regarding the structures and processes of CRHT teams. Methods A longitudinal survey of five CRHT teams in Norway was carried out for a period of 18 months with two sets of questionnaires-one for CRHT team profiles for a bi-yearly survey and the other for services and practices of CRHT teams for a monthly survey. Results The five CRHT teams were configured by a set of common basic characteristics in their operations, while at the same time were variant in several areas of the teams' structures and processes. Significant differences among the teams were evident in terms of the structural aspects such as service locality, staffing and team make-up, caseload, service hours, and travel time, and the process aspects such as the number of referrals received, referral source, admission, service duration, and discharge destination. These variations are reflected upon the perspectives regarding the nature of mental health crisis, the conflicting policies in mental health services, and the nature of home-based mental health care. Conclusions The diversity in the way CRHT teams are established and operate needs to be examined further in order to understand the reasons for such variations and their impact on the quality of services to service users and in relation to the total mental health service system in a community. PMID:21878115

Chaos and Crisis: Propositions for a General Theory of Crisis Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seeger, Matthew W.

2002-01-01

Presents key concepts of chaos theory (CT) as a general framework for describing organizational crisis and crisis communication. Discusses principles of predictability, sensitive dependence on initial conditions, bifurcation as system breakdown, emergent self-organization, and fractals and strange attractors as principles of organization. Explores…

Providing library services in a time of fiscal crisis: alternatives.

PubMed Central

Cheshier, R G

1977-01-01

The nature of the fiscal crisis in health science libraries in the United States is in part due to the style of management in these libraries, in part due to the lack of user identification, in part due to the lack of economically valid fees for service, and in part due to the success of the Biomedical Communications Network. These issues are discussed in terms of how they might be approached. A pragmatic stance is advocated for practitioners, the MLA, the NLM, and library schools to jointly address the questions raised. PMID:901951

Thyrotoxic crisis presenting with jaundice.

PubMed

Wickramasinghe, R D S S; Luke, W A N V; Sebastiampillai, B S; Gunathilake, M P M L; Premaratna, R

2016-06-23

Thyrotoxic crisis is a medical emergency requiring early diagnosis and urgent management, which can be challenging due to its diverse clinical presentations. While common presentations include fever, sweating, palpitations, tremors and confusion, presence of jaundice is rare. We report a 35-year-old male who presented with jaundice due to cholestasis along with other features of thyrotoxic crisis due to Graves' disease. He had a good clinical recovery with resolution of cholestasis following treatment for thyrotoxic crisis. Jaundice can be a rare manifestation of thyrotoxic crisis, and should be considered in the differential diagnosis when other clinical features of thyrotoxic crisis are present. However secondary causes of jaundice should be looked into and excluded.

Adaptation and development of software simulation methodologies for cardiovascular engineering: present and future challenges from an end-user perspective

PubMed Central

Díaz-Zuccarini, V.; Narracott, A.J.; Burriesci, G.; Zervides, C.; Rafiroiu, D.; Jones, D.; Hose, D.R.; Lawford, P.V.

2009-01-01

This paper describes the use of diverse software tools in cardiovascular applications. These tools were primarily developed in the field of engineering and the applications presented push the boundaries of the software to address events related to venous and arterial valve closure, exploration of dynamic boundary conditions or the inclusion of multi-scale boundary conditions from protein to organ levels. The future of cardiovascular research and the challenges that modellers and clinicians face from validation to clinical uptake are discussed from an end-user perspective. PMID:19487202

Adaptation and development of software simulation methodologies for cardiovascular engineering: present and future challenges from an end-user perspective.

PubMed

Díaz-Zuccarini, V; Narracott, A J; Burriesci, G; Zervides, C; Rafiroiu, D; Jones, D; Hose, D R; Lawford, P V

2009-07-13

This paper describes the use of diverse software tools in cardiovascular applications. These tools were primarily developed in the field of engineering and the applications presented push the boundaries of the software to address events related to venous and arterial valve closure, exploration of dynamic boundary conditions or the inclusion of multi-scale boundary conditions from protein to organ levels. The future of cardiovascular research and the challenges that modellers and clinicians face from validation to clinical uptake are discussed from an end-user perspective.

Geography's Image Crisis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudson, John C.

1984-01-01

If geography faces a crisis today, it is an inner crisis that has come from listening to those who advocate aggrandizement rather than accomplishment. Geographers should devote no more time than necessary to the business of selling themselves and, instead, produce the kind of scholarship that commands attention. (RM)

The health crisis in Argentina.

PubMed

Escudero, José Carlos

2003-01-01

The health crisis in Argentina is part of the larger crisis that has resulted from a collapse in the country's economic and political systems. After a brief review of the country's history over the last century, from international success story to economic failure, the author explains the health crisis in particular and the social crisis in general in terms of failed neoliberal policies imposed on Argentina by the United States and International Monetary Fund through the mediation of the country's political class.

Removing user fees for health services: A multi-epistemological perspective on access inequities in Senegal.

PubMed

Mladovsky, Philipa; Ba, Maymouna

2017-09-01

Plan Sésame (PS) is a user fee exemption policy launched in 2006 to provide free access to health services to Senegalese citizens aged 60 and over. Analysis of a large household survey evaluating PS echoes findings of other studies showing that user fee removal can be highly inequitable. 34 semi-structured interviews and 19 focus group discussions with people aged 60 and over were conducted in four regions in Senegal (Dakar, Diourbel, Matam and Tambacounda) over a period of six months during 2012. They were analysed to identify underlying causes of exclusion from/inclusion in PS and triangulated with the household survey. The results point to three steps at which exclusion occurs: (i) not being informed about PS; (ii) not perceiving a need to use health services under PS; and (iii) inability to access health services under PS, despite having the information and perceived need. We identify lay explanations for exclusion at these different steps. Some lay explanations point to social exclusion, defined as unequal power relations. For example, poor access to PS was seen to be caused by corruption, patronage, poverty, lack of social support, internalised discrimination and adverse incorporation. Other lay explanations do not point to social exclusion, for example: poor implementation; inadequate funding; high population demand; incompetent bureaucracy; and PS as a favour or moral obligation to friends or family. Within a critical realist paradigm, we interpret these lay explanations as empirical evidence for the presence of the following hidden underlying causal mechanisms: lacking capabilities; mobilisation of institutional bias; and social closure. However, social constructionist perspectives lead us to critique this paradigm by drawing attention to contested health, wellbeing and corruption discourses. These differences in interpretation lead to subsequent differential policy recommendations. This demonstrates the need for the adoption of a "multi

US health care crisis.

PubMed

Cirić, Ivan

2013-01-01

The United States health care is presently challenged by a significant economic crisis. The purpose of this report is to introduce the readers of Medicinski Pregled to the root causes of this crisis and to explain the steps undertaken to reform health care in order to solve the crisis. It is hoped that the information contained in this report will be of value, if only in small measure, to the shaping of health care in Serbia.

Keeping Cool in a Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Padgett, Raven

2006-01-01

Many schools are able to avoid disasters by creating a strong, deliberate crisis plan and knowing how to implement it effectively. Good crisis preparedness requires leadership from the top, a critical mass of trained staff members, careful planning, and excellent communication. This article discusses how to prepare for a crisis.

The Achievement Crisis Is Real: A Review of "The Manufactured Crisis."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stedman, Lawrence C.

1996-01-01

In "The Manufactured Crisis," D. Berliner and B. Biddle argue that there has been no decline in achievement test scores, that today's students outperform their parents and do well in international examinations, and that the supposed crisis in American education does not exist. This review refutes all these claims. (SLD)

A text-mining analysis of the public's reactions to the opioid crisis.

PubMed

Glowacki, Elizabeth M; Glowacki, Joseph B; Wilcox, Gary B

2017-07-19

Opioid abuse has become an epidemic in the United States. On August 25, 2016, the former Surgeon General of the United States sent an open letter to care providers asking for their help with combatting this growing health crisis. Social media forums such as Twitter allow for open discussions among the public and up-to-date exchanges of information about timely topics such as opioids. Therefore, the goal of the current study is to identify the public's reactions to the opioid epidemic by identifying the most popular topics tweeted by users. A text miner, algorithmic-driven statistical program was used to capture 73,235 original tweets and retweets posted within a 2-month time span 15 (August 15, 2016, through October 15, 2016). All tweets contained references to "opioids," "turnthetide," or similar keywords. The sets of tweets were then analyzed to identify the most prevalent topics. The most discussed topics had to do with public figures addressing opioid abuse, creating better treatment options for teen addicts, using marijuana as an alternative for managing pain, holding foreign and domestic drug makers accountable for the epidemic, promoting the "Rx for Change" campaign, addressing double standards in the perceptions and treatment of black and white opioid users, and advertising opioid recovery programs. Twitter allows users to find current information, voice their concerns, and share calls for action in response to the opioid epidemic. Monitoring the conversations about opioids that are taking place on social media forums such as Twitter can help public health officials and care providers better understand how the public is responding to this health crisis.

Hypertensive crisis.

PubMed

Rodriguez, Maria Alexandra; Kumar, Siva K; De Caro, Matthew

2010-01-01

Hypertension is a common chronic medical condition affecting over 65 million Americans. Uncontrolled hypertension can progress to a hypertensive crisis defined as a systolic blood pressure >180 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure >120 mm Hg. Hypertensive crisis can be further classified as a hypertensive urgency or hypertensive emergency depending on end-organ involvement including cardiac, renal, and neurologic injury. The prompt recognition of a hypertensive emergency with the appropriate diagnostic tests and triage will lead to the adequate reduction of blood pressure, ameliorating the incidence of fatal outcomes. Severely hypertensive patients with acute end-organ damage (hypertensive emergencies) warrant admission to an intensive care unit for immediate reduction of blood pressure with a short-acting titratable intravenous antihypertensive medication. Hypertensive urgencies (severe hypertension with no or minimal end-organ damage) may in general be treated with oral antihypertensives as an outpatient. Rapid and short-lived intravenous medications commonly used are labetalol, esmolol, fenoldopam, nicardipine, sodium nitroprusside, and clevidipine. Medications such as hydralazine, immediate release nifedipine, and nitroglycerin should be avoided. Sodium nitroprusside should be used with caution because of its toxicity. The risk factors and prognosticators of a hypertensive crisis are still under recognized. Physicians should perform complete evaluations in patients who present with a hypertensive crisis to effectively reverse, intervene, and correct the underlying trigger, as well as improve long-term outcomes after the episode.

Creativity in Crisis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roff, Glenn

This paper suggests that educational resources and opportunities currently in operation in rural Australia are brought forward during times of crisis. The paper discusses five aspects of education in rural Australia that are a response to the perceived sense of crisis and that have improved the general and comparative quality of rural education,…

Perceived Ownership of Avatars Influences Visual Perspective Taking

PubMed Central

Böffel, Christian; Müsseler, Jochen

2018-01-01

Modern computer-based applications often require the user to interact with avatars. Depending on the task at hand, spatial dissociation between the orientations of the user and the avatars might arise. As a consequence, the user has to adopt the avatar’s perspective and identify herself/himself with the avatar, possibly changing the user’s self-representation in the process. The present study aims to identify the conditions that benefit this change of perspective with objective performance measures and subjective self-estimations by integrating the idea of avatar-ownership into the cognitive phenomenon of spatial compatibility. Two different instructions were used to manipulate a user’s perceived ownership of an avatar in otherwise identical situations. Users with the high-ownership instruction reported higher levels of perceived ownership of the avatar and showed larger spatial compatibility effects from the avatar’s point of view in comparison to the low ownership instruction. This supports the hypothesis that perceived ownership benefits perspective taking. PMID:29887816

When Crisis Strikes on Campus.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, Wendy Ann, Ed.

This handbook aids in planning for effective crisis communication at institutions of higher education. The book opens with a behind-the-scenes look at a particular crisis--the 1990 murders of five students at the University of Florida. This first section offers tested advice from a campus communicator, an account of the crisis and the…

Hearing the voices of service user researchers in collaborative qualitative data analysis: the case for multiple coding.

PubMed

Sweeney, Angela; Greenwood, Kathryn E; Williams, Sally; Wykes, Til; Rose, Diana S

2013-12-01

Health research is frequently conducted in multi-disciplinary teams, with these teams increasingly including service user researchers. Whilst it is common for service user researchers to be involved in data collection--most typically interviewing other service users--it is less common for service user researchers to be involved in data analysis and interpretation. This means that a unique and significant perspective on the data is absent. This study aims to use an empirical report of a study on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) to demonstrate the value of multiple coding in enabling service users voices to be heard in team-based qualitative data analysis. The CBTp study employed multiple coding to analyse service users' discussions of CBT for psychosis (CBTp) from the perspectives of a service user researcher, clinical researcher and psychology assistant. Multiple coding was selected to enable multiple perspectives to analyse and interpret data, to understand and explore differences and to build multi-disciplinary consensus. Multiple coding enabled the team to understand where our views were commensurate and incommensurate and to discuss and debate differences. Through the process of multiple coding, we were able to build strong consensus about the data from multiple perspectives, including that of the service user researcher. Multiple coding is an important method for understanding and exploring multiple perspectives on data and building team consensus. This can be contrasted with inter-rater reliability which is only appropriate in limited circumstances. We conclude that multiple coding is an appropriate and important means of hearing service users' voices in qualitative data analysis. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Crisis in the Curriculum? New Counselors' Crisis Preparation, Experiences, and Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Carrie A. Wachter; Minton, Casey A. Barrio

2012-01-01

Professional counselors are responsible for providing crisis assessment, referral, and intervention (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, 2009); however, little is known about their preparation and experiences in these areas. This study examined new professional counselors' (N= 193) crisis intervention…

Randomised controlled trial of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a peer-delivered self-management intervention to prevent relapse in crisis resolution team users: study protocol

PubMed Central

Mason, Oliver; Osborn, David; Henderson, Claire; Marston, Louise; Ambler, Gareth; Pilling, Stephen; Morant, Nicola; Gray, Richard; Weaver, Tim; Nolan, Fiona; Lloyd-Evans, Brynmor

2017-01-01

Introduction Crisis resolution teams (CRTs) provide assessment and intensive home treatment in a crisis, aiming to offer an alternative for people who would otherwise require a psychiatric inpatient admission. They are available in most areas in England. Despite some evidence for their clinical and cost-effectiveness, recurrent concerns are expressed regarding discontinuity with other services and lack of focus on preventing future relapse and readmission to acute care. Currently evidence on how to prevent readmissions to acute care is limited. Self-management interventions, involving supporting service users in recognising and managing signs of their own illness and in actively planning their recovery, have some supporting evidence, but have not been tested as a means of preventing readmission to acute care in people leaving community crisis care. We thus proposed the current study to test the effectiveness of such an intervention. We selected peer support workers as the preferred staff to deliver such an intervention, as they are well-placed to model and encourage active and autonomous recovery from mental health problems. Methods and analysis The CORE (CRT Optimisation and Relapse Prevention) self-management trial compares the effectiveness of a peer-provided self-management intervention for people leaving CRT care, with treatment as usual supplemented by a booklet on self-management. The planned sample is 440 participants, including 40 participants in an internal pilot. The primary outcome measure is whether participants are readmitted to acute care over 1 year of follow-up following entry to the trial. Secondary outcomes include self-rated recovery at 4 and at 18 months following trial entry, measured using the Questionnaire on the Process of Recovery. Analysis will follow an intention to treatment principle. Random effects logistic regression modelling with adjustment for clustering by peer support worker will be used to test the primary hypothesis. Ethics

Investigating Users' Requirements

PubMed Central

Walker, Deborah S.; Lee, Wen-Yu; Skov, Neil M.; Berger, Carl F.; Athley, Brian D.

2002-01-01

Objective: User data and information about anatomy education were used to guide development of a learning environment that is efficient and effective. The research question focused on how to design instructional software suitable for the educational goals of different groups of users of the Visible Human data set. The ultimate goal of the study was to provide options for students and teachers to use different anatomy learning modules corresponding to key topics, for course work and professional training. Design: The research used both qualitative and quantitative methods. It was driven by the belief that good instructional design must address learning context information and pedagogic content information. The data collection emphasized measurement of users' perspectives, experience, and demands in anatomy learning. Measurement: Users' requirements elicited from 12 focus groups were combined and rated by 11 researchers. Collective data were sorted and analyzed by use of multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Results: A set of functions and features in high demand across all groups of users was suggested by the results. However, several subgroups of users shared distinct demands. The design of the learning modules will encompass both unified core components and user-specific applications. The design templates will allow sufficient flexibility for dynamic insertion of different learning applications for different users. Conclusion: This study describes how users' requirements, associated with users' learning experiences, were systematically collected and analyzed and then transformed into guidelines informing the iterative design of multiple learning modules. Information about learning challenges and processes was gathered to define essential anatomy teaching strategies. A prototype instrument to design and polish the Visible Human user interface system is currently being developed using ideas and feedback from users. PMID:12087112

["Crisis"--oscillating between keyword and buzzword. On the discourse about a "crisis of medicine" in the Weimar Republic].

PubMed

Geiger, Karin

2010-01-01

The buzzword "crisis" has not only become omnipresent since the recent financial crisis. The term that originated in Ancient Greece underwent several different usages--quantitatively as well as qualitatively; especially in the Weimar Republic, the time period that has long been considered as the crisis era par excellence. Using the discourse about the "crisis of medicine" in the 1920s and the early 1930s as an example, the article attempts to provide a critical reflection on the concept of "crisis". The focus of this article is on the idea's construction, the different semantic usages of "crisis" and the motives of the different authors for their respective rhetorical applications of this term. The analysis of the examined publications on the "crisis of medicine", how they influenced other periods and the reconstruction of their origin show that the semantics of the word "crisis" went far beyond a simply negative connotation, and with regard to its rhetorical usage have oscillated between keyword and a meaningless but catchy buzzword.

Protecting proprietary rights - A potential Shuttle user's view

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Day, J. B.

1977-01-01

Maintaining a high degree of industrial security in the multiple-payload Shuttle environment poses a number of problems for NASA. As a part of Battelle-Columbus' support of NASA's User Development Program, this paper presents a potential user's perspective on this situation. The need for security, the nature of the problem, and precedents for NASA security measures are discussed. Eleven policy guidelines representing desirable features from a potential user's viewpoint are presented for NASA consideration.

The Roman Empire - The Third Century Crisis and Crisis Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-04

December 2010. Hekster, Olivier, Gerda De Kleijn, and Danielle Slootjes. "Introduction." Impact of Empire. 7, (2006, June 1): 3-10. Koselleck...Crisis of the Third Century. Edited by Olivier Hekster, Gerda De Kleijn, and Danielle Slootjes. Vol. 7, Impact of EMpire. Boston: Brill Academic, 2012...1. Protagoras and John Nicols, Mapping the Crisis of the Third Century, ed. Olivier Hekster, Gerda De Kleijn, and Danielle Slootjes

Medical Education and the Rural Health Crisis: A Personal Perspective from Experiences in Five States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vanselow, Neal A.

1990-01-01

A solution to the rural health crisis will require not only changes in student selection, curriculum, and training location but also strengthening of the rural economy, improved reimbursement to rural hospitals and primary care physicians, and increased sensitivity among leaders of the medical profession to rural community and practitioner needs.…

Service user and family member perspectives on services for mental health, substance use/addiction, and violence: a qualitative study of their goals, experiences and recommendations.

PubMed

Haskell, Rebecca; Graham, Kathryn; Bernards, Sharon; Flynn, Andrea; Wells, Samantha

2016-01-01

Mental health and substance use disorders (MSD) are significant public health concerns that often co-occur with violence. To improve services that address MSD and violence [MSD(V)], it is critical to understand the perspectives of those most affected, people who have sought help for MSD(V) (i.e., "service users"), especially those with co-occurring issues, as well as their family members. We conducted structured interviews with 73 service users and 41 family members of service users in two Ontario communities (one urban, one rural) regarding their goals related to help-seeking, positive and negative experiences, and recommendations for improving systems of care. Overall, participants expressed a need for services that: (1) are respectful, nonjudgmental, and supportive, help service users to feel more 'normal' and include education to reduce stigma; (2) are accessible, varied and publicly funded, thereby meeting individual needs and addressing equity concerns at a systems level; and (3) are coordinated, holistic and inclusive of family members who often support service users. The findings provide a rich understanding of how service users and their families perceive services for MSD(V) issues and identify key ways to better meet their needs.

Crisis resolution: consumer, family and referrer perspectives on care.

PubMed

Carter, Frances A; Taylor, M Joan; Weston, Madeline J; Quigley, Teresa A; Beveridge, John H; Green, Robert Aj; Duffy, Steve

2018-06-08

To systematically assess the service satisfaction of consumers, their families and referrers with crisis resolution (CR). Consecutive consumers discharged after receiving CR over a five-week period were potentially eligible for participation, together with their family and referrer (broadly defined). Structured telephone interviews were conducted and involved forced-choice questions assessing global satisfaction and satisfaction with specific aspects of care, plus two open-ended questions. Participants were 75 consumers, 22 family and 16 referrers. High levels of satisfaction were seen for all participants for both global (86-96%) and most specific aspects of care (>75%). If consumers were dissatisfied with their overall care, they were significantly more likely to be aged 25-34 years of age. High levels of agreement among raters were found for global satisfaction (>85%) and most specific aspects of care (>70%), which provides some level of reassurance for staff. Open-ended questions showed that having effective treatment of sufficient duration and staff manner were most important to participants. High levels of satisfaction and agreement were found among consumers, family and referrers with CR. Open-ended questions identified which issues matter the most to key stakeholders, which may have implications for service evaluation tools.

The use of emergency manuals in perioperative crisis management: a cautious approach.

PubMed

Szabo, Ashley; August, David A; Klainer, Suzanne; Miller, Andrew D; Kaye, Alan D; Raemer, Daniel B; Urman, Richard D

2015-01-01

When an unexpected perioperative crisis arises, simulation studies have suggested that the use of an emergency manual (EM) may offset the large cognitive load involved in crisis management, facilitating the efficient performance of key steps in treatment. However, little is known about how well EMs will translate into actual practice and what is required to use them optimally. While EMs are a promising tool in the management of perioperative critical events, more research is needed to define best practices and their limitations. In the interim, cautious use of these cognitive aids is recommended, especially when the diagnosis is not straightforward, falls "in between" sections of the EM, or falls outside of the EM itself. Further research should focus on the efficacy of EMs as measured by the percentage of critical steps correctly performed by their users in scenarios that do not closely mirror one of the listed EM scenarios from the beginning or as the situation evolves.

An Arendtian Perspective on Inclusive Education: Towards a Reimagined Vocabulary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korsgaard, Morten Timmermann

2016-01-01

Inclusive education currently appears to be undergoing a crisis and re-examination. This paper presents a new approach to thinking about inclusiveness in the school context. Many positions within inclusive education seem to take political, social and ethical perspectives as a starting point, which has allowed inclusive movements and initiatives…

Children's moral experiences of crisis management in a child mental health setting.

PubMed

Montreuil, Marjorie; Thibeault, Catherine; McHarg, Linda; Carnevale, Franco A

2018-02-15

The experiences of children related to conflict and crisis management in child mental health settings, especially those aged 12 and below, have been rarely studied. This study examined the moral experiences of children related to conflict and crisis management and the related use of restraint and seclusion in a child mental health setting. A 5-month focused ethnography using a participatory hermeneutic framework was conducted in a day hospital programme for children with severe disruptive disorders within a mental health institute. Children considered restraints and seclusion could help them feel safe in certain instances, for example if another child was being aggressive towards them or in exceptional cases to prevent self-injury. However, their own experiences of being restrained were predominantly negative, especially if not knowing the reason for their use, which they then found unfair. Some of the children emphasized the punitive nature of the use of restraints and seclusion, and most children disagreed with these practices when used as a punishment. Children's perspectives also highlighted the limits of the use of a uniform de-escalation approach by the staff to manage crises. Children considered discussing with the staff and developing a relationship with them as more helpful in case of a crisis then the use of a de-escalation approach or coercive strategies. © 2018 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Control during corporate crisis: asbestos and the Manville bankruptcy.

PubMed

Delaney, K J

1991-01-01

Chapter 11 bankruptcy provides an opportunity for addressing issues of power and control during corporate crisis. A broad notion of power is essential in understanding the complex events that led to the Chapter 11 filing of the Manville Corporation, formerly the nation's leading asbestos manufacturer. The theory of finance hegemony places this case in an entirely new light by taking into account the power of the financial community. The Manville bankruptcy illuminates several mechanisms by which this hegemony operates. From this perspective, Chapter 11 bankruptcy is viewed as a choice made from a set of options severely constrained by other powerful institutions, rather than a result of managerial incompetence or market failure.

Social justice, access and quality of healthcare in an age of austerity: users' perspective from rural Iceland.

PubMed

Gustafsdottir, Sonja S; Fenger, Kristjana; Halldorsdottir, Sigridur; Bjarnason, Thoroddur

2017-01-01

Iceland is sparsely populated but social justice and equity has been emphasised within healthcare. The aim of the study is to examine healthcare services in Fjallabyggð, in rural northern Iceland, from users' perspective and evaluate social justice, access and quality of healthcare in an age of austerity. Mixed-method approach with transformative design was used. First, data were collected with questionnaires (response rate of 53% [N=732] in 2009 and 30% [N=415] in 2012), and analysed statistically, followed by 10 interviews with healthcare users (2009 and 2014). The results were integrated and interpreted within Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model. There was significantly less satisfaction with accessibility and variety of healthcare services in 2012 after services downsizing. Solid primary healthcare, good local elderly care, some freedom in healthcare choice and reliable emergency services were considered fundamental for life in a rural area. Equal access to healthcare is part of a fundamental human right. In times of economic downturn, people in rural areas, who are already vulnerable, may become even more vulnerable and disadvantaged, seriously threatening social justice and equity. With severe cutbacks in vitally important healthcare services people may eventually choose to self-migrate.

[Recent crisis of psychiatry in the context of modern and postmodern science].

PubMed

Petho, Bertalan

2008-01-01

We have investigated the recent crisis of psychiatry in perspective of the last two centuries of its history. First and longer part of this period belongs to the Modern era. The second part beginning in the sixties of the last century is the Postmodern era, the one we live in today. We have pointed out that the recent crisis has not come by accident but as one of the several changes characterising our transition into the era labelled "Postmodern". The crisis of psychiatry was analysed in respect of the development of science and in social context. We focused on psychiatry and science and their interconnectedness in their historical articulations. A way out of the crisis of the current era can be found also with the use of historical methods. Science is changing both in respect of its quality and its role in our age. Taking into consideration normal and post-normal science, we differentiated two additional generations of science, pro-normal science and perato-scientia, in the most recent history. On the one hand, psychiatry serves as a paradigm for the conceptualisation of contemporary science. On the other hand, as an up-to-date science re-conceptualised partly according to its own paradigm it may find a way out of its own crisis. The many facets of the current crisis were demonstrated by analysing recent developments of the Hungarian health politics. Concerning this topic we adopted the term "economicity" elaborated by us earlier. We found that psychiatry operated by the hegemony of the rules of economicity might become a relay station for selecting patients to be thrown away as human garbage. This catastrophic outcome may occur if a political system is organized purely by economicity rules without either historical responsibility or local solidarity. However, up-to-date trends of scientificity as shown by pro-normal science and perato-scientia guarantee a radically different course for psychiatry. Following this course, which is consistent with the insight into

Treating Chronic Crisis Bearers and Their Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doyle, Averil Marie; Dorlac, Charles

1978-01-01

This article presents a method for family crisis intervention. The goal is extended from restoring the crisis bearing unit to its pre-crisis level of coping to a basic restructuring of maladaptive pre-crisis behaviors. It is aimed at general behavior change as well as resolution of the immediate situation. (Author)

Crisis response to schools.

PubMed

Johnson, K

2000-01-01

While community based crisis response teams offer needed resources to schools impacted by crisis, they are often not asked to help. Reports from crisis team leaders at the school shooting incidents at James W. Parker Middle School, Edinboro, Pennsylvania and Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado are contrasted regarding utilization of community resources. Factors limiting the usefulness of community based teams include unfamiliarity with school organization, culture, and procedures. Key differences in school vs. community team precepts, decision-making, and strategic paradigms render team coordination difficult. Successful cross training presents opportunities for school-community partnership and utilization of community teams for school duty.

Campus Crisis Response at Viberg College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eaker, Rachel; Viars, Jamie

2014-01-01

This fictional case study examines crisis response in higher education settings. Information about current crisis response procedures, plans, and trends was gathered from informational interviews, current crisis management literature, and multiple college and university websites. The information was synthesized into a fictional case study using…

The open black box: The role of the end-user in GIS integration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poore, B.S.

2003-01-01

Formalist theories of knowledge that underpin GIS scholarship on integration neglect the importance and creativity of end-users in knowledge construction. This has practical consequences for the success of large distributed databases that contribute to spatial-data infrastructures. Spatial-data infrastructures depend on participation at local levels, such as counties and watersheds, and they must be developed to support feedback from local users. Looking carefully at the work of scientists in a watershed in Puget Sound, Washington, USA during the salmon crisis reveals that the work of these end-users articulates different worlds of knowledge. This view of the user is consonant with recent work in science and technology studies and research into computer-supported cooperative work. GIS theory will be enhanced when it makes room for these users and supports their practical work. ?? / Canadian Association of Geographers.

Bühler revisited in times of war--Peter R. Hofstätter's The Crisis of Psychology (1941).

PubMed

Gundlach, Horst

2012-06-01

During World War II in 1941, the psychologist P. R. Hofstätter added an article to the debate on the crisis of psychology in a distinctly Nazi academic journal. After introducing Hofstätter and the journal, the core elements of his diagnosis and therapy recommendation beneath the National-Socialist-verbiage will be expounded. Hofstätter, a student of Karl Bühler's, ties on to his teacher's crisis well-known publication, but perceives the crisis in a broader perspective and connects it to the decline of theology and of pastoral guidance. Hofstätter's central, new aspect is the practice of psychology without which he sees it doomed. A central feature of psychological practice should be secular, non-therapeutic guidance of individuals. Various contextual facets are illuminated, Hofstätter's thwarted attempts to get a university position, the recent establishment of psychology in Germany as a discipline teaching professionals, the abolition of German military psychology, the battle for the Berlin university chair of Wolfgang Köhler. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Achieving Solution Success: An Investigation of User Participation Approaches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mattia, Angela Marie

2009-01-01

User participation and its relationship to system success have been discussed in the information systems (IS) literature from many theoretical and practical perspectives. In reality, most of this discussion is grounded in empirical research that has yielded mixed results on the importance of user participation and its relationship to system…

Crowd dynamics and safety. Reply to comments on "Human behaviours in evacuation crowd dynamics: From modelling to "big data" toward crisis management"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellomo, N.; Clarke, D.; Gibelli, L.; Townsend, P.; Vreugdenhil, B. J.

2016-09-01

The survey [13] presents an overview and critical analysis of the existing literature on the modeling of crowd dynamics related to crisis management toward the search of safety conditions. Out of this general review some rationale on research perspectives have been brought to the attention of the reader.

Spatial issues in user interface design from a graphic design perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marcus, Aaron

1989-01-01

The user interface of a computer system is a visual display that provides information about the status of operations on data within the computer and control options to the user that enable adjustments to these operations. From the very beginning of computer technology the user interface was a spatial display, although its spatial features were not necessarily complex or explicitly recognized by the users. All text and nonverbal signs appeared in a virtual space generally thought of as a single flat plane of symbols. Current technology of high performance workstations permits any element of the display to appear as dynamic, multicolor, 3-D signs in a virtual 3-D space. The complexity of appearance and the user's interaction with the display provide significant challenges to the graphic designer of current and future user interfaces. In particular, spatial depiction provides many opportunities for effective communication of objects, structures, processes, navigation, selection, and manipulation. Issues are presented that are relevant to the graphic designer seeking to optimize the user interface's spatial attributes for effective visual communication.

The Crisis "Hotline" as Mediated Therapeutic Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fish, Sandra L.

Hotlines, or telephone crisis-lines, begun in the 1960s and currently numbering in the hundreds provide assistance to callers in crisis, frequently around the clock. Crisis-line communication can be seen as a form of mediated therapeutic communication premised on the existence of a crisis and the medium of the telephone which shapes the…

Service users' perspectives in the design of an online tool for assisted self-help in mental health: a case study of implications.

PubMed

Gammon, Deede; Strand, Monica; Eng, Lillian Sofie

2014-01-09

The involvement of persons with lived experiences of mental illness and service use is increasingly viewed as key to improving the relevance and utility of mental health research and service innovation. Guided by the principles of Community-Based Participatory Research we developed an online tool for assisted self-help in mental health. The resulting tool, PsyConnect, is ready for testing in two communities starting 2014. This case study reports from the design phase which entailed clarifying very basic questions: Who is the primary target group? What are the aims? What functions are priorities? Roles and responsibilities? What types of evidence can legitimize tool design decisions? Here we highlight the views of service users as a basis for discussing implications of user involvement for service design and research. PsyConnect has become a tool for those who expect to need assistance over long periods of time regardless of their specific condition(s). The aim is to support service users in gaining greater overview and control, legitimacy, and sense of continuity in relationships. It has a personalized "my control panel" which depicts status → process → goals. Functionality includes support for: mapping life domains; medication overview; crisis management; coping exercises; secure messaging; and social support. While the types of evidence that can legitimize design decisions are scattered and indirectly relevant, recent trends in recovery research will be used to guide further refinements. PsyConnect has undoubtedly become something other than it would have been without careful attention to the views of service users. The tool invites a proactive approach that is likely to challenge treatment cultures that are reactive, disorder-focused and consultation-based. Service user representatives will need to play central roles in training peers and clinicians in order to increase the likelihood of tool usage in line with intentions. Similarly, their influence on tool

Service users' experiences of participation in decision making in mental health services.

PubMed

Dahlqvist Jönsson, P; Schön, U-K; Rosenberg, D; Sandlund, M; Svedberg, P

2015-11-01

Despite the potential positive impact of shared decision making on service users knowledge and experience of decisional conflict, there is a lack of qualitative research on how participation in decision making is promoted from the perspective of psychiatric service users. This study highlights the desire of users to participate more actively in decision making and demonstrates that persons with SMI struggle to be seen as competent and equal partners in decision-making situations. Those interviewed did not feel that their strengths, abilities and needs were being recognized, which resulted in a feeling of being omitted from involvement in decision-making situations. The service users describe some essential conditions that could work to promote participation in decision making. These included having personal support, having access to knowledge, being involved in a dialogue and clarity about responsibilities. Mental health nurses can play an essential role for developing and implementing shared decision making as a tool to promote recovery-oriented mental health services. Service user participation in decision making is considered an essential component of recovery-oriented mental health services. Despite the potential of shared decision making to impact service users knowledge and positively influence their experience of decisional conflict, there is a lack of qualitative research on how participation in decision making is promoted from the perspective of psychiatric service users. In order to develop concrete methods that facilitate shared decision making, there is a need for increased knowledge regarding the users' own perspective. The aim of this study was to explore users' experiences of participation in decisions in mental health services in Sweden, and the kinds of support that may promote participation. Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) was utilized to analyse group and individual interviews with 20 users with experience of serious mental illness. The core

When a Crisis Strikes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keebler, Barbara A.

1989-01-01

Urges Catholic educators to develop a crisis communication plan to ensure that all communication with the press and public is handled promptly and thoroughly by a designated spokesperson. Describes workshops which simulate real-life challenges as a means of testing crisis management plans. Offers guidelines for the development of a crisis…

Crisis Management Research Summaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brock, Stephen E., Ed.

2009-01-01

In this column, Crisis Management in the Schools Interest Group members summarize recent crisis management publications. The first article summarized was a meta-analysis of the risk factors associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among adults. The second study looked at the presence of life stressors among students who were expelled…

Service user involvement in care planning: the mental health nurse's perspective.

PubMed

Anthony, P; Crawford, P

2000-10-01

A dissonance between espoused values of consumerism within mental health care and the 'reality' of clinical practice has been firmly established in the literature, not least in terms of service user involvement in care planning. In order to begin to minimize such dissonance, it is vital that mental health nurse perceptions of service user involvement in the core activity of care planning are better understood. The main findings of this qualitative study, which uses semistructured interviews, suggest that mental health nurses value the concept of user involvement but consider it to be problematic in certain circumstances. The study reveals that nurses hold similar views about the 'meaning' of patient involvement in care planning but limited resources, individual patients characteristics and limitations in nursing care are the main inhibiting factors. Factors perceived as promoting and increasing user involvement included: provision of accurate information, 'user-friendly' documentation, mechanisms for gaining service user feedback, and high staff morale.

Hypercalcemic crisis: a clinical review.

PubMed

Ahmad, Shazia; Kuraganti, Gayatri; Steenkamp, Devin

2015-03-01

Hypercalcemia is a common metabolic perturbation. However, hypercalcemic crisis is an unusual endocrine emergency, with little clinical scientific data to support therapeutic strategy. We review the relevant scientific English literature on the topic and review current management strategies after conducting a PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar search for articles published between 1930 and June 2014 using specific keywords: "hypercalcemic crisis," "hyperparathyroid crisis," "parathyroid storm," "severe primary hyperparathyroidism," "acute hyperparathyroidism," and "severe hypercalcemia" for articles pertaining to the diagnosis, epidemiology, clinical presentation, and treatment strategies. Despite extensive clinical experience, large and well-designed clinical studies to direct appropriate clinical care are lacking. Nonetheless, morbidity and mortality rates have substantially decreased since early series reported almost universal fatality. Improved outcomes can be attributed to modern diagnostic capabilities, leading to earlier diagnosis, along with the recognition that primary hyperparathyroidism is the most common etiology for hypercalcemic crisis. Hypercalcemic crisis is an unusual endocrine emergency that portends excellent outcomes if rapid diagnosis, medical treatment, and definitive surgical treatment are expedited. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Psychology, Science, and Knowledge Construction: Broadening Perspectives from the Replication Crisis.

PubMed

Shrout, Patrick E; Rodgers, Joseph L

2018-01-04

Psychology advances knowledge by testing statistical hypotheses using empirical observations and data. The expectation is that most statistically significant findings can be replicated in new data and in new laboratories, but in practice many findings have replicated less often than expected, leading to claims of a replication crisis. We review recent methodological literature on questionable research practices, meta-analysis, and power analysis to explain the apparently high rates of failure to replicate. Psychologists can improve research practices to advance knowledge in ways that improve replicability. We recommend that researchers adopt open science conventions of preregi-stration and full disclosure and that replication efforts be based on multiple studies rather than on a single replication attempt. We call for more sophisticated power analyses, careful consideration of the various influences on effect sizes, and more complete disclosure of nonsignificant as well as statistically significant findings.

Maintenance Crisis vs Solutions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haggard, Susie

Industrial maintenance in Northeast Georgia is facing an acute crisis. Contributing factors are economic development that is depleting the work force, aging of the population, downsizing of the military, and lack of technical school graduates. Solutions to the crisis fall into three categories: short-term, mid-term, and long-term. For short-term…

The Little-Known Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eckholm, Erik P.

1975-01-01

For one-third of the world's people, the energy crisis means the daily scramble to find the wood they need to cook. The accelerating destruction of forests throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America and the utilization of manure as a firewood substitute may produce the most profound ecological crisis of this century. (BT)

Commercial speech in crisis: Crisis Pregnancy Center regulations and definitions of commercial speech.

PubMed

Gilbert, Kathryn E

2013-02-01

Recent attempts to regulate Crisis Pregnancy Centers, pseudoclinics that surreptitiously aim to dissuade pregnant women from choosing abortion, have confronted the thorny problem of how to define commercial speech. The Supreme Court has offered three potential answers to this definitional quandary. This Note uses the Crisis Pregnancy Center cases to demonstrate that courts should use one of these solutions, the factor-based approach of Bolger v. Youngs Drugs Products Corp., to define commercial speech in the Crisis Pregnancy Center cases and elsewhere. In principle and in application, the Bolger factor-based approach succeeds in structuring commercial speech analysis at the margins of the doctrine.

Timing crisis information release via television.

PubMed

Wei, Jiuchang; Zhao, Dingtao; Yang, Feng; Du, Shaofu; Marinova, Dora

2010-10-01

When and how often to release information on television are important issues in crisis and emergency risk communication. There is a lot of crisis information, including warnings and news, to which people should have access, but most of it is not significantly urgent to interrupt the broadcasting of television programmes. Hence, the right timing for the release of crisis information should be selected based on the importance of the crisis and any associated communication requirements. Using recursive methods, this paper builds an audience coverage model of crisis information release. Based on 2007 Household Using TV (HUT) data for Hefei City, China, the optimal combination of broadcasting sequence (with frequencies between one and eight times) is obtained using the implicit enumeration method. The developed model is applicable to effective transmission of crisis information, with the aim of reducing interference with the normal television transmission process and decreasing the psychological effect on audiences. The same model can be employed for other purposes, such as news coverage and weather and road information. © 2010 The Author(s). Journal compilation © Overseas Development Institute, 2010.

Do recreational cannabis users, unlicensed and licensed medical cannabis users form distinct groups?

PubMed

Sznitman, Sharon R

2017-04-01

This study aims to gain a more nuanced perspective on the differences between recreationally and medically motivated cannabis use by distinguishing between people who use cannabis for recreational purposes, unlicensed and licensed medical users. Data collection was conducted online from a convenience sample of 1479 Israeli cannabis users. Multinomial regression analysis compared unlicensed medical users (38%) with recreational (42%) and licensed medical (5.6%) users in terms of sociodemographics, mode, frequency and problematic cannabis use. There were more variables distinguishing unlicensed from licensed users than there were distinguishing features between unlicensed and recreational users. Recreational users were more likely to be male, less likely to eat cannabis, to use cannabis frequently and to use alone and before midday than unlicensed users. Licensed users were older than unlicensed users, they reported less hours feeling stoned, less cannabis use problems and they were more likely to report cannabis use patterns analogous of medication administration for chronic problems (frequent use, vaping, use alone and use before midday). This study suggests that a sizable proportion of cannabis users in Israel self-prescribe cannabis and that licensed medical cannabis users differ from unlicensed users. This is, in turn, suggestive of a rigorous medicalized cannabis program that does not function as a backdoor for legal access to recreational use. However, due to methodological limitations this conclusion is only suggestive. The most meaningful differences across recreational, unlicensed and licensed users were mode and patterns of use rather than cannabis use problems. Current screening tools for cannabis use problems may, however, not be well suited to assess such problems in medically motivated users. Indeed, when screening for problematic cannabis use there is a need for a more careful consideration of whether or not cannabis use is medically motivated

Sickle cell crisis and endothelin antagonists.

PubMed

Angerio, Allan D; Lee, Nicole D

2003-01-01

Sickle cell crisis may be more complex than a vaso-occlusive event in response to hypoxia. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor and mitogen secreted in response to hypoxia. ET-1 contributes to the vaso-occlusion and inflammation in sickle cell crisis. ET-1 antagonists may be useful in the prevention and treatment of crisis.

TU-C-201-01: Clinical Implementation of HDR: A New User’s Perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Al-Hallaq, H.

2015-06-15

Recent use of HDR has increased while planning has become more complex often necessitating 3D image-based planning. While many guidelines for the use of HDR exist, they have not kept pace with the increased complexity of 3D image-based planning. Furthermore, no comprehensive document exists to describe the wide variety of current HDR clinical indications. This educational session aims to summarize existing national and international guidelines for the safe implementation of an HDR program. A summary of HDR afterloaders available on the market and their existing applicators will be provided, with guidance on how to select the best fit for eachmore » institution’s needs. Finally, the use of checklists will be discussed as a means to implement a safe and efficient HDR program and as a method by which to verify the quality of an existing HDR program. This session will provide the perspective of expert HDR physicists as well as the perspective of a new HDR user. Learning Objectives: Summarize national and international safety and staffing guidelines for HDR implementation Discuss the process of afterloader and applicator selection for gynecologic, prostate, breast, interstitial, surface treatments Learn about the use of an audit checklist tool to measure of quality control of a new or existing HDR program Describe the evolving use of checklists within an HDR program.« less

The looming retirement crisis.

PubMed

Walker, D M

1997-06-01

A retirement crisis looms in the United States due to a number of recent and emerging trends that affect government retirement programs, employer- and union-sponsored retirement benefits and personal savings arrangements. The crisis can be averted, but only with well-thought-out action on a number of issues, particularly Social Security and Medicare reform.

Randomised controlled trial of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a peer-delivered self-management intervention to prevent relapse in crisis resolution team users: study protocol.

PubMed

Johnson, Sonia; Mason, Oliver; Osborn, David; Milton, Alyssa; Henderson, Claire; Marston, Louise; Ambler, Gareth; Hunter, Rachael; Pilling, Stephen; Morant, Nicola; Gray, Richard; Weaver, Tim; Nolan, Fiona; Lloyd-Evans, Brynmor

2017-10-27

Crisis resolution teams (CRTs) provide assessment and intensive home treatment in a crisis, aiming to offer an alternative for people who would otherwise require a psychiatric inpatient admission. They are available in most areas in England. Despite some evidence for their clinical and cost-effectiveness, recurrent concerns are expressed regarding discontinuity with other services and lack of focus on preventing future relapse and readmission to acute care. Currently evidence on how to prevent readmissions to acute care is limited. Self-management interventions, involving supporting service users in recognising and managing signs of their own illness and in actively planning their recovery, have some supporting evidence, but have not been tested as a means of preventing readmission to acute care in people leaving community crisis care. We thus proposed the current study to test the effectiveness of such an intervention. We selected peer support workers as the preferred staff to deliver such an intervention, as they are well-placed to model and encourage active and autonomous recovery from mental health problems. The CORE (CRT Optimisation and Relapse Prevention) self-management trial compares the effectiveness of a peer-provided self-management intervention for people leaving CRT care, with treatment as usual supplemented by a booklet on self-management. The planned sample is 440 participants, including 40 participants in an internal pilot. The primary outcome measure is whether participants are readmitted to acute care over 1 year of follow-up following entry to the trial. Secondary outcomes include self-rated recovery at 4 and at 18 months following trial entry, measured using the Questionnaire on the Process of Recovery. Analysis will follow an intention to treatment principle. Random effects logistic regression modelling with adjustment for clustering by peer support worker will be used to test the primary hypothesis. The CORE self-management trial was approved

Organizational Crisis Experience and Public Relations Roles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guth, David W.

1995-01-01

Suggests a relationship between organizational crisis experience and the placement of the public relations function. Notes a relationship between organization size and crisis experience. Uncovers an alarming absence of crisis planning and training in organizations. (SR)

Crisis behavior: An exploration of theories in concert.

PubMed

McConnell, Jason B; Crudo, Christine

2015-01-01

How might prominent existing communication theory better explain behavior in a crisis context, when considered in concert with one another? This theoretical work highlights the insight to be gained using Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Bandura's notions of self-efficacy to heighten the explanatory power of the Theory of Planned Behavior as applied to communication during times of crisis. Situational Crisis Communication Theory better explains how past experience with crisis influences the attitudes and social norms of crisis behavior, while Bandura's notion of self-efficacy speaks more directly to the availability of resources as contributing factors to perceived behavioral control in a crisis situation. As such, the incorporation of these well-developed notions into the broader framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior affords greater understanding of the relationship between communication and behavior during a crisis. Further exploration of this theoretical relationship is warranted.

Equity during an economic crisis: financing of the Argentine health system.

PubMed

Cavagnero, Eleonora; Bilger, Marcel

2010-07-01

This article analyses the redistributive effect caused by health financing and the distribution of healthcare utilization in Argentina before and during the severe 2001/2002 economic crisis. Both dramatically changed during this period: the redistributive effect became much more positive and utilization shifted from pro-poor to pro-rich. This clearly demonstrates that when utilization is contingent on financing, changes can occur rapidly; and that an integrated approach is required when monitoring equity. From a policy perspective, the Argentine health system appears vulnerable to economic downturns mainly due to high reliance on out-of-pocket payments and the strong link between health insurance and employment.

Impaired emotional empathy and related social network deficits in cocaine users.

PubMed

Preller, Katrin H; Hulka, Lea M; Vonmoos, Matthias; Jenni, Daniela; Baumgartner, Markus R; Seifritz, Erich; Dziobek, Isabel; Quednow, Boris B

2014-05-01

Chronic cocaine users consistently display neurochemical and functional alterations in brain areas involved in social cognition (e.g. medial and orbitofrontal cortex). Although social functioning plays a crucial role in the development and treatment of drug dependence, studies investigating social cognition in cocaine users are lacking. Therefore, we investigated mental perspective taking ('theory of mind') and emotional and cognitive empathy in recreational (RCU) and dependent (DCU) cocaine users. Furthermore, we related these measures to real-life indicators of social functioning. One-hundred cocaine users (69 RCU, 31 DCU) and 68 stimulant-naïve healthy controls were tested with the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET), Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC) and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). The Social Network Questionnaire was conducted to assess social network size. Furthermore, participants provided information on committed criminal offenses. RCU and DCU showed less emotional empathy compared to controls (MET), whereas cognitive empathy was not impaired (MET, RMET). Additionally, DCU made more errors in mental perspective taking (MASC). Notably, cocaine users committed more criminal offenses and displayed a smaller social network and higher cocaine use was correlated with less social contacts. Diminished mental perspective taking was tentatively correlated with more intense cocaine use as well. Finally, younger age of onset of cocaine use was associated with more pronounced empathy impairment. In conclusion, social cognition impairments in cocaine users were related to real-life social functioning and should therefore be considered in therapy and prevention strategies. © 2013 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Enhancing crisis leadership in public health emergencies.

PubMed

Deitchman, Scott

2013-10-01

Reviews of public health emergency responses have identified a need for crisis leadership skills in health leaders, but these skills are not routinely taught in public health curricula. To develop criteria for crisis leadership in public health, published sources were reviewed to identify attributes of successful crisis leadership in aviation, public safety, military operations, and mining. These sources were abstracted to identify crisis leadership attributes associated with those disciplines and compare those attributes with crisis leadership challenges in public health. Based on this review, the following attributes are proposed for crisis leadership in public health: competence in public health science; decisiveness with flexibility; ability to maintain situational awareness and provide situational assessment; ability to coordinate diverse participants across very different disciplines; communication skills; and the ability to inspire trust. Of these attributes, only competence in public health science is currently a goal of public health education. Strategies to teach the other proposed attributes of crisis leadership will better prepare public health leaders to meet the challenges of public health crises.

Expanding the Crisis Planning Function: Introducing Elements of Risk Communication to Crisis Communication Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, David E.; Olaniran, Bolanle A.

1998-01-01

Suggests use of elements of risk communication by crisis communication practitioners facing increasing industrial reliance on new technologies which might be associated with potential health/environment harm. Studies a small company crisis which reveals that elements of anticipation, public involvement/trust, technological comparison, and media…

Outcome of Extended Thymectomy in Myasthenia Crisis Patient.

PubMed

Aftabuddin, M; Bhandari, S

2016-07-01

Myasthenic crisis is a life-threatening condition. We studied the demographic, frequency, causes and clinical presentation of isolated Myasthenic crisis, steps of treatment and to review our experience of extended thymectomy on patients with at least one episode myasthenic crisis. A prospective and retrospective study was conducted on patients with at least one episode of myasthenic crisis, from March 2010 to September 2014, at the Department of Cardiac Surgery, BSMMU, Dhaka, Bangladesh who were referred for thymectomy. Eighteen patients (13.6% of the total 132 patients with myasthenia gravis were admitted with single to multiple episodes of myasthenic crisis, median crisis was 2.5 episodes. Mean age of the patient was 35.5 (18-72) years with male predominance. All eighteen patients had undergone extended thymectomy after completion of 5 cycle plasmapheresis, of which 2 had experienced postoperative respiratory crisis, required invasive ventilator support for median 14 days. One patient required invasive ventilator support after third post operative day. Six patients had thymoma and 12 had thymic hyperplasia. Three patients needed Intravenous immunoglobin. Nine patients needed post operative anti acetylcholinesterase inhibitor after median 2.5 post days. Post thymectomy remission and decreases the frequency of myasthenic crisis was seen in follow up and post operative medication requirement reduced significantly as compared to the preoperative requirement. This report highlights that the patients who had extended thymectomy after episodes of myasthenia crisis are benefitted even in the histhopathology report does not confirmed thymoma. After thymectomy, there was remission of myasthenic crisis. Patients with myasthenic crisis should have judicious drug adjustments under supervision and should be treated aggressively during impending myasthenic crisis. With modern management of myasthenia gravis, early surgery with myasthenic crisis is safe with good long

What Do Our Users Want? Perspectives on Understanding and Meeting User Needs for Multi-Mission Data Services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McGuire, Robert E.; Candey, Robert M.; Bilitza, D.

2006-01-01

The Sun-Earth Connection Active Archive (SECAA) project of NASA's Space Physics Data Facility operates a range of unique and heavily used multi-mission data services in support of the large-scale science objectives of the Great Observatory, including services such as CDAWeb, the CDAWeb Plus client, SSCWeb, OMNIweb and the CDF data format. In developing and operating these services, we have encountered and continue to struggle with a wide range of issues such as balancing scope and functionality with simplicity and ease of use, understanding the effectiveness of our choices and identifying areas most important for further improvement. In this paper, we will review our key services and then discuss some of our observations and new approaches to understanding and meeting user data service requirements. Some observations are obvious but may still have substantial implications; e.g. functionality without information content is of little user interest, which has led to our recent emphasis on development of web services interfaces, so the content and functionality we already serve is readily and fully available as a building block for new services. Some observations require careful design and tradeoffs; e.g. users will complain when they are offered interfaces with limited options but users are also easily intimidated and become lost when offered extensive options for customization. Some observations remain highly challenging; e.g. a comprehensive multi-mission, multi-source view of all data and services available easily produces a daunting list, but a more selective view can easily lead users to overlook available and relevant data. It is often difficult to obtain and meaningfully interpret measures of true productive usage and overall user satisfaction, even with a variety of techniques including statistics, citations, case studies, user feedback and advisory committees. Most of these issues will apply to and may even be more acute for distributed implementation

Incorporating user perspectives in the design of an online intervention tool for people with visible differences: face IT.

PubMed

Bessell, Alyson; Clarke, Alex; Harcourt, Diana; Moss, Tim P; Rumsey, Nichola

2010-10-01

Individuals with visible differences can experience social anxiety in relation to their appearance. Social skills-based psychosocial interventions have to date shown only limited effectiveness at addressing their concerns. To incorporate user perspectives in the development of an online psychosocial intervention, known as Face IT. Study one consisted of a needs assessment with 12 individuals with a visible difference and six health professionals in order to identify the difficulties experienced by those with visible difference and obtain feedback on the proposed content of Face IT. The findings demonstrated support for the social skills model and the use of an online intervention. Study two consisted of an empirical usability evaluation of Face IT with 14 potential users and 14 health professionals. Based on feedback from the participants, changes were made to the graphics and navigation of the programme. The clinical content has been made more acceptable. The findings indicate support for the importance of social skills-based psychosocial interventions for addressing the needs of those with a visible difference, and have allowed modifications to be made to Face IT ahead of a randomized controlled trial of effectiveness.

Leadership in a (permanent) crisis.

PubMed

Heifetz, Ronald; Grashow, Alexander; Linsky, Marty

2009-01-01

The current economic crisis is not just another rough spell. Today's mix of urgency, high stakes, and uncertainty will continue even after the recession ends. The immediate crisis--which we will get through with policy makers' expert technical adjustments--sets the stage for a sustained, or even permanent, crisis, a relentless series of challenges no one has encountered before. Instead of hunkering down and relying on their familiar expertise to deal with the sustained crisis, people in positions of authority--whether they are CEOs or managers heading up a company initiative--must practice what the authors call adaptive leadership. They must, of course, tackle the underlying causes of the crisis, but they must also simultaneously make the changes that will allow their organizations to thrive in turbulent environments. Adaptive leadership is an improvisational and experimental art, requiring some new practices. Like Julie Gilbert, who overcame internal resistance to reorient Best Buy toward female purchasers, adaptive leaders get things done to meet today's challenges and then modify those things to thrive in tomorrow's world. They also embrace disequilibrium, using turbulence as an opportunity to build crucial new capacities, as Paul Levy did to rescue Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center from a profound financial crisis. Finally, adaptive leaders, such as Egon Zehnder, the founder of an executive search firm, draw out the leadership skills that reside deep in the organization, recognizing the interdependence of all employees and mobilizing everyone to generate solutions.

Verbal Memory Impairment in Polydrug Ecstasy Users: A Clinical Perspective.

PubMed

Kuypers, Kim P C; Theunissen, Eef L; van Wel, Janelle H P; de Sousa Fernandes Perna, Elizabeth B; Linssen, Anke; Sambeth, Anke; Schultz, Benjamin G; Ramaekers, Johannes G

2016-01-01

Ecstasy use has been associated with short-term and long-term memory deficits on a standard Word Learning Task (WLT). The clinical relevance of this has been debated and is currently unknown. The present study aimed at evaluating the clinical relevance of verbal memory impairment in Ecstasy users. To that end, clinical memory impairment was defined as decrement in memory performance that exceeded the cut-off value of 1.5 times the standard deviation of the average score in the healthy control sample. The primary question was whether being an Ecstasy user (E-user) was predictive of having clinically deficient memory performance compared to a healthy control group. WLT data were pooled from four experimental MDMA studies that compared memory performance during placebo and MDMA intoxication. Control data were taken from healthy volunteers with no drug use history who completed the WLT as part of a placebo-controlled clinical trial. This resulted in a sample size of 65 E-users and 65 age- and gender-matched healthy drug-naïve controls. All participants were recruited by similar means and were tested at the same testing facilities using identical standard operating procedures. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models, Bayes factor, and logistic regressions. Findings were that verbal memory performance of placebo-treated E-users did not differ from that of controls, and there was substantial evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. History of use was not predictive of memory impairment. During MDMA intoxication of E-users, verbal memory was impaired. The combination of the acute and long-term findings demonstrates that, while clinically relevant memory impairment is present during intoxication, it is absent during abstinence. This suggests that use of Ecstasy/MDMA does not lead to clinically deficient memory performance in the long term. Additionally, it has to be investigated whether the current findings apply to more complex cognitive measures in diverse

Verbal Memory Impairment in Polydrug Ecstasy Users: A Clinical Perspective

PubMed Central

Kuypers, Kim P. C.; Theunissen, Eef L.; van Wel, Janelle H. P.; de Sousa Fernandes Perna, Elizabeth B.; Linssen, Anke; Sambeth, Anke; Schultz, Benjamin G.; Ramaekers, Johannes G.

2016-01-01

Background Ecstasy use has been associated with short-term and long-term memory deficits on a standard Word Learning Task (WLT). The clinical relevance of this has been debated and is currently unknown. The present study aimed at evaluating the clinical relevance of verbal memory impairment in Ecstasy users. To that end, clinical memory impairment was defined as decrement in memory performance that exceeded the cut-off value of 1.5 times the standard deviation of the average score in the healthy control sample. The primary question was whether being an Ecstasy user (E-user) was predictive of having clinically deficient memory performance compared to a healthy control group. Methods WLT data were pooled from four experimental MDMA studies that compared memory performance during placebo and MDMA intoxication. Control data were taken from healthy volunteers with no drug use history who completed the WLT as part of a placebo-controlled clinical trial. This resulted in a sample size of 65 E-users and 65 age- and gender-matched healthy drug-naïve controls. All participants were recruited by similar means and were tested at the same testing facilities using identical standard operating procedures. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models, Bayes factor, and logistic regressions. Results Findings were that verbal memory performance of placebo-treated E-users did not differ from that of controls, and there was substantial evidence in favor of the null hypothesis. History of use was not predictive of memory impairment. During MDMA intoxication of E-users, verbal memory was impaired. Conclusion The combination of the acute and long-term findings demonstrates that, while clinically relevant memory impairment is present during intoxication, it is absent during abstinence. This suggests that use of Ecstasy/MDMA does not lead to clinically deficient memory performance in the long term. Additionally, it has to be investigated whether the current findings apply to more

Analyzing Crisis in Global Financial Indices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Sunil; Deo, Nivedita

We apply the Random Matrix Theory and complex network techniques to 20 global financial indices and study the correlation and network properties before and during the financial crisis of 2008 respectively. We find that the largest eigenvalue deviate significantly from the upper bound which shows a strong correlation between financial indices. By using a sliding window of 25 days we find that largest eigenvalue represent the collective information about the correlation between global financial indices and its trend indicate the market conditions. It is confirmed that eigenvectors corresponding to second largest eigenvalue gives useful information about the sector formation in the global financial indices. We find that these clusters are formed on the basis of the geographical location. The correlation network is constructed using threshold method for different values of threshold θ in the range 0 to 0.9, at θ=0.2 the network is fully connected. At θ=0.6, the Americas, Europe and Asia/Pacific form different clusters before the crisis but during the crisis Americas and Europe are strongly linked. If we further increase the threshold to 0.9 we find that European countries France, Germany and UK consistently constitute the most tightly linked markets before and during the crisis. We find that the structure of Minimum Spanning Tree before the crisis is more star like whereas during the crisis it changes to be more chain like. Using the multifractal analysis, we find that Hurst exponents of financial indices increases during the period of crisis as compared to the period before the crisis. The empirical results verify the validity of measures, and this has led to a better understanding of complex financial markets.

[Changes between pre-crisis and crisis period in socioeconomic inequalities in health and stimulant use in Netherlands].

PubMed

Buggink, J W; de Goeij, M C M; Otten, F W J; Kunst, A

2016-01-01

International research suggests an impact of economic crises on population health, with different effects among different socioeconomic groups. Since the end of 2008 the Netherlands experienced a period of economic crisis. Our study explores how inequalities in perceived general and mental health, and alcohol and tobacco use changed after the recession started. Cross-sectional study using routinely collected data from surveys of the Dutch population. We used data from the Dutch Health Interview Surveys: 2006-2008 (pre-crisis period) and 2009-2013 (crisis period). Respondents aged 25-64 were divided into socioeconomic groups based on labour status, income level and income change. Inequalities in health and stimulant use among these socioeconomic groups were described by period and changes between the pre-crisis and crisis period were investigated using logistic regression models. Most inequalities did not change, with some exceptions. For perceived general health, inequalities between employed persons and persons not in the labour force were larger in the crisis-period (unfavourable trends for those not in the labour force). For smoking, inequalities between unemployed and employed persons were larger in the crisis period (decreasing smoking rates only for those employed), as did inequalities between persons with low and high income levels (decreasing smoking rates for those with higher income levels). Excessive drinking decreased among employed persons and persons with a decrease in income, while it remained stable among persons not in the labour force and among persons with an increase in income. The widening of some socioeconomic inequalities in health and stimulant use might suggest an enhanced vulnerability of lower socioeconomic groups to the post-2008 crisis.

Changes between pre-crisis and crisis period in socioeconomic inequalities in health and stimulant use in Netherlands.

PubMed

Bruggink, Jan-Willem; de Goeij, Moniek C M; Otten, Ferdy; Kunst, Anton E

2016-10-01

International research suggests an impact of economic crises on population health, with different effects among different socioeconomic groups. Since the end of 2008 the Netherlands experienced a period of economic crisis. Our study explores how inequalities in perceived general and mental health, and alcohol and tobacco use changed after the recession started. We used data from the Dutch Health Interview Surveys: 2006-2008 (pre-crisis period) and 2009-2013 (crisis period). Respondents aged 25-64 were divided into socioeconomic groups based on labour status, income level and income change. Inequalities in health and stimulant use among these socioeconomic groups were described by period and changes between the pre-crisis and crisis period were investigated using logistic regression models. Most inequalities did not change, with some exceptions. For perceived general health, inequalities between employed persons and persons not in the labour force were larger in the crisis period (unfavourable trends for those not in the labour force). For smoking, inequalities between unemployed and employed persons were larger in the crisis period (decreasing smoking rates only for those employed), as did inequalities between persons with low and high income levels (decreasing smoking rates for those with higher income levels). Excessive drinking decreased among employed persons and persons with a decrease in income, while it remained stable among persons not in the labour force and among persons with an increase in income. The widening of some socioeconomic inequalities in health and stimulant use might suggest an enhanced vulnerability of lower socioeconomic groups to the post-2008 crisis. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Crisis engagement in mental health: a New Zealand Māori contribution.

PubMed

Drury, Nick; Munro, Te Ata

2008-10-01

The active engagement of clients in mental health services offers far greater chances of successful outcomes. When clients do not actively engage in treatment, their risk of becoming part of the population of 'high users' is greater. The 'high users' consume a disproportionate share of health resources, which may prevent other potential clients from accessing services. Engagement can be particularly challenging in crisis situations, which is how many clients attracting psychotic diagnoses first enter the service. New Zealand Māori bring a transcendent quality to the idea of 'respect for Other', which would make it sacrilegious to overpower Other in most situations. This paper reviews a growing body of literature indicating how we might integrate an enhanced respect or reverence of Other into clinical practice. This includes the idea of engaging more frequently with the social network when building rapport with an individual is particularly challenging. There is some evidence that services adopting this kind of approach are more economical.

Helping Crisis Managers Protect Reputational Assets: Initial Tests of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coombs, W. Timothy; Holladay, Sherry J.

2002-01-01

Explains a comprehensive, prescriptive, situational approach for responding to crises and protecting organizational reputation: the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT). Notes undergraduate students read two crisis case studies from a set of 13 cases and responded to questions following the case. Validates a key assumption in SCCT and…

40 CFR 166.45 - Duration of crisis exemption.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Duration of crisis exemption. 166.45... EXEMPTION OF FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES FOR USE OF PESTICIDES UNDER EMERGENCY CONDITIONS Crisis Exemptions § 166.45 Duration of crisis exemption. A crisis exemption may be authorized for: (a) Only as long as is...

Are you ready? Crisis leadership in a hyper-VUCA environment.

PubMed

Alkhaldi, Khaldoon H; Austin, Meredith L; Cura, Boris A; Dantzler, Darrell; Holland, Leslie; Maples, David L; Quarrelles, Jamie C; Weinkle, Robert K; Marcus, Leonard J

2017-01-01

The current hyper-volatile, -uncertain, -complex, and -ambiguous (VUCA) threat environment demands a more cohesive support structure for crisis leaders who may be faced with crises of increasing magnitude and frequency and, in some instances, multiple crisis events simultaneously. The project team investigates the perceptions of crisis leaders regarding establishing a crisis leader advisor position for crisis leaders to benefit from their experience while prosecuting crisis response activities. The team linked hyper-VUCA crises, crisis response frameworks, meta-leadership, crisis leader attributes, and advisor attributes. The overall goal of the project is to increase the ability of the crisis leaders to more effectively and efficiently navigate crisis events resulting in more efficient and effective response and recovery. Three research questions were developed to assess the following: thoughts of integrating a crisis leader advisor position; development of a crisis leader advisor certification program; and attributes of crisis leader advisors. A qualitative research methodology using a phenomenological approach was employed. Forty-one participants were purposefully selected and administered a short, online survey consisting of 11 questions. Data were analyzed using percentage analysis, weighted sums, and inductive thematic analysis. The project team found an overwhelming support for the crisis leader advisor position and the crisis leader advisor certification program. Additionally, experience and trustworthiness ranked among the top sought after attributes of a crisis leader advisor. The team recommendations included (1) implement a crisis leaders advisor guide/framework; (2) create a formal crisis leader advisor position in national incident management system; (3) implement a crisis leader advisor certification framework; (4) benchmark established advisor programs; and (5) implement a framework to match leaders and advisors.

Are you ready? Crisis leadership in a hyper-VUCA environment.

PubMed

Alkhaldi, Khaldoon H; Austin, Meredith L; Cura, Boris A; Dantzler, Darrell; Holland, Leslie; Maples, David L; Quarrelles, Jamie C; Weinkle, Robert K; Marcus, Leonard J

The current hyper-volatile, -uncertain, -complex, and -ambiguous (VUCA) threat environment demands a more cohesive support structure for crisis leaders who may be faced with crises of increasing magnitude and frequency and, in some instances, multiple crisis events simultaneously. The project team investigates the perceptions of crisis leaders regarding establishing a crisis leader advisor position for crisis leaders to benefit from their experience while prosecuting crisis response activities. The team linked hyper-VUCA crises, crisis response frameworks, meta-leadership, crisis leader attributes, and advisor attributes. The overall goal of the project is to increase the ability of the crisis leaders to more effectively and efficiently navigate crisis events resulting in more efficient and effective response and recovery. Three research questions were developed to assess the following: thoughts of integrating a crisis leader advisor position; development of a crisis leader advisor certification program; and attributes of crisis leader advisors. A qualitative research methodology using a phenomenological approach was employed. Forty-one participants were purposefully selected and administered a short, on-line survey consisting of 11 questions. Data were analyzed using percentage analysis, weighted sums, and inductive thematic analysis. The project team found an overwhelming support for the crisis leader advisor position and the crisis leader advisor certification program. Additionally, experience and trustworthiness ranked among the top sought after attributes of a crisis leader advisor. The team recommendations included (1) implement a crisis leaders advisor guide/framework; (2) create a formal crisis leader advisor position in national incident management system; (3) implement a crisis leader advisor certification framework; (4) benchmark established advisor programs; and (5) implement a framework to match leaders and advisors.

Are you ready? Crisis leadership in a hyper-VUCA environment.

PubMed

Alkhaldi, Khaldoon H; Austin, Meredith L; Cura, Boris A; Dantzler, Darrell; Holland, Leslie; Maples, David L; Quarrelles, Jamie C; Weinkle, Robert K; Marcus, Leonard J

The current hyper-volatile, -uncertain, -complex, and -ambiguous (VUCA) threat environment demands a more cohesive support structure for crisis leaders who may be faced with crises of increasing magnitude and frequency and, in some instances, multiple crisis events simultaneously. The project team investigates the perceptions of crisis leaders regarding establishing a crisis leader advisor position for crisis leaders to benefit from their experience while prosecuting crisis response activities. The team linked hyper-VUCA crises, crisis response frameworks, meta-leadership, crisis leader attributes, and advisor attributes. The overall goal of the project is to increase the ability of the crisis leaders to more effectively and efficiently navigate crisis events resulting in more efficient and effective response and recovery. Three research questions were developed to assess the following: thoughts of integrating a crisis leader advisor position; development of a crisis leader advisor certification program; and attributes of crisis leader advisors. A qualitative research methodology using a phenomenological approach was employed. Forty-one participants were purposefully selected and administered a short, on-line survey consisting of 11 questions. Data were analyzed using percentage analysis,weighted sums, and inductive thematic analysis. The project team found an overwhelming support for the crisis leader advisor position and the crisis leader advisor certification program. Additionally, experience and trustworthiness ranked among the top sought after attributes of a crisis leader advisor. The team recommendations included (1) implement a crisis leaders advisor guide/framework; (2) create a formal crisis leader advisor position in national incident management system; (3) implement a crisis leader advisor certification framework; (4) benchmark established advisor programs; and (5) implement a framework to match leaders and advisors.

The generic drug user fee amendments: an economic perspective

PubMed Central

Berndt, Ernst R; Murphy, Stephen J

2018-01-01

Abstract Since the vast majority of prescription drugs consumed by Americans are off patent (‘generic’), their regulation and supply is of wide interest. We describe events leading up to the US Congress's 2012 passage of the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments (GDUFA I) as part of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA). Under GDUFA I, generic manufacturers agreed to pay approximately $300 million in fees each year of the five-year program. In exchange, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) committed to performance goals. We describe GDUFA I’s FDA commitments, provisions, goals, and annual fee structure and compare it to that entailed in the authorization and implementation of GDUFA II on October 1, 2017. We explain how user fees required under GDUFA I erected barriers to entry and created scale and scope economies for incumbent manufacturers. Congress changed user fees under GDUFA II in part to lessen these incentives. In order to initiate and sustain user fees under GDUFA legislation, FDA requires the submission of self-reported data on generic manufacturers including domestic and foreign facilities. These data are public and our examination of them provides an unprecedented window into the recent organization of generic drug manufacturers supplying the US market. Our results suggest that generic drug manufacturing is increasingly concentrated and foreign. We discuss the implications of this observed market structure for GDUFA II’s implementation among other outcomes. PMID:29707218

Agrofuels, Food Sovereignty, and the Contemporary Food Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosset, Peter

2009-01-01

In this article, agrofuels are examined in the context of the world food price crisis and the "food sovereignty" proposal for addressing the crisis. Both short- and long-term causes of the crisis are examined, and while agrofuels are presently not a prime causal factor they are clearly contraindicated by the crisis. Food sovereignty,…

Communicating through Crisis: A Strategy for Organizational Survival.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sturges, David L.

1994-01-01

Suggests that crisis communication should be a part of the larger issues of communication policy and strategy. Builds a case for the need to consider crisis communication in a larger context. Proposes a model of crisis communication content that may serve as a framework for research into the efficacy of communication during crisis episodes. (RS)

School Crisis Management Manual: Guidelines for Administrators. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Judie

This three-part manual is intended for principals and other administrators responsible for developing and managing school crisis plans. Part 1, preparation for a school crisis, includes sections on the selection and training of members of the school crisis team, steps in developing a school crisis plan, and four crisis scenarios to train team…

A CLEAR Plan for School Crisis Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moriarty, Anthony; And Others

1993-01-01

Although many school formulas for crisis management are well coordinated internally, many are also shortsighted in recognizing when a school crisis falls simultaneously into law enforcement's domain. An Illinois high school has devised CLEAR, a crisis management plan delineating cognizance of personnel, the linkages they establish, accountability…

Reconceptualizing Early and Late Onset: A Life Course Analysis of Older Heroin Users

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boeri, Miriam Williams; Sterk, Claire E.; Elifson, Kirk W.

2008-01-01

Purpose: Researchers' knowledge regarding older users of illicit drugs is limited despite the increasing numbers of users. In this article, we apply a life course perspective to gain a further understanding of older adult drug use, specifically contrasting early- and late-onset heroin users. Design and Methods: We collected qualitative data from…

Crisis leadership in an acute clinical setting: christchurch hospital, new zealand ICU experience following the february 2011 earthquake.

PubMed

Zhuravsky, Lev

2015-04-01

On Tuesday, February 22, 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand. This qualitative study explored the intensive care units (ICUs) staff experiences and adopted leadership approaches to manage a large-scale crisis resulting from the city-wide disaster. To date, there have been a very small number of research publications to provide a comprehensive overview of crisis leadership from the perspective of multi-level interactions among staff members in the acute clinical environment during the process of the crisis management. The research was qualitative in nature. Participants were recruited into the study through purposive sampling. A semi-structured, audio-taped, personal interview method was chosen as a single data collection method for this study. This study employed thematic analysis. Formal team leadership refers to the actions undertaken by a team leader to ensure the needs and goals of the team are met. Three core, formal, crisis-leadership themes were identified: decision making, ability to remain calm, and effective communication. Informal leaders are those individuals who exert significant influence over other members in the group to which they belong, although no formal authority has been assigned to them. Four core, informal, crisis-leadership themes were identified: motivation to lead, autonomy, emotional leadership, and crisis as opportunity. Shared leadership is a dynamic process among individuals in groups for which the objective is to lead one another to the achievement of group or organizational goals. Two core, shared-leadership themes were identified: shared leadership within formal medical and nursing leadership groups, and shared leadership between formal and informal leaders in the ICU. The capabilities of formal leaders all contributed to the overall management of a crisis. Informal leaders are a very cohesive group of motivated people who can make a substantial contribution and improve overall team performance in a

Crisis -- A Leadership Opportunity

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-04-01

recognized the great value in understanding crisis theory and the leadership strategies to employ during these situations. Additionally, we discovered...ed.: 50. Mitroff, Ian I. Crisis leadership : Planning for the Unthinkable. Hoboken: Wiley, 2004. Murphy, P. (1996). "Chaos Theory as a Model...Crisis–A Leadership Opportunity COL Victor Braden, ARNG CAPT Justin Cooper II, USN COL Michael Klingele, USA Lt Col John P

A Crisis of Legendary Proportions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simpson, Christopher

2001-01-01

Describes the activities of Indiana University's crisis communications team during the Bob Knight controversy. Discusses how the school's response was based on four crisis communications principles: create a plan, appoint a single spokesperson, respond with open and continuous communications, and expect the unexpected. (EV)

Hyperfibrinogenaemia and hyperviscosity in sickle-cell crisis.

PubMed Central

Richardson, S G; Breeze, G R; Stuart, J

1976-01-01

Plasma fibrinogen concentration and whole-blood viscosity, the latter measured at two shear rates (23 and 230 sec-1), were estimated during eight episodes of sickle-cell crisis and compared with values in 26 sickle-cell anaemia patients who were not in crisis. Painful crisis was associated with a significant increase in both plasma fibrinogen and whole-blood viscosity. Increased fibrinogen-erythrocyte interaction in vivo may be a significant contributory factor to raising blood viscosity and precipitating vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle-cell disease. PMID:977763

Organizational Learning and Crisis Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Jia

2007-01-01

The impact of crises on organizations has been stronger than ever. This article explores the role of organizational learning in crisis management, an area that has received little attention from HRD community. Recognizing the dynamics and interconnectedness of crisis management, organizational learning, and organizational change, the article…

A pre-crisis vs. crisis analysis of peripheral EU stock markets by means of wavelet transform and a nonlinear causality test

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polanco-Martínez, J. M.; Fernández-Macho, J.; Neumann, M. B.; Faria, S. H.

2018-01-01

This paper presents an analysis of EU peripheral (so-called PIIGS) stock market indices and the S&P Europe 350 index (SPEURO), as a European benchmark market, over the pre-crisis (2004-2007) and crisis (2008-2011) periods. We computed a rolling-window wavelet correlation for the market returns and applied a non-linear Granger causality test to the wavelet decomposition coefficients of these stock market returns. Our results show that the correlation is stronger for the crisis than for the pre-crisis period. The stock market indices from Portugal, Italy and Spain were more interconnected among themselves during the crisis than with the SPEURO. The stock market from Portugal is the most sensitive and vulnerable PIIGS member, whereas the stock market from Greece tends to move away from the European benchmark market since the 2008 financial crisis till 2011. The non-linear causality test indicates that in the first three wavelet scales (intraweek, weekly and fortnightly) the number of uni-directional and bi-directional causalities is greater during the crisis than in the pre-crisis period, because of financial contagion. Furthermore, the causality analysis shows that the direction of the Granger cause-effect for the pre-crisis and crisis periods is not invariant in the considered time-scales, and that the causality directions among the studied stock markets do not seem to have a preferential direction. These results are relevant to better understand the behaviour of vulnerable stock markets, especially for investors and policymakers.

Lunar phases and crisis center telephone calls.

PubMed

Wilson, J E; Tobacyk, J J

1990-02-01

The lunar hypothesis, that is, the notion that lunar phases can directly affect human behavior, was tested by time-series analysis of 4,575 crisis center telephone calls (all calls recorded for a 6-month interval). As expected, the lunar hypothesis was not supported. The 28-day lunar cycle accounted for less than 1% of the variance of the frequency of crisis center calls. Also, as hypothesized from an attribution theory framework, crisis center workers reported significantly greater belief in lunar effects than a non-crisis-center-worker comparison group.

"Why Are You Here? Can't You Cope at Home?" The Psychiatric Crisis of People with Intellectual Disabilities and the Community's Response

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spassiani, Natasha; Abou Chacra, Megan Sarah; Lunsky, Yona

2017-01-01

Introduction: Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) are high users of emergency mental health services and can experience stigmatization in these circumstances. The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of people with ID living in the community who interact with emergency services as a result of a psychiatric crisis, from the…

Perspectives on Networking.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levy, Sue

1992-01-01

Presents a library automation vendor's perspective on networking based on activities at Ameritech Information Systems. Topics discussed include the information explosion; information technology; user expectations and needs; remote access; the library of the future; systems integration; ownership versus access; copyright laws; and the role of the…

Crisis and Employment: The Case of Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cho, Dongchul; Shin, Sukha

2012-01-01

This paper examines Korea's employment dynamics and analyzes how adverse impacts could be mitigated during the recent economic crisis in comparison with the 1997 to 1998 Asian crisis. A clear lesson is that policies to mitigate adverse impacts of financial crisis on the macroeconomic level should be given priority for preserving employment. In…

Crisis of Youth or Youth in Crisis? Education, Employment and Legitimation Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simmons, Robin; Smyth, John

2016-01-01

This paper uses the Habermasian concept of legitimation crisis to critique the relationship between post-compulsory education and training and the chronic levels of youth unemployment and under-employment which now characterise post-industrial Western economies, such as the UK. It draws on data from an ethnographic study of the lives of young…

Telephone helplines as a source of support for eating disorders: Service user, carer, and health professional perspectives.

PubMed

Prior, Amie-Louise; Woodward, Debbie; Hoefkens, Toni; Clayton, Debbie; Thirlaway, Katie; Limbert, Caroline

2018-01-01

Access to care for eating disorders can be problematic for numerous reasons including lack of understanding and delays with treatment referrals. Previous research has highlighted the benefits of telephone helplines as an accessible source of support for those who may not wish to access face-to-face support or to fill a gap for those waiting for treatment. This study aimed to gain an insight into the perspectives of those who may use or refer others to a telephone helpline in order to identify the requirements of such a service. Triangulation of service user, carer and health professionals' perspectives resulted in identification of themes relating to the type of support, delivery and practicalities of a helpline. The findings indicated that telephone helplines may offer numerous benefits for individuals with an eating disorder, whether accessed as a first step, alongside treatment or as an extension of this support when in recovery. Additionally helplines may provide an opportunity for carers to access information and discuss their own experiences, while supporting their loved one. Raising awareness of these services is important to encourage those affected by an eating disorder to access and make the most of this type of support. These findings offer an insight into the key requirements for new and existing service development with regard to both the type of support and the method of communication required by individuals with eating disorders.

Cardiac troponin I in sickle cell crisis.

PubMed

Aslam, Ahmad K; Rodriguez, Carlos; Aslam, Ahmed F; Vasavada, Balendu C; Khan, Ijaz A

2009-03-20

Gross and microscopic findings consistent with acute and healed myocardial injury without coronary artery disease have been described in autopsy studies of patients with sickle cell crisis. The present study was designed to determine whether serum levels of cardiac troponin I are elevated in sickle cell crisis. Cardiac troponin I levels were measured in 32 patients age>18 years with the admission diagnosis of sickle cell crisis. All patients had cardiac troponin I level drawn >24 h after the onset of symptoms. The clinical profile and electrocardiograms were analyzed. Out of 32 patients, 2 patients had serum cardiac troponin I elevated, both had presented with acute chest syndrome. Serum cardiac troponin I may be elevated during sickle cell crisis, possibly by myocardial ischemia resulting from microvascular coronary obstruction during sickle cell crisis.

Older adults' perspectives on the process of becoming users of assistive technology: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis.

PubMed

Larsen, Stina Meyer; Mortensen, Rikke Falgreen; Kristensen, Hanne Kaae; Hounsgaard, Lise

2018-04-22

To identify, synthesize, and evaluate existing literature concerning the process of becoming a user of assistive technology (AT). A systematic review and meta-synthesis were carried out. Five bibliographic databases (MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO and SocINDEX) were systematically searched up to 13 th of March 2017, using two sets of search terms: (i) elderly and synonyms and (ii) assistive technology and similar words, and combined with a qualitative research filter. Articles were screened, read and critically assessed. The meta-synthesis was guided by Ricoeur's theory of interpretation. Seventeen out of 4645 articles were included. Five phases emerged relating to the process of becoming a user of AT: phase A: Evaluating need, phase B: Acknowledging need, phase C: Incorporating the AT into daily life, phase D: Using the AT, and phase E: Future use. Three transitions, describing factors essential to moving from one phase to the next, were identified; from phase A-B: Valued activities are threatened, from phase B-C: Obtaining the AT and from phase C-D: Trust in the AT. No transition was identified from phase D-E. The meta-synthesis led to a deeper understanding of the process of older adults becoming users of AT, by exploring findings across the included articles. The identified phases and transitions in the systematic review serve as an analytical framework for understanding the process from the older adult's perspective. This review advocates for using a client-centred approach throughout the entire delivery process. Implications for rehabilitation The process of the older adult becoming a user of AT involves an individualized time factor, and this supports the practice of individualized follow-up. The process of becoming a user of AT is closely related to self-image; healthcare professionals should support not only the use of AT but also the older adult's emotional adjustment to a new self-image. The process is highly influenced by the older

Crisis in Context Theory: An Ecological Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myer, Rick A.; Moore, Holly B.

2006-01-01

This article outlines a theory for understanding the impact of a crisis on individuals and organizations. Crisis in context theory (CCT) is grounded in an ecological model and based on literature in the field of crisis intervention and on personal experiences of the authors. A graphic representation denotes key components and premises of CCT,…

Digital Archive Issues from the Perspective of an Earth Science Data Producer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barkstrom, Bruce R.

2004-01-01

Contents include the following: Introduction. A Producer Perspective on Earth Science Data. Data Producers as Members of a Scientific Community. Some Unique Characteristics of Scientific Data. Spatial and Temporal Sampling for Earth (or Space) Science Data. The Influence of the Data Production System Architecture. The Spatial and Temporal Structures Underlying Earth Science Data. Earth Science Data File (or Relation) Schemas. Data Producer Configuration Management Complexities. The Topology of Earth Science Data Inventories. Some Thoughts on the User Perspective. Science Data User Communities. Spatial and Temporal Structure Needs of Different Users. User Spatial Objects. Data Search Services. Inventory Search. Parameter (Keyword) Search. Metadata Searches. Documentation Search. Secondary Index Search. Print Technology and Hypertext. Inter-Data Collection Configuration Management Issues. An Archive View. Producer Data Ingest and Production. User Data Searching and Distribution. Subsetting and Supersetting. Semantic Requirements for Data Interchange. Tentative Conclusions. An Object Oriented View of Archive Information Evolution. Scientific Data Archival Issues. A Perspective on the Future of Digital Archives for Scientific Data. References Index for this paper.

Crisis management teams in health organisations.

PubMed

Canyon, Deon V

2012-01-01

Crisis management teams (CMT) are necessary to ensure adequate and appropriate crisis management planning and response to unforeseen, adverse events. This study investigated the existence of CMTs, the membership of CMTs, and the degree of training received by CMTs in Australian health and allied health organisations. This cross-sectional study draws on data provided by executive decision makers in a broad selection of health and allied health organisations. Crisis management teams were found in 44.2 per cent of the health-related organisations surveyed, which is ten per cent lower than the figure for business organisations. Membership of these CMTs was not ideal and did not conform to standard CMT membership profiles. Similarly, the extent of crisis management training in health-related organisations is 20 per cent lower than the figure for business organisations. If organisations do not become pro-active in their crisis management practices, the onus is on government to improve the situation through regulation and the provision of more physical, monetary and skill resources to ensure that the health services of Australia are sufficiently prepared to respond to adverse events.

A medical digital library to support scenario and user-tailored information retrieval.

PubMed

Chu, W W; Johnson, D B; Kangarloo, H

2000-06-01

Current large-scale information sources are designed to support general queries and lack the ability to support scenario-specific information navigation, gathering, and presentation. As a result, users are often unable to obtain desired specific information within a well-defined subject area. Today's information systems do not provide efficient content navigation, incremental appropriate matching, or content correlation. We are developing the following innovative technologies to remedy these problems: 1) scenario-based proxies, enabling the gathering and filtering of information customized for users within a pre-defined domain; 2) context-sensitive navigation and matching, providing approximate matching and similarity links when an exact match to a user's request is unavailable; 3) content correlation of documents, creating semantic links between documents and information sources; and 4) user models for customizing retrieved information and result presentation. A digital medical library is currently being constructed using these technologies to provide customized information for the user. The technologies are general in nature and can provide custom and scenario-specific information in many other domains (e.g., crisis management).

User engineering: A new look at system engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclaughlin, Larry L.

1987-01-01

User Engineering is a new System Engineering perspective responsible for defining and maintaining the user view of the system. Its elements are a process to guide the project and customer, a multidisciplinary team including hard and soft sciences, rapid prototyping tools to build user interfaces quickly and modify them frequently at low cost, and a prototyping center for involving users and designers in an iterative way. The main consideration is reducing the risk that the end user will not or cannot effectively use the system. The process begins with user analysis to produce cognitive and work style models, and task analysis to produce user work functions and scenarios. These become major drivers of the human computer interface design which is presented and reviewed as an interactive prototype by users. Feedback is rapid and productive, and user effectiveness can be measured and observed before the system is built and fielded. Requirements are derived via the prototype and baselined early to serve as an input to the architecture and software design.

The social process of escalation: a promising focus for crisis management research

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background This study identifies a promising, new focus for the crisis management research in the health care domain. After reviewing the literature on health care crisis management, there seems to be a knowledge-gap regarding organisational change and adaption, especially when health care situations goes from normal, to non-normal, to pathological and further into a state of emergency or crisis. Discussion Based on studies of escalating situations in obstetric care it is suggested that two theoretical perspectives (contingency theory and the idea of failure as a result of incomplete interaction) tend to simplify the issue of escalation rather than attend to its complexities (including the various power relations among the stakeholders involved). However studying the process of escalation as inherently complex and social allows us to see the definition of a situation as normal or non-normal as an exercise of power in itself, rather than representing a putatively correct response to a particular emergency. Implications The concept of escalation, when treated this way, can help us further the analysis of clinical and institutional acts and competence. It can also turn our attention to some important elements in a class of social phenomenon, crises and emergencies, that so far have not received the attention they deserve. Focusing on organisational choreography, that interplay of potential factors such as power, professional identity, organisational accountability, and experience, is not only a promising focus for future naturalistic research but also for developing more pragmatic strategies that can enhance organisational coordination and response in complex events. PMID:22704075

Understanding the online health information user profiles in Korea: from a psychological perspective.

PubMed

Shin, Sung Hee; Yun, Eun Kyoung

2011-06-01

This study was conducted to explore the profiles of online health information users in terms of certain psychological characteristics and to suggest guidelines for the provision of better user-oriented health information service. The cross-sectional study design was used with convenient sampling by Web-based questionnaire survey in Korea. To analyze health information user profiles on the Internet, a two-step cluster analysis was conducted. The results reveal that online health information users can be classified into four groups according to their level of subjective knowledge and health concern. The findings also suggest that four clusters that exhibit distinct profile patterns exist. The findings of this study would be useful for health portal developers who would like to understand users' characteristics and behaviors and to provide more user-oriented service in a satisfactory manner. It is suggested that to develop a full understanding of users' behaviors regarding Internet health information service, further research would be needed to explore users' various needs, their preferences, and relevant factors among users across a variety of health problem-addressing Web sites at different professional levels.

Glomerular function in sickle cell disease patients during crisis.

PubMed

Aderibigbe, A; Arije, A; Akinkugbe, O O

1994-06-01

An 8 month prospective study was carried out in 20 adult sickle cell disease (SCD) patients 16 sickle cell anaemia (Hbss) and 4 sickle cell Hbc disease (Hbsc); who had vaso-occlusive crises within the study period to determine the extent of the effect of sickle cell crisis on glomerular function in SCD patients during crisis. The male: female ratio was 1:57 and their mean age was 21.1 +/- 7.9 years. Creatinine clearance (CCr), as an index of glomerular function, was determined at the pre-crisis, crisis, 2 and 4 weeks post-crisis and at the end of the study period. The mean values of their CCr dropped from 113.37 +/- 33.80mls/min at pre-crisis stage to 96.39 +/- 30.13mls/min during crisis (p < 0.001) indicating glomerular dysfunction. It improved significantly to 107.75 +/- 30.20mls/min at 4 weeks post-crisis (p < 0.001). There was no significant differences in the mean values of CCr at the end of the study (116.20 +/- 31.43mls/min) compared to the pre-crisis stage (p > 0.05). It is concluded that glomerular dysfunction in SCD patients during crisis is potentially reversible.

A Framework for Achieving Situational Awareness during Crisis based on Twitter Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zielinski, Andrea; Tokarchuk, Laurissa; Middleton, Stuart; Chaves, Fernando

2013-04-01

Decision Support Systems for Natural Crisis Management increasingly employ Web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies for future collaborative decision making, including the use of social networks like Twitter. However, human sensor data is not readily accessible and interpretable, since the texts are unstructured, noisy and available in various languages. The present work focusses on the detection of crisis events in a multilingual setting as part of the FP7-funded EU project TRIDEC and is motivated by the goal to establish a Tsunami warning system for the Mediterranean. It is integrated into a dynamic spatial-temporal decision making component with a command and control unit's graphical user interface that presents all relevant information to the human operator to support critical decision-support. To this end, a tool for the interactive visualization of geospatial data is implemented: All tweets with an exact timestamp or geo-location are monitored on the map in real-time so that the operator on duty can get an overall picture of the situation. Apart from the human sensor data, the seismic sensor data will appear also on the same screen. Signs of abnormal activity from twitter usage in social networks as well as in sensor networks devices can then be used to trigger official warning alerts according to the CAP message standard. Whenever a certain threshold of relevant tweets in a HASC region (Hierarchical Administrative Subdivision Code) is exceeded, the twitter activity in this administrative region will be shown on a map. We believe that the following functionalities are crucial for monitoring crisis, making use of text mining and network analysis techniques: Focussed crawling, trustworthyness analysis geo-parsing, and multilingual tweet classification. In the first step, the Twitter Streaming API accesses the social data, using an adaptive keyword list (focussed crawling). Then, tweets are filtered and aggregated to form counts for a certain time-span (e.g., an interval of

The political economy of oil and the Niger Delta crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ighodaro, Osaro O.

This study is about the burgeoning crisis in Nigeria's Oil Producing Niger Delta region. Discerning the intersecting contributive factors to the crisis, this dissertation suggests that the Niger Delta crisis is symptomatic of challenges to development in Nigeria. Due to the insidious colonial/neo-colonial practices of subjugation, and exploitation of the host communities, it is suggested that the extractive, super-profit motive of Shell, the concomitant environmental degradation, corruption of a bellicose state, ethnic conflict and suffering of the masses are outcomes of a long historically debilitating relationship with international capital which causes irreparable retardation to the host communities. From cash crop economy to a mono-oil economy resources are removed from the communities and used to enhance the colonial state and their post-colonial harbingers of misery. Hence, the indigenous people claim that the Niger Delta is in a crisis, and they are willing to confront the triple alliance of multinational oil companies like Shell, the Nigerian State and the local elite so long as these allies of subjugation continue to neglect the goose that lays the proverbial golden egg (oil that is). Theoretically, a hybrid Political Economy approach was adopted as the over-aching framework for the study, while Dependency theory, modified by what I have called African Transformative scholarly perspective, served as the conceptual tool. Primary and secondary sources of data, including personal observation, interviews, official government documents and other publications were utilized for this analysis. In view of recommendations, it is suggested that first, the Nigerian state should assume decisive and unflinching leadership in holding oil companies responsible for their activities in the host communities; second, oil companies (like Shell) should see themselves as an integral part of the host communities; invest in their development by providing employment opportunities

Education and Our Ecological Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klimas, John

1970-01-01

Discusses causes of our ecological crisis and suggests that in order to overcome the crisis we have to sprinkle our teaching with a sense of wonder, impress upon the youth that there is nothing difficult or mysterious about the ecological viewpoint, give youth an awareness of the diversity of things in our environment, stress interrelationships…

Supervision Experiences of Professional Counselors Providing Crisis Counseling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dupre, Madeleine; Echterling, Lennis G.; Meixner, Cara; Anderson, Robin; Kielty, Michele

2014-01-01

In this phenomenological study, the authors explored supervision experiences of 13 licensed professional counselors in situations requiring crisis counseling. Five themes concerning crisis and supervision were identified from individual interviews. Findings support intensive, immediate crisis supervision and postlicensure clinical supervision.

Crisis intervention for people with severe mental illnesses

PubMed Central

Murphy, Suzanne; Irving, Claire B; Adams, Clive E; Driver, Ron

2014-01-01

Background A particularly difficult challenge for community treatment of people with serious mental illnesses is the delivery of an acceptable level of care during the acute phases of severe mental illness. Crisis intervention models of care were developed as a possible solution. Objectives To review the effects of crisis intervention models for anyone with serious mental illness experiencing an acute episode, compared with ‘standard care’. Search methods We updated the 1998, 2003 and 2006 searches with a search of the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group’s Register of trials (2010) which is based on regular searches of CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO. Selection criteria We included all randomised controlled trials of crisis intervention models versus standard care for people with severe mental illnesses. Data collection and analysis We independently extracted data from these trials and we estimated risk ratios (RR) or mean differences (MD), with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We assumed that people who left early from a trial had no improvement. Main results Three new studies have been found since the last review in 2006 to add to the five studies already included in this review. None of the previously included studies investigated crisis intervention alone; all used a form of home care for acutely ill people, which included elements of crisis intervention. However, one of the new studies focuses purely on crisis intervention as provided by Crisis Resolution Home Teams within the UK; the two other new studies investigated crisis houses i.e. residential alternatives to hospitalisation providing home-like environments. Crisis intervention appears to reduce repeat admissions to hospital after the initial ‘index’ crises investigated in the included studies, this was particularly so for mobile crisis teams supporting patients in their own homes. Crisis intervention reduces the number of people leaving the study early, reduces family burden, is a more

Crowdsourcing engagement and applications for communities within crisis events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frigerio, Simone; Schenato, Luca; Bossi, Giulia; Mantovani, Matteo; Crema, Stefano; Cavalli, Marco; Marcato, Gianluca; Pasuto, Alessandro

2017-04-01

Civil protection attitude is a changing pattern within natural hazards, deploying responsibilities from central government to local authorities. The competence of volunteers and the awareness and involvement of local inhabitants are key points for prevention and preparedness. Citizens and volunteers become first actors of civil protection, toward context-specific strategies of surveillance and territorial surveys. The crowd-mapping technology includes a mobile solution tested insight trained communities, as participation within disaster response. The platform includes also a user-friendly dashboard for data gathering and analysis in multi-hazard realities, tested with pilot case studies. Usability and gradual innovation of platform are continuous granted by cloud dataset and bugfixing controls. The first module focuses on flood processes gathering data from local and trained population, for awareness and long-term preparedness. The second module integrates field survey of several volunteers within rescue squads, combining geolocations and comparing dataset collected in pre-emergency steps in urban case studies. The results include an easy-to-use data interface for crisis management, a tested support within crisis combined with personal awareness, continuously updated and customized. The development provides a version for Android 4.0 onward, the web application combines a cloud architecture with a relational database and web services, integrated with SDK cloud notification. The wireframes planned two accesses for a Citizens Kit and a Volunteers Kit, synchronized with a common dashboard. The follow up includes the integration between mobile solutions with sensors for dynamic update and data export for GIS analysis. The location-based services uses location data to monitor parameters and control features within natural hazard. A human sensor network is the aim, integrating sensor measurements with external observation as baseline of future modelling. Point data like

Pheochromocytoma crisis is not a surgical emergency.

PubMed

Scholten, Anouk; Cisco, Robin M; Vriens, Menno R; Cohen, Jenny K; Mitmaker, Elliot J; Liu, Chienying; Tyrrell, J Blake; Shen, Wen T; Duh, Quan-Yang

2013-02-01

Pheochromocytoma crisis is a feared and potentially lethal complication of pheochromocytoma. We sought to determine the best treatment strategy for pheochromocytoma crisis patients and hypothesized that emergency resection is not indicated. Retrospective cohort study (1993-2011); literature review (1944-2011). Tertiary referral center. There were 137 pheochromocytoma patients from our center and 97 pheochromocytoma crisis patients who underwent adrenalectomy from the literature. Medical management of pheochromocytoma crisis; adrenalectomy. Perioperative complications, conversion, and mortality. In our database, 25 patients (18%) presented with crisis. After medical stabilization and α-blockade, 15 patients were discharged and readmitted for elective surgery and 10 patients were operated on urgently during the same hospitalization. None underwent emergency surgery. Postoperatively, patients who underwent elective surgery had shorter hospital stays (1.7 vs 5.7 d, P = 0.001) and fewer postoperative complications (1 of 15 [7%] vs 5 of 10 [50%], P = 0.045) and were less often admitted to the intensive care unit (1 of 15 [7%] vs 5 of 10 [50%], P = 0.045) in comparison with urgently operated patients. There was no mortality. Review of the literature (n = 97) showed that crisis patients who underwent elective or urgent surgery vs emergency surgery had less intraoperative (13 of 31 [42%] vs 20 of 25 [80%], P < 0.001) and postoperative complications (15 of 45 [33%] vs 15 of 21 [71%], P = 0.047) and a lower mortality (0 of 64 vs 6 of 33 [18%], P = 0.002). Management of patients presenting with pheochromocytoma crisis should include initial stabilization of the acute crisis followed by sufficient α-blockade before surgery. Emergency resection of pheochromocytoma is associated with high surgical morbidity and mortality.

[The crisis of medicine or the antimedicine crisis].

PubMed

Foucault, M

1976-01-01

In this lecture, Professor Michel Foucault makes an in-depth study of the problems currently afflicting medical institutions and the medical practice. He deals with the thesis set forth by Ivan Illich in his book Medical Nemesis--The expropriation of Health, as well as the 1942 Beveridge Plan, but goes even further back in history to discover the origin of the medical crisis common throughout the world--back to the XVIII century roots of the social practice of medicine. He also describes the phases through which medical activity has passed from then until now and deals with what he calls the political economy of medicine. Finally, he reaches the conclusion that what matters is not so much the present crisis of medicine, which he considers to be a false concept, but the discipline's historical model dating from the XVIII century and serving to determine to what extent it can be modified.

Internationalization and localization: evaluating and testing a Website for Asian users.

PubMed

Rau, Pei-Luen Patrick; Liang, Sheau-Farn Max

2003-01-15

The objective of this study was to combine internationalization and localization of Websites and improvement of Website usability with user-centred design methods. This study designed for internationalization and localization of Websites for Asian users, and implemented usability engineering into every phase of Website usability testing, based on the internationalization and localization perspectives of the honeywell.com/your home Website. The first step was to develop the usage scenarios. Three Asian usability specialists carried out one heuristic evaluation session for the current honeywell.com/your home Website. The usability problems were analysed and possible solutions to these problems were discussed. In the next phase, cluster analysis was utilized to test current information architecture. The results provided options for future information architecture development for this Website. Finally, a performance measurement test was conducted to investigate the performance for Asian users. Based on the results, suggestions for improving the Website usability from the localization perspective were provided. The results demonstrate the user-centred design (UCD) approach and stress international and local issues in Website development to Website designers.

School Buildings in Today's Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blyth, Alastair

2009-01-01

To get a picture of the impact of the current economic and financial crisis on educational building programmes so far, the OECD Centre for Effective Learning Environments (CELE) has been conducting a survey of member countries and regions. The survey focuses on three main issues: the impact of the crisis on publicly funded projects, the impact on…

Health worker perspectives on user fee removal in Zambia

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background User fees for primary care services were removed in rural districts in Zambia in 2006. Experience from other countries has suggested that health workers play a key role in determining the success of a fee removal policy, but also find the implementation of such a policy challenging. The policy was introduced against a backdrop of a major shortage in qualified health staff. Methods As part of a larger study on the experience and effect of user fee removal in Zambia, a number of case studies at the facility level were conducted. As part of these, quantitative and qualitative data were collected to evaluate health workers’ satisfaction and experiences in charging and non-charging facilities. Results Our findings show that health-care workers have mixed feelings about the policy change and its consequences. We found some evidence that personnel motivation was higher in non-charging facilities compared to facilities still charging. Yet it is unclear whether this effect was due to differences in the user fee policy or to the fact that a lot of staff interviewed in non-charging facilities were working in mission facilities, where we found a significantly higher motivation. Health workers expressed satisfaction with an apparent increase in the number of patients visiting the facilities and the removal of a deterring factor for many needy patients, but also complained about an increased workload. Furthermore, working conditions were said to have worsened, which staff felt was linked to the absence of additional resources to deal with the increased demand or replace the loss of revenue generated by fees. Conclusion These findings highlight the need to pay attention to supply-side measures when removing demand-side barriers such as user fees and in particular to be concerned about the burden that increased demand can place on already over-stretched health workers. PMID:23110690

Analyzing and Predicting User Participations in Online Health Communities: A Social Support Perspective.

PubMed

Wang, Xi; Zhao, Kang; Street, Nick

2017-04-24

Online health communities (OHCs) have become a major source of social support for people with health problems. Members of OHCs interact online with similar peers to seek, receive, and provide different types of social support, such as informational support, emotional support, and companionship. As active participations in an OHC are beneficial to both the OHC and its users, it is important to understand factors related to users' participations and predict user churn for user retention efforts. This study aimed to analyze OHC users' Web-based interactions, reveal which types of social support activities are related to users' participation, and predict whether and when a user will churn from the OHC. We collected a large-scale dataset from a popular OHC for cancer survivors. We used text mining techniques to decide what kinds of social support each post contained. We illustrated how we built text classifiers for 5 different social support categories: seeking informational support (SIS), providing informational support (PIS), seeking emotional support (SES), providing emotional support (PES), and companionship (COM). We conducted survival analysis to identify types of social support related to users' continued participation. Using supervised machine learning methods, we developed a predictive model for user churn. Users' behaviors to PIS, SES, and COM had hazard ratios significantly lower than 1 (0.948, 0.972, and 0.919, respectively) and were indicative of continued participations in the OHC. The churn prediction model based on social support activities offers accurate predictions on whether and when a user will leave the OHC. Detecting different types of social support activities via text mining contributes to better understanding and prediction of users' participations in an OHC. The outcome of this study can help the management and design of a sustainable OHC via more proactive and effective user retention strategies. ©Xi Wang, Kang Zhao, Nick Street. Originally

Power mobility with collision avoidance for older adults: user, caregiver, and prescriber perspectives.

PubMed

Wang, Rosalie H; Korotchenko, Alexandra; Hurd Clarke, Laura; Mortenson, W Ben; Mihailidis, Alex

2013-01-01

Collision avoidance technology has the capacity to facilitate safer mobility among older power mobility users with physical, sensory, and cognitive impairments, thus enabling independence for more users. Little is known about consumers' perceptions of collision avoidance. This article draws on interviews (29 users, 5 caregivers, and 10 prescribers) to examine views on design and utilization of this technology. Data analysis identified three themes: "useful situations or contexts," "technology design issues and real-life application," and "appropriateness of collision avoidance technology for a variety of users." Findings support ongoing development of collision avoidance for older adult users. The majority of participants supported the technology and felt that it might benefit current users and users with visual impairments, but might be unsuitable for people with significant cognitive impairments. Some participants voiced concerns regarding the risk for injury with power mobility use and some identified situations where collision avoidance might be beneficial (driving backward, avoiding dynamic obstacles, negotiating outdoor barriers, and learning power mobility use). Design issues include the need for context awareness, reliability, and user interface specifications. User desire to maintain driving autonomy supports development of collaboratively controlled systems. This research lays the groundwork for future development by illustrating consumer requirements for this technology.

Indian Institutional Repositories: A Study of User's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sawant, Sarika

2012-01-01

Purpose: The present study aims to investigate the experience, contribution and opinions of users of respective institutional repositories (IRs) developed in India. Design/methodology/approach: The survey method was used. The data collection tool was a web questionnaire, which was created with the help of software provided by surveymonkey.com…

Beyond the crisis: building back better mental health care in 10 emergency-affected areas using a longer-term perspective.

PubMed

Epping-Jordan, JoAnne E; van Ommeren, Mark; Ashour, Hazem Nayef; Maramis, Albert; Marini, Anita; Mohanraj, Andrew; Noori, Aqila; Rizwan, Humayun; Saeed, Khalid; Silove, Derrick; Suveendran, T; Urbina, Liliana; Ventevogel, Peter; Saxena, Shekhar

2015-01-01

Major gaps remain - especially in low- and middle-income countries - in the realization of comprehensive, community-based mental health care. One potentially important yet overlooked opportunity for accelerating mental health reform lies within emergency situations, such as armed conflicts or natural disasters. Despite their adverse impacts on affected populations' mental health and well being, emergencies also draw attention and resources to these issues and provide openings for mental health service development. Cases were considered if they represented a low- or middle-income country or territory affected by an emergency, were initiated between 2000 and 2010, succeeded in making changes to the mental health system, and were able to be documented by an expert involved directly with the case. Based on these criteria, 10 case examples from diverse emergency-affected settings were included: Afghanistan, Burundi, Indonesia (Aceh Province), Iraq, Jordan, Kosovo, occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste. These cases demonstrate generally that emergency contexts can be tapped to make substantial and sustainable improvements in mental health systems. From these experiences, 10 common lessons learnt were identified on how to make this happen. These lessons include the importance of adopting a longer-term perspective for mental health reform from the outset, and focusing on system-wide reform that addresses both new-onset and pre-existing mental disorders. Global progress in mental health care would happen more quickly if, in every crisis, strategic efforts were made to convert short-term interest in mental health problems into momentum for mental health reform.

Cool Heads: Crisis Management for Administrators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smiar, Nicholas P.

1992-01-01

Applies risk management models to child care administration. These models have been used by corporations to plan for crisis management. The formation of a crisis management policy and procedure is described, and features of effective communication during crises are outlined. (GLR)

A Study of Crisis Management Based on Stakeholders Analysis Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qingchun, Yue

2017-11-01

From the view of stakeholder theory, not only the enterprises should provide services to shareholders, but also take care of the demands of stakeholders. Stakeholders for the enterprise crisis are the organizations and individuals, which cause crisis, respond to the crisis and affected by the enterprise crisis. In this paper, first of all, to comb the development of stakeholder theory systematically; secondly, with the help of the enterprise crisis stakeholder analysis model, analyze the concept of stakeholders for the enterprise crisis and membership, and with the example of Shuanghui Group for further analysis; finally, we put forward relevant proposals for the enterprise crisis from the view of stakeholders.

Gestures in an Intelligent User Interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fikkert, Wim; van der Vet, Paul; Nijholt, Anton

In this chapter we investigated which hand gestures are intuitive to control a large display multimedia interface from a user's perspective. Over the course of two sequential user evaluations, we defined a simple gesture set that allows users to fully control a large display multimedia interface, intuitively. First, we evaluated numerous gesture possibilities for a set of commands that can be issued to the interface. These gestures were selected from literature, science fiction movies, and a previous exploratory study. Second, we implemented a working prototype with which the users could interact with both hands and the preferred hand gestures with 2D and 3D visualizations of biochemical structures. We found that the gestures are influenced to significant extent by the fast paced developments in multimedia interfaces such as the Apple iPhone and the Nintendo Wii and to no lesser degree by decades of experience with the more traditional WIMP-based interfaces.

Write the Plan before You Have the Crisis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wirth, Eileen

2002-01-01

Outlines the development process and essential elements of a crisis communication strategy. Key steps include: (1) selecting a spokesperson; (2) publicizing the spokesperson's identity; (3) preparing a crisis notebook; (4) providing cell phones; (5) choosing a news conference location; (6) rehearsing crisis scenarios; and (7) obtaining interview…

User perspectives on the usability of a regional health information exchange

PubMed Central

Ho, Yun-Xian; Cala, Cather Marie; Blakemore, Dana; Chen, Qingxia; Frisse, Mark E; Johnson, Kevin B

2011-01-01

Objective We assessed the usability of a health information exchange (HIE) in a densely populated metropolitan region. This grant-funded HIE had been deployed rapidly to address the imminent needs of the patient population and the need to draw wider participation from regional entities. Design We conducted a cross-sectional survey of individuals given access to the HIE at participating organizations and examined some of the usability and usage factors related to the technology acceptance model. Measurements We probed user perceptions using the Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction, an author-generated Trust scale, and user characteristic questions (eg, age, weekly system usage time). Results Overall, users viewed the system favorably (ratings for all usability items were greater than neutral (one-sample Wilcoxon test, p<0.0014, Bonferroni-corrected for 35 tests). System usage was regressed on usability, trust, and demographic and user characteristic factors. Three usability factors were positively predictive of system usage: overall reactions (p<0 0.01), learning (p<0.05), and system functionality (p<0.01). Although trust is an important component in collaborative relationships, we did not find that user trust of other participating healthcare entities was significantly predictive of usage. An analysis of respondents' comments revealed ways to improve the HIE. Conclusion We used a rapid deployment model to develop an HIE and found that perceptions of system usability were positive. We also found that system usage was predicted well by some aspects of usability. Results from this study suggest that a rapid development approach may serve as a viable model for developing usable HIEs serving communities with limited resources. PMID:21622933

[Social crisis, spontaneous groups and group order].

PubMed

Edelman, Lucila; Kordon, Diana

2002-12-01

Argentina has gone through very difficult times during the last years and, in particularly, new kinds of social practices have emerged in order to cope with the crisis. This situation demands and urges a new type of reflection upon the double role of groups, as tools to transform reality and as a way to elaborate those processes regarding subjectivity. In this paper we analyse some topics regarding the groupal field (considering spontaneous groups as well as groupal devices that allow to elaborate the crisis). We consider social bond to be the condition of possibility for the existence of the psyche and of time continuity, and that it also makes possible personal and social elaboration of trauma, crisis and social catastrophe. We develop some aspects of an specific device (the reflection group), which we have already depicted in another moment, showing it's usefulness to cope with social crisis and to promote the subjective elaboration of crisis.

Canadian MSAT field trial program user requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pedersen, Allister

1990-01-01

A wide range of mobile satellite service offerings will be available in late 1993 with the launch of Canada's first satellite devoted almost exclusively to mobile and transportable services. During the last seven years, the Dept. of Communications has been meeting with potential MSAT users in government and the private sector as part of a $20M Communications Trials Program. User trials will be conducted using leased capacity as well as capacity on Canada's MSAT satellite. User requirements are discussed which were identified under the Communications Trials Program. Land, marine, aeronautical, and fixed applications are described from the perspective of the end users. Emphasis is placed on field trials being accomplished using leased capacity such as the marine data trial being implemented by Ultimateast Data Communications, trials using transportable briefcase terminals and additional field trials being considered for implementation with the TMI Mobile Data Service. The pre-MSAT trials that will be conducted using leased capacity are only a limited sample of the overall end user requirements that have been identified to date. Additional end user applications are discussed, along with a summary of user benefits.

Canadian MSAT field trial program user requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedersen, Allister

A wide range of mobile satellite service offerings will be available in late 1993 with the launch of Canada's first satellite devoted almost exclusively to mobile and transportable services. During the last seven years, the Dept. of Communications has been meeting with potential MSAT users in government and the private sector as part of a $20M Communications Trials Program. User trials will be conducted using leased capacity as well as capacity on Canada's MSAT satellite. User requirements are discussed which were identified under the Communications Trials Program. Land, marine, aeronautical, and fixed applications are described from the perspective of the end users. Emphasis is placed on field trials being accomplished using leased capacity such as the marine data trial being implemented by Ultimateast Data Communications, trials using transportable briefcase terminals and additional field trials being considered for implementation with the TMI Mobile Data Service. The pre-MSAT trials that will be conducted using leased capacity are only a limited sample of the overall end user requirements that have been identified to date. Additional end user applications are discussed, along with a summary of user benefits.

Comparison and Evaluation of End-User Interfaces for Online Public Access Catalogs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zumer, Maja

End-user interfaces for the online public access catalogs (OPACs) of OhioLINK, a system linking major university and research libraries in Ohio, and its 16 member libraries, accessible through the Internet, are compared and evaluated from the user-oriented perspective. A common, systematic framework was used for the scientific observation of the…

Crisis in Feminism: The United States and France.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hogsett, Charlotte

Feminism is experiencing a similar dual crisis in the United States and France. One aspect of this crisis, the movement's alignment with other groups, is destructive, inevitably leading to the subordination of women's issues to "human" issues. The other dimension of the crisis, internal differences, is potentially creative, offering the…

Service user perspectives on coercion and restraint in mental health

PubMed Central

Rose, Diana; Perry, Emma; Rae, Sarah; Good, Naomi

2017-01-01

Coercion remains a central aspect of many people’s mental healthcare. It can include the use of legislation to restrict freedoms, the use of physical restraint, the restriction of freedom of movement and/or association, and the forced or covert administration of medication. There is good evidence that the use of such measures can traumatise service users. This article reports the findings of a survey of service users regarding their experiences of coercion and restraint and embeds this in the wider international and institutional environment. PMID:29093946

Attribution Theory and Crisis Intervention Therapy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skilbeck, William M.

It was proposed that existing therapeutic procedures may influence attributions about emotional states. Therefore an attributional analysis of crisis intervention, a model of community-based, short-term consultation, was presented. This analysis suggested that crisis intervention provides attributionally-relevant information about both the source…

[Total quality management in times of crisis. The case of Argentina].

PubMed

Larroca, Norberto

2003-01-01

Healthcare organizations were faced with so great a challenge following the financial slump that they were forced to 'sharpen their wits' in order to survive. Integrated Quality Management (in Spanish GIC), proved the ideal instrument. GIC has four foundational elements, the application of which allow for successful management of crisis situations. They are as follows: TRAINING of human resources EVALUATION of healthcare institutions SELF-EVALUATION by institutions QUALITY ACCREDITATION of institutions All our organizations have the appropriate tools to carry out these activities which form the basis of our project: CAES (Argentinean Chamber of Healthcare Institutions) -training-, CIDCAM (Inter-institutional Committee for Quality Development in Medical Care) -evaluation and self-evaluation-, CENAS (Specialist Centre for the Standardization and Accreditation in Health Care)-accreditation-. In times of crisis, we play an active part, that is, instead of withdrawing our efforts, we do our best to achieve the best and most adequate objective in order to meet the needs of the population through Integrated Quality Management. Eventually, when the results are examined, medical care that meets the best quality standards is found to be, after all, the most economical (that is best results, better satisfaction of healthcare users and providers as well as less mistakes).

Perspectives of self-direction: a systematic review of key areas contributing to service users' engagement and choice-making in self-directed disability services and supports.

PubMed

Lakhani, Ali; McDonald, Donna; Zeeman, Heidi

2018-05-01

must continue to investigate the perspectives of service users pertaining to their engagement, as their participation is central to the effectiveness of the approach. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Economic crisis and nursing in Spain.

PubMed

Zabalegui, Adelaida; Cabrera, Esther

2010-07-01

The purpose of the present study is to describe the economic context in Spain and its impact on the health care sector and in nursing schools. The global economic crisis is affecting nursing in Spain. This study analyses and compares indicators related to health care and nursing schools among European countries. Some new strategies to cope with the challenges arising from the health care crisis are suggested. Health care costs are increasing as a result of the ageing of the Spanish population, immigration, chronicity of health problems and new medical technology. Nursing education has changed in 2010 from a 3-year diploma programme to a 4-year University degree in Nursing. This change requires new resources involving staff, facilities and equipment, all of which are lacking because of the economic crisis in Spain. The worldwide economic crisis has affected Spain more than it has other European Union (EU) countries. This global crisis has an impact on the health care sector as well on nursing schools. It is essential for nursing management to develop creative approaches to maintain cost effective patient care. New programmes and technology must be carefully evaluated in terms of cost effectiveness before being implemented. All health care professionals should be well informed and have a solid understanding of this situation.

Governing during an Institutional Crisis: 10 Fundamental Principles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Lawrence

2012-01-01

In today's world, managing a campus crisis poses special challenges for an institution's governing board, which may operate some distance removed from the immediate events giving rise to the crisis. In its most challenging form, a campus crisis--a shooting, a natural disaster, a fraternity hazing death, the arrest of a prominent campus…

eHealth research from the user's perspective.

PubMed

Hesse, Bradford W; Shneiderman, Ben

2007-05-01

The application of information technology (IT) to issues of healthcare delivery has had a long and tortuous history in the United States. Within the field of eHealth, vanguard applications of advanced computing techniques, such as applications in artificial intelligence or expert systems, have languished in spite of a track record of scholarly publication and decisional accuracy. The problem is one of purpose, of asking the right questions for the science to solve. Historically, many computer science pioneers have been tempted to ask "what can the computer do?" New advances in eHealth are prompting developers to ask "what can people do?" How can eHealth take part in national goals for healthcare reform to empower relationships between healthcare professionals and patients, healthcare teams and families, and hospitals and communities to improve health equitably throughout the population? To do this, eHealth researchers must combine best evidence from the user sciences (human factors engineering, human-computer interaction, psychology, and usability) with best evidence in medicine to create transformational improvements in the quality of care that medicine offers. These improvements should follow recommendations from the Institute of Medicine to create a healthcare system that is (1) safe, (2) effective (evidence based), (3) patient centered, and (4) timely. Relying on the eHealth researcher's intuitive grasp of systems issues, improvements should be made with considerations of users and beneficiaries at the individual (patient-physician), group (family-staff), community, and broad environmental levels.

Drug user organizations in the Nordic countries--local, national, and international dimensions.

PubMed

Frank, Vibeke Asmussen; Anker, Jørgen; Tammi, Tuukka

2012-04-01

The article focuses on drug user organizations that represent and advocate for active "hard drug" users in the Nordic countries. It discusses the opportunities and challenges that these organizations face in their search for legitimacy and political influence. The comparative perspective points at similarities and differences in national contexts that both support and challenges the existence of drug user organizations, including drug policy, social welfare policy, trends in drug use, and organizational conditions. The article also discusses the importance of international network and transnational organizations that support drug user organizations.

Exploring Crisis Management in U.S. Small Businesses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Jon

As a critical infrastructure, the US electricity grid supplies electricity to 340 million people within eight separate regions. The power infrastructure is vulnerable to many types of disasters capable of severing supplies of electricity. The impact on the employees and communities when small- and medium-size enterprises are shut down due to disasters can be severe. The purpose of the quantitative comparative study was to explore small- and medium-size enterprises crisis management strategies in the case of power infrastructure vulnerabilities. Perceptions of small business leaders were probed about crisis management planning relevant to three secondary factors: prior experience of crises, threat perceptions, and planning self-efficacy. Participants completed an adapted questionnaire instrument based on a five-point Likert scale for six sub-factors including resilience through planning, financial impact, operational crisis management, the perfect storm, the aftermath of survival, and atrophy. The instrument also measured three additional factors to include, prior experience of crises, threat perceptions, and planning self-efficacy, across seven types of crises. The results of this study indicated that of the 276 respondents, 104 had no crisis plans, but 172 did have crisis plans. Of those who had implemented crisis plans, 19% had specific provisions to address power outages or attacks on the electrical grid. Of the respondents who had not planned for power outages nor experienced significant losses of power, a statistically significant number acknowledged an external threat to their business. The majority of respondents indicated that long-term planning was related to resilience; however, the migration of crisis understanding into the planning process or implementation was not implemented. This heightened awareness of potential crises without the corresponding development and implementation of mitigation crisis plans requires additional research to understand

Sickle Cell Crisis and the Acute Abdomen

PubMed Central

Nazem, Ahmad; Walker, Mark

1986-01-01

Abdominal pain is one of the most common symptoms in sickle cell crisis, and its cause remains controversial. Simple vaso-occlusive crisis may be an explanation. The abdominal pain may also reflect an acute surgical abdomen. A patient presented with sickle cell crisis and abdominal pain; he had a periappendiceal abscess at the site of an appendiceal stump five months after appendectomy. The role of sickle cell anemia in the pathogenesis of this abscess is uncertain. PMID:3531534

Changes in mortality after the recent economic crisis in South Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Hanjoong; Song, Young Jong; Yi, Jee Jeon; Chung, Woo Jin; Nam, Chung Mo

2004-07-01

To examine the changes in all cause mortality and cause-specific mortality after the economic crisis in South Korea. Monthly mortality data for an entire country was used and intervention analysis applied to compare mortality after the crisis with mortality which would have occurred if the trends before the crisis had continued. All cause mortality began to increase about 1 year after the crisis, while cardiovascular increased immediately. Transport accidents decreased significantly during the year following the crisis and then regressed towards the pre-economic crisis level. Suicides increased rapidly and maintained an upward trend but subsequently reduced towards the pre-economic crisis level. This study has shown an evidence of a relationship between economic crisis and mortality.

Utilization of medical care following the Three Mile Island crisis.

PubMed

Houts, P S; Hu, T W; Henderson, R A; Cleary, P D; Tokuhata, G

1984-02-01

Four studies are reported on how utilization of primary health care was affected by the Three Mile Island (TMI) crisis and subsequent distress experienced by persons living in the vicinity of the plant. The studies concerned: 1) Blue Cross-Blue Shield records of claims by primary care physicians in the vicinity of TMI; 2) utilization rates in a family practice located near the facility; 3) interviews with persons living within five miles of TMI following the crisis; and 4) responses to a questionnaire by primary care physicians practicing within 25 miles of TMI. All four studies indicated only slight increases in utilization rates during the year following the crisis. One study found that persons who were upset during the crisis tended to be high practice utilizers both before and after the crisis. These results suggest that, while patterns of physician utilization prior to the TMI crisis predicted emotional response during the crisis, the impact of the TMI crisis on subsequent physician utilization was small.

Utilization of medical care following the Three Mile Island crisis.

PubMed Central

Houts, P S; Hu, T W; Henderson, R A; Cleary, P D; Tokuhata, G

1984-01-01

Four studies are reported on how utilization of primary health care was affected by the Three Mile Island (TMI) crisis and subsequent distress experienced by persons living in the vicinity of the plant. The studies concerned: 1) Blue Cross-Blue Shield records of claims by primary care physicians in the vicinity of TMI; 2) utilization rates in a family practice located near the facility; 3) interviews with persons living within five miles of TMI following the crisis; and 4) responses to a questionnaire by primary care physicians practicing within 25 miles of TMI. All four studies indicated only slight increases in utilization rates during the year following the crisis. One study found that persons who were upset during the crisis tended to be high practice utilizers both before and after the crisis. These results suggest that, while patterns of physician utilization prior to the TMI crisis predicted emotional response during the crisis, the impact of the TMI crisis on subsequent physician utilization was small. PMID:6691524

The impact of the financial crisis on human resources for health policies in three southern-Europe countries.

PubMed

Correia, Tiago; Dussault, Gilles; Pontes, Carla

2015-12-01

The public health sector has been the target of austerity measures since the global financial crisis started in 2008, while health workforce costs have been a source of rapid savings in most European Union countries. This article aims to explore how health workforce policies have evolved in three southern European countries under external constraints imposed by emergency financial programmes agreed with the International Monetary Fund, Central European Bank and European Commission. The selected countries, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus, show similarities with regard to corporatist systems of social protection and comprehensive welfare mechanisms only recently institutionalized. Based on document analysis of the Memoranda of Understanding agreed with the Troika, our results reveal broadly similar policy responses to the crisis but also important differences. In Cyprus, General Practitioners have a key position in reducing public expenditure through gatekeeping and control of users' access, while Portugal and Greece seeks to achieve cost containment by constraining the decision-making powers of professionals. All three countries lack innovation as well as monitoring and assessment of the effects of the financial crisis in relation to the health workforce. Consequently, there is a need for health policy development to use human resources more efficiently in healthcare. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Free mobile apps on depression for Indian users: A brief overview and critique.

PubMed

Kumar, Satish; Mehrotra, Seema

2017-08-01

The present study aimed at identifying the nature of mobile apps available to Indian android phone users who might search for free apps to help them deal with depression. The specific objectives were to examine the available interactive self-care apps in terms of guidance provided to users to make decisions regarding use of app, inclusion of elements that encourage professional help-seeking, guidance regarding managing psychological crisis and the range of therapeutic strategies incorporated. Using the search term 'depression', 278 apps were identified in the first step and these spanned a wide range of categories. Information on coping with depression and stand alone screening tools formed the two largest types of free apps. Features of interactive self-care apps (N = 33) were reviewed further and this exercise showed that less than 10% of the apps incorporated explicit delineation of their scope or initial screening for suitability. Guidance regarding managing suicidal crisis were incorporated in only about 12% of the interactive apps. Slightly more than one third of these apps included content aimed at encouraging professional help seeking when needed or an explicit mention of their theoretical or empirical basis. Monitoring moods, thoughts and behaviors were the commonest therapeutic strategies incorporated in these apps, in addition, to a wide range of other strategies such as behavioral activation, identifying and correcting cognitive errors, mindfulness exercises, cultivation of gratitude, and medication management. The challenges for a potential user of these apps are discussed and ways to address the same are highlighted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

School Crisis Response: Expecting the Unexpected.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lichtenstein, Robert; And Others

1994-01-01

The typical administrator certification program does not devote specific attention to shootings, suicide, terminal illness, and natural disasters. A crisis of major proportion calls for enlightened leadership: a take-charge manner, combined with effective teamwork and delegation of vital operations. Crisis teams should exist at regional, district,…

Being PREPaREd for Crisis in Northern Colorado

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hancock, Kathy; Malvey, Michelle; Rastatter, Dennis

2010-01-01

The Thompson School District recognized after the Columbine incident in the spring of 1999 that it was lacking an adequate plan for crisis response. Colorado legislation led to a mandate for having a crisis response plan so the district purchased a "canned" crisis response plan that served the needs of response in a very immediate but…

Power Mobility with Collision Avoidance for Older Adults: User, Caregiver and Prescriber Perspectives

PubMed Central

Wang, Rosalie H; Korotchenko, Alexandra; Clarke, Laura Hurd; Ben Mortenson, W; Mihailidis, Alex

2017-01-01

Collision avoidance technology has the capacity to facilitate safer mobility among older power mobility users with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments, thus enabling independence for more potential users. However, little is known about consumers’ perceptions of collision avoidance. This article draws on interviews with 29 users, five caregivers, and 10 prescribers to examine views on the design and utilization of this technology. Data analysis identified three themes: “useful situations or contexts”, “technology design issues and real life application”, and “appropriateness of collision avoidance technology for a variety of users”. Findings support the ongoing development of collision avoidance for older adult users. The majority of participants were supportive of the technology, and felt that it might benefit current power mobility users and users with visual impairments, but might be unsuitable for people with significant cognitive impairments. Some participants voiced concerns regarding the risk for injury with power mobility use and some identified situations where collision avoidance might be beneficial (driving backwards, avoiding dynamic obstacles, negotiating outdoor barriers, and learning power mobility use). Design issues include the need for context awareness, reliability, and user interface specifications. Furthermore, user desire to maintain driving autonomy indicates the need to develop collaboratively-controlled systems. This research lays the groundwork for future development by identifying and illustrating consumer needs for this technology. PMID:24458968

A Location Based Communication Proposal for Disaster Crisis Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gülnerman, A. G.; Goksel, C.; Tezer, A.

2014-12-01

The most vital applications within urban applications under the title of Geographical Information system applications are Disaster applications. Especially, In Turkey the most occured disaster type Earthquakes impacts are hard to retain in urban due to greatness of area, data and effected resident or victim. Currently, communications between victims and institutions congested and collapsed, after disaster that results emergency service delay and so secondary death and desperation. To avoid these types of life loss, the communication should be established between public and institutions. Geographical Information System Technology is seen capable of data management techniques and communication tool. In this study, Life Saving Kiosk Modal Proposal designed as a communication tool based on GIS, after disaster, takes locational emegency demands, meets emergency demands over notification maps which is created by those demands,increase public solidarity by visualizing close emergency demanded area surrounded another one and gathers emergency service demanded institutions notifications and aims to increasethe capability of management. This design prosals' leading role is public. Increase in capability depends on public major contribution to disaster management by required communication infrastructure establishment. The aim is to propound public power instead of public despiration. Apart from general view of disaster crisis management approaches, Life Saving Kiosk Modal Proposal indicates preparedness and response phases within the disaster cycle and solve crisis management with the organization of design in preparedness phase, use in response phase. This resolution modal flow diagram is builded between public, communication tool (kiosk) amd response force. The software is included in communication tools whose functions, interface designs and user algorithms are provided considering the public participation. In this study, disaster crisis management with public

Electronic gaming and the obesity crisis.

PubMed

Calvert, Sandra L; Staiano, Amanda E; Bond, Bradley J

2013-01-01

Children and adolescents in the United States and in many countries are projected to have shorter life spans than their parents, partly because of the obesity crisis engulfing the developed world. Exposure to electronic media is often implicated in this crisis because media use, including electronic game play, may promote sedentary behavior and increase consumption of high-calorie foods and beverages that are low in nutritional value. Electronic games, however, may increase children's physical activity and expose them to healthier foods. We examine the role of electronic games in the pediatric obesity crisis and their contribution to more favorable health outcomes. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Electronic Gaming and the Obesity Crisis

PubMed Central

Calvert, Sandra L.; Staiano, Amanda E.; Bond, Bradley J.

2014-01-01

Children and adolescents in the United States and in many countries are projected to have shorter life spans than their parents, partly because of the obesity crisis engulfing the developed world. Exposure to electronic media is often implicated in this crisis because media use, including electronic game play, may promote sedentary behavior and increase consumption of high-calorie foods and beverages that are low in nutritional value. Electronic games, however, may increase children’s physical activity and expose them to healthier foods. We examine the role of electronic games in the pediatric obesity crisis and their contribution to more favorable health outcomes. PMID:23483693

LENR/"Cold Fusion" and Modern Physics: A Crisis Within a Crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallove, Eugene F. E.

2004-03-01

The primary theorists in the field of Cold Fusion/LENR have generally assumed that the excess heat phenomena is commensurate with nuclear ash (such as helium), whether already identified or presumed to be present but not yet found, and moreover that it can be explained by hydrided metal lattice structures acting coherently. Though this was an excellent initial hypothesis, the commensurate nuclear ash hypothesis has not been proved, and appears to be approximately correct in only a few experiments. At the same time, compelling evidence has also emerged for other microphysical sources of energy that were unexpected by accepted physics. The exemplars have been the work Dr. Randell Mills and his colleagues at BlackLight Power Corporation and Dr. Paulo and Alexandra Correa in Canada.This has led to a crisis within a crisis: Neither "cold fusion" nor "Modern Physics" will be able to explain the full range of experimental data now available---not even the data within "mainstream" cold fusion/LENR per se--- by insisting that the fundamental paradigms of Modern Physics are without significant flaw. The present crisis is of magnitude comparable to the Copernican Revolution. Neither Modern Physics nor Cold Fusion/LENR will survive in their present forms when this long delayed revolution has run its course.

Neo-Liberalism in Crisis? Educational Dimensions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Small, David

2011-01-01

Until the global financial crisis, neo-liberalism had appeared invincible. This article examines the global rise of neo-liberalism and its impact on education, particularly its treatment of the social democratic ideal of equality. Drawing on examples from education and other socio-political factors, it considers whether the financial crisis is…

Crisis and Loss: Information for Families.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canter, Andrea, Ed.

1999-01-01

During a crisis, parents can do a great deal to help their child deal with grief and anxiety. This special issue provides information and promising practices that might be helpful in dealing with various crisis situations. Provides the following articles: (1) "Children Killing Children" (Kevin Dwyer); (2) "Disaster: Helping Children…

Solving the Antibiotic Crisis.

PubMed

Wright, Gerard D

2015-02-13

Antibiotics are essential for both treating and preventing infectious diseases. Paradoxically, despite their importance as pillars of modern medicine, we are in danger of losing antibiotics because of the evolution and dissemination of resistance mechanisms throughout all pathogenic microbes. This fact, coupled with an inability to bring new drugs to market at a pace that matches resistance, has resulted in a crisis of global proportion. Solving this crisis requires the actions of many stakeholders, but chemists, chemical biologists, and microbiologists must drive the scientific innovation that is required to maintain our antibiotic arsenal. This innovation requires (1) a deep understanding of the evolution and reservoirs of resistance; (2) full knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic action and resistance; (3) the discovery of chemical and genetic probes of antibiotic action and resistance; (4) the integration of systems biology into antibiotic discovery; and (5) the discovery of new antimicrobial chemical matter. Addressing these pressing scientific gaps will ensure that we can meet the antibiotic crisis with creativity and purpose.

Crisis Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brock, Stephen E., Ed.

2011-01-01

This paper presents summaries of four articles relevant to school crisis response. The first article, "Peritraumatic Dissociation Predicts Posttraumatic Stress in Youth Following Accidents" summarized by Jim Matthews, suggests that peritraumatic dissociation is a powerful predictor of PTSD symptoms among youth who have been in a car…

Vygotsky's Crisis: Argument, context, relevance.

PubMed

Hyman, Ludmila

2012-06-01

Vygotsky's The Historical Significance of the Crisis in Psychology (1926-1927) is an important text in the history and philosophy of psychology that has only become available to scholars in 1982 in Russian, and in 1997 in English. The goal of this paper is to introduce Vygotsky's conception of psychology to a wider audience. I argue that Vygotsky's argument about the "crisis" in psychology and its resolution can be fully understood only in the context of his social and political thinking. Vygotsky shared the enthusiasm, widespread among Russian leftist intelligentsia in the 1920s, that Soviet society had launched an unprecedented social experiment: The socialist revolution opened the way for establishing social conditions that would let the individual flourish. For Vygotsky, this meant that "a new man" of the future would become "the first and only species in biology that would create itself." He envisioned psychology as a science that would serve this humanist teleology. I propose that The Crisis is relevant today insofar as it helps us define a fundamental problem: How can we systematically account for the development of knowledge in psychology? I evaluate how Vygotsky addresses this problem as a historian of the crisis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

User Perspectives of Characteristics of Improved Cookstoves from a Field Evaluation in Western Kenya

PubMed Central

Loo, Jennifer D.; Hyseni, Lirije; Ouda, Rosebel; Koske, Selline; Nyagol, Ronald; Sadumah, Ibrahim; Bashin, Michelle; Sage, Mike; Bruce, Nigel; Pilishvili, Tamara; Stanistreet, Debbi

2016-01-01

Over half of the world’s population uses biomass fuels; these households cook on open fires indoors, increasing their risk of adverse health effects due to household air pollution (HAP) from biomass combustion. This study evaluated six improved cookstoves (ICS) for effectiveness and acceptability in a rural community in Western Kenya. This paper describes women’s views on each ICS compared to the traditional three-stone fire. Views on stove characteristics, fuel consumption, health effects and acceptability were assessed through structured interviews and focus group discussions. Data were coded and analyzed using a thematic approach. In total, 262 interviews and 11 focus groups were conducted from 43 women. Overall, women preferred the ICS over the traditional three-stone fire for various reasons including ease of use, efficiency, fuel efficiency and perceived reduction in smoke and improved health. However, there were clear preferences for specific ICS with almost half of women preferring a Philips stove. Despite acceptance and use of ICS, women used multiple stoves to meet their daily needs. Qualitative studies are essential to field evaluations to provide insight into user perspectives and acceptability of ICS and to inform research and development of technologies that are both effective in reducing HAP and practical in use. PMID:26828505

Using Crisis Simulations in Public Relations Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Veil, Shari R.

2010-01-01

Objectives: Students will demonstrate research, decision making, team building, and public speaking skills, while applying issues management and crisis communication concepts in a realistic setting. Courses: Introduction to Public Relations, Public Relations Cases, Crisis Communication.

Electronic Gaming and the Obesity Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calvert, Sandra L.; Staiano, Amanda E.; Bond, Bradley J.

2013-01-01

Children and adolescents in the United States and in many countries are projected to have shorter life spans than their parents, partly because of the obesity crisis engulfing the developed world. Exposure to electronic media is often implicated in this crisis because media use, including electronic game play, may promote sedentary behavior and…

Pakistan's Education Crisis: The Real Story

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naviwala, Nadia

2016-01-01

Pakistan suffers from an extensive education crisis. Millions of Pakistani children do not attend school, and those that do must deal with absent teachers and poor learning environments, among other challenges. While this crisis is frequently discussed in Pakistan and beyond, it is often misunderstood. This new Wilson Center report, based on…

Crisis Communications in a Digital World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trump, Kenneth S.

2015-01-01

Kenneth Trump, a school safety expert who consults with districts on how to respond to school safety crises, explains how the new prevalence of threats of violence being delivered over digital and social media creates for administrators a "communication crisis" that unfolds alongside the real or perceived crisis of school safety being…

Crisis and Loss: Information for Educators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canter, Andrea, Ed.

1999-01-01

Crisis intervention is a vital component of any comprehensive approach to maintaining psychological well being. An active school-based crisis intervention team can make a powerful contribution to a school's sense of community and commitment to taking care of each other. This special edition presents promising practices that may be helpful to…

Event-based user classification in Weibo media.

PubMed

Guo, Liang; Wang, Wendong; Cheng, Shiduan; Que, Xirong

2014-01-01

Weibo media, known as the real-time microblogging services, has attracted massive attention and support from social network users. Weibo platform offers an opportunity for people to access information and changes the way people acquire and disseminate information significantly. Meanwhile, it enables people to respond to the social events in a more convenient way. Much of the information in Weibo media is related to some events. Users who post different contents, and exert different behavior or attitude may lead to different contribution to the specific event. Therefore, classifying the large amount of uncategorized social circles generated in Weibo media automatically from the perspective of events has been a promising task. Under this circumstance, in order to effectively organize and manage the huge amounts of users, thereby further managing their contents, we address the task of user classification in a more granular, event-based approach in this paper. By analyzing real data collected from Sina Weibo, we investigate the Weibo properties and utilize both content information and social network information to classify the numerous users into four primary groups: celebrities, organizations/media accounts, grassroots stars, and ordinary individuals. The experiments results show that our method identifies the user categories accurately.

Caller Characteristics, Call Contents, and Types of Assistance Provided by Caller Sex and Age Group in a Canadian Inuit Crisis Line in Nunavut, 1991-2001

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Josephine C. H.; Maranzan, Kathryn Amanda; Boone, Margaret; Vander Velde, John; Levy, Sheila

2012-01-01

Analysis of calls made to a northern Canadian Inuit crisis line in the territory of Nunavut between 1991 and 2001 revealed that the majority of users were adult females who called to discuss problems primarily related to relationships and loneliness/boredom. Younger callers tended to make prank calls. The volunteer staff used mostly empathetic…

The consequences of the economic crisis in radiology.

PubMed

2015-12-01

The effects of the economic crisis have led to complex problems in radiology. The crisis has led to a reduction in the turnover of imaging equipment. This reflects on the quantity and quality of output, an aspect which is worsened by the contraction of the radiology market, late payments on supplies, and competitive procurement of medical goods centralized on a regional or national level. Many local and national institutions have operated with significant reductions of reimbursement for procedures, forcing a reorganization of facilities, manpower, and equipment. The reduction in operating margins of the industry has resulted in a reduction of invested capital for projects of industrial R&D and direct or indirect sponsorship. The quality of care will be affected with less comfortable conditions, reduction of local availability of radiologists, and failure to invest in lower dose equipment to control population medical radiation exposure. The crisis resulted in a reduction in the number of graduates in medicine and scholarships for specialization induced by linear cuts will result in a drastic reduction of radiological specialists. This will favour the development of teleradiology services, with the risk of accelerating the demedicalisation of radiology departments, and isolation of the professionals. • The economic crisis has led to reduction in the turnover of imaging equipment. • The economic crisis has led to reductions of reimbursement for procedures. • The economic crisis has led to reductions in operating margins of the industry. • The economic crisis has led to contraction of quantity and quality of output. • The economic crisis resulted in demedicalisation of radiology departments and isolation of professionals.

Technological disasters, crisis management and leadership stress.

PubMed

Weisaeth, Lars; Knudsen, Øistein; Tønnessen, Arnfinn

2002-07-01

This paper discusses how psychological stress disturbs decision making during technological crisis and disaster, and how to prevent this from happening. This is exemplified by scientific studies of a Norwegian large scale accident involving hazardous material, and of handling the far-off effects of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. The former constitutes an operative level of crisis management, whereas the latter involves crisis management at the strategic and political level. We conclude that stress had a negative effect on decision making in both cases.

What's in a Name? That Which We Call a Crisis? A Commentary on Michael Young's Article "Overcoming the Crisis in Curriculum Theory"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lundgren, Ulf P.

2015-01-01

Michael Young's article "Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory: a knowledge-based approach" ("JCS, 45", 2) is discussed from the starting point that the claimed crisis is constructed from a decisive solution, that is the solution determines what is a crisis. But curriculum research and curriculum theory are in need of…

Crisis management, capabilities and preparedness: the case of public hospitals in Iran.

PubMed

Najafbagy, Reza

2010-01-01

Crises occurred in recent decades show that organizations' preparedness to predict and respond to undesired problems is directly related to the degree of their capabilities and preparedness to manage crises in this context, hospitals compared to other organizations are more viable to suffer damages if a crisis occurs. This study investigates the degree of public hospitals capabilities and preparedness to handled possible crises. Responses from hospital managers and directors show that most of them were not familiar with crisis management, while majority of them mentioned that they had crisis management plan and committee in their hospitals. Moreover, most of the respondents believed that if a crisis occurs in the hospital, patients, personnel and documents will be the first victims of the crisis. The study also indicates that having a crisis plan and crisis committee without being familiar with knowledge of crisis management, do not help managers to cope with crisis. Moreover, correlations show that older managers were more familiar with crisis management experiences abroad, and defined responsibilities contributed to setting up crisis committee, and taking crisis seriously.

44 CFR 206.171 - Crisis counseling assistance and training.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Crisis counseling assistance... Assistance § 206.171 Crisis counseling assistance and training. (a) Purpose. This section establishes the policy, standards, and procedures for implementing section 416 of the Act, Crisis Counseling Assistance...

44 CFR 206.171 - Crisis counseling assistance and training.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2012-10-01 2011-10-01 true Crisis counseling assistance... Assistance § 206.171 Crisis counseling assistance and training. (a) Purpose. This section establishes the policy, standards, and procedures for implementing section 416 of the Act, Crisis Counseling Assistance...

44 CFR 206.171 - Crisis counseling assistance and training.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Crisis counseling assistance... Assistance § 206.171 Crisis counseling assistance and training. (a) Purpose. This section establishes the policy, standards, and procedures for implementing section 416 of the Act, Crisis Counseling Assistance...

44 CFR 206.171 - Crisis counseling assistance and training.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Crisis counseling assistance... Assistance § 206.171 Crisis counseling assistance and training. (a) Purpose. This section establishes the policy, standards, and procedures for implementing section 416 of the Act, Crisis Counseling Assistance...

Resilient Communication: A New Crisis Communication Strategy for Homeland Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

communication theory. Author, Timothy Coombs , in Ongoing Crisis Communication , discusses the need for a crisis management 10 plan to prepare for potential... COMMUNICATION : A NEW CRISIS COMMUNICATION STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY by Sharon L. Watson March 2012 Thesis Advisor: Christopher Bellavita...REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Resilient Communication : A New Crisis Communication

Multifractal analysis of Asian markets during 2007-2008 financial crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasan, Rashid; Mohammad, Salim M.

2015-02-01

2007-2008 US financial crisis adversely affected the stock markets all over the world. Asian markets also came under pressure and were differently affected. As markets under stress could reveal features that remain hidden under normal conditions, we use MF-DFA technique to investigate the multifractal structure of the US and seven Asian stock markets during the crisis period. The overall period of study, from 01 July 2002 to 31 December 2013, is divided into three sub-periods: pre-crisis period, crisis period and post-crisis period. We find during the crisis period markets of the US, Japan, Hong Kong, S. Korea and Indonesia show very strong non-linearity for positive values of the moment q. We calculate the singularity spectra, f(α) for the three sub-periods for all markets. During the crisis period, we observe that the peaks of the f(α) spectra shift to lower values of α and markets of the US, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Indonesia exhibit increased long range correlations of large fluctuations in index returns. We also study the impact of the crisis on the power law exponent in the tail region of the cumulative return distribution and find that by excluding the crisis period from the overall data sets, the tail exponent increases across all markets.

The “Translators”: Engaging Former Drug Users as Key Research Staff to Design and Implement a Risk Reduction Program for Rural Cocaine Users

PubMed Central

Stewart, Katharine E.; Wright, Patricia B.; Sims, Desi; Tyner, Kathy Russell; Montgomery, Brooke E. E.

2013-01-01

This manuscript describes lessons learned in the development and implementation of a clinical behavioral trial to reduce sexual risk among African-American cocaine users in rural Arkansas, from the perspectives of a multidisciplinary investigative team and community staff members with a history as local drug users who served as “translators.” Recommendations for investigators doing community-based research with active substance users are provided in the following domains: (a) engaging the community during formative research, (b) establishing bidirectional trust, (c) ensuring community voices are heard, and (d) managing conflict. The “translator’s” role is critical to the success of such projects. PMID:22428822

Biofeedback Training in Crisis Managers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Janka, A; Adler, C; Brunner, B; Oppenrieder, S; Duschek, S

2017-06-01

Working in crisis environments represents a major challenge, especially for executive personnel engaged in directing disaster operations, i.e. crisis managers. Crisis management involves operating under conditions of extreme stress resulting, for instance, from high-level decision-making, principal responsibility for personnel, multitasking or working under conditions of risk and time pressure. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a newly developed biofeedback training procedure based on electrodermal activity, especially designed for the target group of crisis managers. The training comprised exercises promoting acquisition of control over sympathetic arousal under resting conditions and during exposure to visual, acoustic and cognitive stressors resembling situations related to crisis management. In a randomized controlled design, 36 crisis managers were assigned to either a biofeedback training group or waiting list control group. Subjective stress was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale. In the training group, stress level markedly decreased; the decrease remained stable at follow-up 2 months after the training. The results indicate that biofeedback training in crisis management is an effective method for stress management that may help to reduce vulnerability to stress-related performance decline and stress-related disease.

From famine to food crisis: what history can teach us about local and global subsistence crises.

PubMed

Vanhaute, Eric

2011-01-01

The number of famine prone regions in the world has been shrinking for centuries. It is currently mainly limited to sub-Saharan Africa. Yet the impact of endemic hunger has not declined and the early twenty-first century seems to be faced with a new threat: global subsistence crises. In this essay I question the concepts of famine and food crisis from different analytical angles: historical and contemporary famine research, food regime theory, and peasant studies. I will argue that only a more integrated historical framework of analysis can surpass dualistic interpretations grounded in Eurocentric modernization paradigms. This article successively debates historical and contemporary famine research, the contemporary food regime and the new global food crisis, the lessons from Europe's 'grand escape' from hunger, and the peasantry and 'depeasantization' as central analytical concepts. Dualistic histories of food and famine have been dominating developmentalist stories for too long. This essay shows how a blending of historical and contemporary famine research, food regime theory and new peasant studies can foster a more integrated perspective.

Ischemic stroke risk factors during Greek economic crisis.

PubMed

Katsanos, Aristeidis H; Fiolaki, Aidonio; Markou, Sofia; Markoula, Sofia; Kosmidou, Maria; Kyritsis, Athanassios P; Giannopoulos, Sotirios

2016-02-01

The impact of Greece's economic crisis on healthcare is of great concern. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of economic crisis on the prevention of cerebral ischemic events. Retrospective analysis of patients with ischemic stroke (IS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) admitted to a tertiary neurological department in northwestern Greece during the period 2008-2014. Using 2011 as the transitional year IS/TIA patients were dichotomized according to their admission date in two subgroups: the "before economic crisis" subgroup and the "after economic crisis" subgroup. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictor variables of statin/antihypertensive pretreatment. Patients admitted after the economic crisis outbreak (mean age: 57.6 ± 13.5 years) were found to have lower waist periphery measurements (p = 0.001), lower incidence of diabetes (p = 0.028), hyperlipidemia (p = 0.002) and metabolic syndrome(p < 0.001), at stroke onset with lower rates of antilipidemic treatment prescription prior to stroke onset compared to those patients with cerebral ischemia that were hospitalized before the financial crisis (mean age: 59.6 ± 11.1 years). However, between the two subgroups were no significant differences in the rates of untreated patients with hyperlipidemia (p = 0.189) and/or hypertension (p = 0.313). Even though statin pretreatment prior to stroke onset was found to be reduced during economic crisis compared to the period before the crisis, (OR = 0.58, 95%CI: 0.34-0.95, p = 0.032), this association did not retain statistical significance in the multivariate logistic regression analysis (OR = 1.69, 95%CI = 0.83-3.42, p = 0.143). Our study supports that at present financial crisis has not significantly affected the prevention of cerebrovascular events in the citizens of a provincial city area. Data from other regions and time-periods are needed for the final verdict. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perspectives in musculoskeletal injury management by traditional bone setters in Ashanti, Ghana

PubMed Central

Owusu-Ansah, Frances E.; Dogbe, Joslin A.; Morgan, Julia; Sarpong, Kofi

2015-01-01

Background The popularity of the services of traditional bone setters (TBS) in Ghana as an alternative health care requires exploration and documentation of the perspectives of providers and users. Objective To explore and document the perspectives of providers and users of the services of TBS in the management of musculoskeletal injuries in the Ashanti region, Ghana. Methods From the social constructivist and qualitative approach, in-depth interviews were used to explore the perspectives of eight TBS and 16 users of their services, selected purposively through snowballing. Thematic content analysis (TCA) was employed. Results High recovery rate, warm reception, prompt attention, and the relatively lower charges, are reported to motivate the patronage of the services of TBS for the management of fractures in the legs, arms, ribs, joint bones dislocations, waist and spinal cord problems. The TBS combined traditional and orthodox procedures, using plant and animal-based materials, beliefs, spirituality (God-given) and physical therapy in the management of musculoskeletal injuries. No adverse experience was reported by either the providers or users of the traditional management methods. Conclusion With plant and animal-based materials, TBS are observed to combine traditional and orthodox procedures to confidently manage musculoskeletal injuries to the satisfaction of their highly motivated patrons. Although over 60% of the TBS attribute the healing power behind their practice to God, the rest do not discount the role of spiritual therapy. Further studies expanded to include the perspectives of non-users of the services of the TBS will authenticate the findings of this study. PMID:28730018

Leisure Role of Public Libraries: User Views

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hayes, Emma; Morris, Anne

2005-01-01

This is the second of two articles examining the leisure role of public libraries. The first article examined the leisure role of public libraries in the UK from a historical perspective. This examines the value of the public library service in providing leisure opportunities from a user point of view. The results demonstrate that public libraries…

Content Knowledge--The Real Reading Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kato, Tsuguhiko; Manning, Maryann

2007-01-01

The perceived crisis in reading achievement may be misplaced--the real crisis may be what is ignored in the curriculum. People are alarmed at the lack of emphasis being placed on teaching content knowledge in many of today's classrooms. They laugh when Jay Leno takes to the street, interviewing teenagers and young adults who do not have the…

Defining crisis in families of individuals with autism spectrum disorders

PubMed Central

Wingsiong, Aranda; Lunsky, Yona

2014-01-01

Parents of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often report higher levels of depression, anxiety, and mental health–related issues. The combination of stressors and family adjustment difficulties can cause distress which may develop into a crisis. Understanding crisis in the family is important to mental health practice since it can serve as a guide in delivering service to at-risk families. This study investigated the subjective experience of crisis in 155 mothers of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Thematic analysis revealed that crisis is characterized by factors influencing four major areas: demands, internal capabilities, external resources, and subjective appraisal. Understanding what crisis means to families of individuals with autism spectrum disorder can help inform effective preventative and crisis services. PMID:24254639

Service user involvement in preregistration child nursing programmes.

PubMed

Barnley, Rebecca

2017-12-05

Service user involvement is a fundamental part of preregistration nursing education programmes, however achieving this for child nursing students is challenging. Service user involvement can be achieved through online forums but this method can lack the emotional interaction and opportunity for deep reflection. This article reviews the background and challenges of service user involvement in preregistration child nursing programmes, further exploring the evaluation of a group of final year child nursing students' experience of appreciating the journey of two service users. The input from service users provided the opportunity for reflection, empathy and improved student self-awareness in nursing practice. Students gained perspective of the holistic needs of the service user, which empowered them to have confidence in their communication skills to ensure the voice of the child is heard and their rights are upheld. This article concludes that service user involvement is crucial in preregistration nursing programmes for the development of child nursing students, not only affecting their training but also the future workforce. ©2017 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.

40 CFR 166.49 - Public notice of crisis exemptions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Public notice of crisis exemptions... PROGRAMS EXEMPTION OF FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES FOR USE OF PESTICIDES UNDER EMERGENCY CONDITIONS Crisis Exemptions § 166.49 Public notice of crisis exemptions. (a) Periodic notices. At least quarterly, the...

Elevated IL-8 levels during sickle cell crisis.

PubMed

Duits, A J; Schnog, J B; Lard, L R; Saleh, A W; Rojer, R A

1998-11-01

The vaso-occlusive process (VOC) in sickle cell disease is of a complex nature. It involves intricate interactions between sickle red blood cells, endothelium and probably also leukocytes. As these interactions are regulated by cytokines, we analyzed the role of the potent neutrophil chemokine IL-8 by measuring serum levels in sickle cell patients during sickle cell crisis. These results were compared to nonsymptomatics and healthy controls. In patients having a vaso-occlusive crisis both HbSS and HbSC patients showed significantly enhanced serum IL-8 levels compared to healthy controls. Several of these patients showed extremely elevated serum IL-8 levels which were independent of the crisis inducing factor. Furthermore, a sickle cell patient with VOC as a complication of rhGM-CSF treatment similarly showed high IL-8 serum levels at crisis onset. Nonsymptomatic sickle cell patients serum IL-8 levels were comparable to healthy controls. These results implicate a role for IL-8 at or during (the initiation of) sickle cell crisis.

Methodology of developing a smartphone application for crisis research and its clinical application.

PubMed

Zhang, Melvyn W B; Ho, Cyrus S H; Fang, Pan; Lu, Yanxia; Ho, Roger C M

2014-01-01

Recent advancement in Internet based technologies have resulted in the growth of a sub-specialized field, termed as "Infodemiology" and "Infoveillance". Infoveillence refers to the collation of infodemiology measures for the purpose of surveillance and trending. Previous research has only demonstrated the research potential of Web 2.0 medium in collation of data in crisis situation. The objectives for the current study are to demonstrate the methodology of implementation of a smartphone-based application for dissemination and collation of information during a crisis situation. The Haze Smartphone application was developed using an online application builder and using HTML5 as the core programming language. A five-phase developmental method including a) formulation of user requirements, b) system design, c) system development, d) system evaluation and finally e) system application and implementation were adopted. The smartphone application was deployed during a one-week period via a self-sponsored Facebook post and via direct dissemination of the web-links by emails. A total of 298 respondents took part in the survey within the application. Most of them were between the ages of 20- to 29-years old and had a university education. More individuals preferred the option of accessing and providing feedback to a survey on physical and psychological wellbeing via direct access to a Web-based questionnaire. In addition, the participants reported a mean number of 4.03 physical symptoms (SD 2.6). The total Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) score was 18.47 (SD 11.69), which indicated that the study population did experience psychological stress but not posttraumatic stress disorder. The perceived dangerous Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) level and the number of physical symptoms were associated with higher IES-R Score (P<0.05). This study demonstrates how a smartphone application could potentially be used to acquire research data in a crisis situation. However, it is

40 CFR 166.50 - Reporting and recordkeeping requirements for crisis exemption.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... requirements for crisis exemption. 166.50 Section 166.50 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION... EMERGENCY CONDITIONS Crisis Exemptions § 166.50 Reporting and recordkeeping requirements for crisis... a crisis exemption must be immediately reported to the Agency. (b) Final reports. (1) A report...

Foreign currency exchange network topology across the 2008 credit crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharif, Shamshuritawati; Ap, Nuraisah Che; Ruslan, Nuraimi

2017-05-01

A stable world currency exchange rate is a very important aspect to be considered for a developed country, i.e Malaysia. A better understanding about the currencies itself is needed nowadays. This project is about to understanding the fluctuation and to identify the most influential world currencies in the three different cases; before credit crisis, during credit crisis and after credit crisis. A network topology approach is use to examine the interrelationship between currencies based on correlation analysis. With this point of view, those relationships can be measured by a correlation structure among the currencies. The network can be analyse by filtering the important information using minimum spanning tree (MST) and interpret it using degree centrality as the centrality measure. This topology will give a useful guide to understand the behaviour and determine the most influential currency in the network as a part of a complex system. All currencies are compared among the three different cases; before credit crisis, during credit crisis and after credit crisis period. The result of this project shows that Unites State Dollar (USD), Brazilian Real (BRL), United Kingdom Pound (EUR) and Danish Krone (DKK) are the most influential currencies before the credit crisis period. With respect to during the credit crisis, New Zealand Dollar (NZD) dominates the network and it is followed by Singapore Dollar (SGD) for after the credit crisis period.

When a Crisis Hits, Will Your School Be Ready?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Decker, Robert H.

This guidebook describes the components involved in proactively developing a comprehensive crisis-management plan. Chapter 1 explains the philosophical underpinnings of a crisis-management plan and discusses the importance of vision and staff development. Chapter 2 answers the questions: Why do we need a crisis-management plan? Who needs to be…

Users' Continuance Intention of Virtual Learning Community Services: The Moderating Role of Usage Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Min; Liu, Yupei; Yan, Weiwei; Zhang, Yan

2017-01-01

Users' continuance intention plays a significant role in the process of information system (IS) service, especially virtual learning community (VLC) services. Following the IS success model and IS post-acceptance model, this study explores the determinants of users' intention to continue using VLCs' service from the perspective of quality,…

An Information-Processing Model of Crisis Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Egelhoff, William G.; Sen, Falguni

1992-01-01

Develops a contingency model for managing a variety of corporate crises. Views crisis management as an information-processing situation and organizations that must cope with crisis as information-processing systems. Attempts to fit appropriate information-processing mechanisms to different categories of crises. (PRA)

Wundt contested: The first crisis declaration in psychology.

PubMed

Mülberger, Annette

2012-06-01

When reflecting on the history and the present situation of their field, psychologists have often seen their discipline as being in a critical state. The first author to warn of a crisis was, in 1897, the now scarcely known philosopher Rudolf Willy. He saw a crisis in psychology resulting, firstly, from a profuse branching out of psychology. Adopting a radical empiriocriticist point of view, he, secondly, made the metaphysical stance of scholars like Wilhelm Wundt responsible for the crisis. Meanwhile, the priest Constantin Gutberlet responded to the claim of crisis arguing, on the contrary, that the crisis resulted from research that was empirical only. Throughout the discipline psychologists felt troubled by a widespread sense of fragmentation in the field. I will argue that this is due to psychology's early social success and popularization in modern society. Moreover the paper shows that the first declaration of crisis emerged at a time when a discussion of fundamentals was already underway between Wundt and the empiriocriticist Richard Avenarius. The present historical research reveals the depth of the confrontation between Wundt and Willy, entailing a clash of two worldviews that embrace psychological, epistemological, and political aspects. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ideological Responses to the EU Refugee Crisis

PubMed Central

van Prooijen, Jan-Willem; Krouwel, André P. M.; Emmer, Julia

2017-01-01

The 2016 European Union (EU) refugee crisis exposed a fundamental distinction in political attitudes between the political left and right. Previous findings suggest, however, that besides political orientation, ideological strength (i.e., political extremism) is also relevant to understand such distinctive attitudes. Our study reveals that the political right is more anxious, and the political left experiences more self-efficacy, about the refugee crisis. At the same time, the political extremes—at both sides of the spectrum—are more likely than moderates to believe that the solution to this societal problem is simple. Furthermore, both extremes experience more judgmental certainty about their domain-specific knowledge of the refugee crisis, independent of their actual knowledge. Finally, belief in simple solutions mediated the relationship between ideology and judgmental certainty, but only among political extremists. We conclude that both ideological orientation and strength matter to understand citizens’ reactions to the refugee crisis. PMID:29593852

Responding to the Unthinkable: School Crisis Response and Recovery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowan, Katherine C.; Rossen, Eric

2014-01-01

The mental health implications of crisis exposure have emerged as a critical and challenging facet of school safety and crisis response, expanding our focus to encompass both psychological and physical safety, as well as prevention and recovery. Best practice reflects this evolution in our understanding and encompasses the continuum of crisis and…

Wilderness Crisis Management. Explore Magazine Technical Series No. 11.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raffan, James

This paper deals with managing a crisis in a wilderness situation. The terms "crisis" and "turning point" are used to describe what is more traditionally called an accident. Using these terms introduces the idea that crisis events occur as logical consequences of preceding decisions, errors, or omissions, not as the result of…

[The meanings constructed in the attention to a crisis in the territory: the psychosocial care center as a protagonist].

PubMed

Willrich, Janaína Quinzen; Kantorski, Luciane Prado; Chiavagatti, Fabieli Gopinger; Cortes, Jandro Moraes; Antonacci, Milena Hohmann

2013-06-01

The attention to a crisis is a strategic point in the process of paradigm changes proposed by the Brazilian psychiatric reform, requiring changes in alternative services and in the professionals that must use new technologies of care. This study aimed to identify the actions of attention to a crisis in the territory and the meanings as they evolved, beginning from the discursive practices of the professionals. It was a qualitative study that used the theoretical perspective of social constructionism. From the database of the research, Evaluation of the Psychosocial Care Centers in Southern Brazil (CAPSUL), 27 interviews were analyzed from the professionals of Psychosocial Care Center for Alegrete, along with field diaries with 390 hours of observation. Results showed patient engagement/welcoming and accountability for care. We concluded that freedom, reciprocity, contractuality and responsibility for care were the new meanings needed for the alternative care services to overcome the asylum and sense of exclusion and dangerousness.

[Methamphetamine Use in Central Germany: A Qualitative Study on Consumer Groups and Motives from the Experts' Perspective].

PubMed

Hoffmann, Laura; Schumann, Nadine; Richter, Matthias

2017-09-11

Background Methamphetamine is one of the most consumed illegal drugs worldwide. In Germany, Methamphetamine shows the highest rates of growth in comparison to other illegal substances in recent years. Particularly Central Germany has been struck by a high rise in consumption. International studies indicate that there is no specific group of people that can be identified as Methamphetamine users. Different consumption patterns in terms of Methamphetamine use can be identified within various social groups. This qualitative study will explore different consumer groups among methamphetamine users, their motives, and how they differ by drug addiction type. Methods The empirical data collection was carried out in a consecutive 2-stage process. Initially, 39 semi-structured individual interviews with experts from different clinical areas were carried out about their experience and perspectives on Methamphetamine use. The results of the individual interviews were subsequently discussed and validated within 2 interdisciplinary focus groups. All interviews and focus groups were digitally recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to the method of Meuser & Nagel. Results Altogether, 3 consumer groups were identified: (1) Young parents, women and pregnant women, (2) young drug users and early adapters and (3) older drug users or late entrants. The guiding motive in terms of Methamphetamine use described by the experts was improved efficiency. Further motives are for instance overcoming stressful situations, enablement and improvement of sexual experiences, self-esteem enhancement, coping with crisis or trauma, curiosity and drug use as leisure time activity. Discussion/conclusion The results in terms of consumer groups and consumption motives are consistent with international findings and we were able to verify and expand them for Central Germany. The outcomes illustrated that there are different consumer groups among methamphetamine users that differ from consumer groups of

The Empirical Investigation of Perspective-Based Reading

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basili, Victor R.; Green, Scott; Laitenberger, Oliver; Shull, Forrest; Sorumgard, Sivert; Zelkowitz, Marvin V.

1996-01-01

We consider reading techniques a fundamental means of achieving high quality software. Due to the lack of research in this area, we are experimenting with the application and comparison of various reading techniques. This paper deals with our experiences with Perspective-Based Reading (PBR), a particular reading technique for requirements documents. The goal of PBR is to provide operational scenarios where members of a review team read a document from a particular perspective (e.g., tester, developer, user). Our assumption is that the combination of different perspectives provides better coverage of the document than the same number of readers using their usual technique.

Developing End-User Innovation from Circuits of Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fosstenløkken, Siw M.

2015-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to raise the question of how end-user product innovation is developed by exploring the underlying learning mechanisms that drive such idea realization in practice. A trialogical learning perspective from educational science is applied as an analytical approach to enlighten the black box of learning dynamics in user…

Brainwashing, LSD, and CIA: historical and ethical perspective.

PubMed

Buckman, J

1977-01-01

The history of various attempts at thought control and chemical warfare is briefly reviewed. Brainwashing, thought control, industrial and national espionage, and covert activities are becoming more sophisticated. These issues have been revived and accentuated by the Vietnam war, the Middle East Crisis, Watergate, the CIA investigations and the Patty Hearst trial. Historical perspective and the ethical implications of these activities are explored. It is suggested that there is a growing level of individual and international mistrust amounting to paranoia and complicating the issues of individual freedom, civil rights and human experimentation.

General Beliefs and Stigma Regarding Illicit Drug Use: Perspectives of Family Members and Significant Others of Drug Users in an Inner City in Brazil.

PubMed

Ventura, Carla Aparecida Arena; Carrara, Bruna Sordi; Bobbili, Sireesha; Vedana, Kelly Graziani Giacchero; Khenti, Akwatu; Hayashida, Miyeko; Ferreira, Paulo Sergio

2017-09-01

People who use drugs are continuously subjected to harsh stigmatization through a process of relational and social degradation, which limits their possibility for recovery. This quantitative study explores the perspectives of family members or significant others of illicit drug users, regarding general beliefs about illicit drug use and their stigma. Respondents agree that most people do not trust people who use drugs, disregard individuals who have been hospitalized due to drug problems and do not think people who use drugs are as intelligent as the general population. These findings reveal a high level of public stigma regarding illicit drug use.

Adverse effect of the financial crisis in Greece on perinatal factors.

PubMed

Zografaki, Irini; Papamichail, Dimitris; Panagiotopoulos, Takis

2018-05-16

Starting in 2008 recession affected many European countries and especially Greece. Previous studies have reported increases in low birth weight, preterm birth and stillbirth rates in Greece during early crisis. In our study we used data on births from 1980 to 2014 that allowed us to distinguish recent changes, which could possibly be attributed to the financial crisis, from long term trends, and controlled for maternal age and country of origin as potential confounders. Our study covered a longer period (up to 2014) than what has been studied before and looked separately at the effect of early and established crisis. We used national vital statistics data from 1980 to 2014. We performed age standardization and calculated age standardized rates and standardized rate ratios (SRRs) for perinatal factors for three time periods (pre-crisis, early crisis and established crisis) for Greek and non-Greek women. We found an increase in low birth weight deliveries independent of maternal age and origin and an increased stillbirth rate in Greek women younger than 25 in early (RR = 1.42 95%CI: 1.12-1.80) and established crisis periods (RR = 1.36 95%CI: 1.07-1.72) compared with pre-crisis. Non-Greek women have also been affected, with their advantage regarding birth outcomes becoming less profound in the established crisis period (low birth weight: established crisis SRR = 0.84 95%CI: 0.82-0.87, pre-crisis SRR = 0.79 95% CI: 0.76- 0.81). The financial crisis has possibly adversely affected perinatal factors in Greece. Our results highlight the need of appropriate public health interventions and family support policies, especially for younger people, unemployed and immigrants.

[Hypertensive crisis in children and adolescents].

PubMed

Skrzypczyk, Piotr; Roszkowska-Blaim, Maria; Daniel, Maria

2013-12-01

Hypertensive crisis is a sudden rise in blood pressure above 99 c. for sex, age and height +5 mm Hg. Depending on patient's symptoms, hypertensive crisis can be divided into hypertensive emergency severe arterial hypertension with target organ insufficiency and/r damage (central nervous system, heart, kidney, eye), and hypertensive urgency - severe arterial hypertension without target organ insufficiency and damage with non-specific symptoms like: headaches, vertigo, nasal bleeding, nausea, and vomiting. The most common causes of hypertensive crisis in neonates and infants are renal artery thrombosis, broncho-pulmonary dysplasia, and coarctation of aorta; in older children - kidney diseases and renal artery stenosis. In neonates and infants symptoms of cardiac failure predominate, whereas in older children symptoms from central nervous system (headaches, nausea, vomiting, changes in level of consciousness, seizures, focal deficits). Hypertensive crisis is treated with fast- and short-acting medications; 25% reduction of blood pressure within first 8 hours is recommended, with complete normalization within 24-48 hours. Hypertensive emergency should be treated with intravenous agents (labetalol, hydralazine, nicardipine, and sodium nitroprusside), hypertensive urgency with intravenous or oral agents like nifedipine, isradipine, clonidine and minoxidil. Nicardipine is a first-choice medication in neonates.

[Assessing aggression in patients of the mental health crisis service].

PubMed

Penterman, E J M; Nijman, H L I

2009-01-01

Care workers of the outreach psychiatric crisis team are frequently confronted with aggressive patients. To prevent dangerous situations from developing it could be advantageous to have in place a method of risk assessment that is based on information about patients before they are actually contacted by the crisis team. To test the predictive validity of an instrument specifically designed to assess the risks of aggression from severely disturbed psychiatric patients before they are seen by the crisis team. Over a period of two years and prior to any outreach contact with patients in crisis situations a Checklist of Risks to the Crisis team (CRC) was completed. Then, following outreach contact with the patient any perceived aggression was recorded by means of the Staff Observation Aggression Scale-Revised (SOAS-R). Aggressive behaviour by patients was observed during 51 of 499 crisis contacts with members of the outreach crisis team. On the basis of three factors in the CRC, namely the clinical assessment on a visual-analogue scale, an estimate of the number of aggressive persons in the vicinity of the crisis patient concerned and the reporting of crises by the patient himself, it was possible to predict outwardly directed aggression with a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 84%. Although the findings still need to be reproduced, an instrument such as the crc could be very useful to members of the crisis service.

'HTA for Crisis': sharing experiences during the 7th EBHC Symposium.

PubMed

Wladysiuk, Magdalena; Tabor, Anna; Godman, Brian

2013-02-01

The Central and Eastern European Society of Technology Assessment in Health Care was founded in Krakow, Poland in 2003. On October 8th and 9th, the 7th symposium took place titled 'HTA for Crisis'. This meeting was attended by over 250 decision makers, evidence-based specialists, healthcare managers, commercial company personnel and experts. The symposium was principally divided into four main themes: insurance in times of crisis; importance of pricing of health services in times of crisis; managing welfare benefits in times of crisis and Health Technology Assessment in crisis-laden countries. The symposium finished by debating potential ways forward for healthcare systems in times of crisis.

Cell Death During Crisis Is Mediated by Mitotic Telomere Deprotection

PubMed Central

Hayashi, Makoto T.; Cesare, Anthony J.; Rivera, Teresa; Karlseder, Jan

2015-01-01

Tumour formation is blocked by two barriers, replicative senescence and crisis1. Senescence is triggered by short telomeres and is bypassed by disruption of tumour suppressive pathways. After senescence bypass, cells undergo crisis, during which almost all of the cells in the population die. Cells that escape crisis harbor unstable genomes and other parameters of transformation. The mechanism of cell death during crisis remained elusive. We show that cells in crisis undergo spontaneous mitotic arrest, resulting in death during mitosis or in the following cell cycle. The phenotype was induced by loss of p53 function, and suppressed by telomerase overexpression. Telomere fusions triggered mitotic arrest in p53-compromised non-crisis cells, indicating such fusions as the underlying cause. Exacerbation of mitotic telomere deprotection by partial TRF2 knockdown2 increased the ratio of cells that died during mitotic arrest and sensitized cancer cells to mitotic poisons. We propose a crisis pathway wherein chromosome fusions induce mitotic arrest, resulting in mitotic telomere deprotection and cell death, thereby eliminating precancerous cells from the population. PMID:26108857

Harm-reduction activism: a case study of an unsanctioned user-run safe injection site.

PubMed

Kerr, Thomas; Oleson, Megan; Wood, Evan

2004-08-01

Due to the ongoing health crisis among injection drug users in Vancouver, Canada, there have been repeated calls for the establishment of safe injection sites (SISs) since the early 1990s. In April 2003, in response to a large-scale police crackdown and government inaction, a group of activists opened an unsanctioned SIS in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES). The 327 Carrall Street SIS operated for 181 days despite considerable police harassment and limited financial support. During the operation of the SIS, volunteers supervised over 3000 injections and demonstrated the feasibility of a user-run low-threshold SIS. The experience of the SIS provides valuable lessons for those seeking to advance the interests of injection drug users through community mobilization and direct action approaches. In this article, Thomas Kerr, Megan Oleson, and Evan Wood describe the events surrounding the establishment, operation, and closing of the unsanctioned SIS, and outline the lessons learned.

Technology Adoption: an Interaction Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitorus, Hotna M.; Govindaraju, Rajesri; Wiratmadja, I. I.; Sudirman, Iman

2016-02-01

The success of a new technology depends on how well it is accepted by its intended users. Many technologies face the problem of low adoption rate, despite the benefits. An understanding of what makes people accept or reject a new technology can help speed up the adoption rate. This paper presents a framework for technology adoption based on an interactive perspective, resulting from a literature study on technology adoption. In studying technology adoption, it is necessary to consider the interactions among elements involved in the system, for these interactions may generate new characteristics or new relationships. The interactions among elements in a system adoption have not received sufficient consideration in previous studies of technology adoption. Based on the proposed interaction perspective, technology adoption is elaborated by examining interactions among the individual (i.e. the user or prospective user), the technology, the task and the environment. The framework is formulated by adopting several theories, including Perceived Characteristics of Innovating, Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Technology Acceptance Model, Task-Technology Fit and usability theory. The proposed framework is illustrated in the context of mobile banking adoption. It is aimed to offer a better understanding of determinants of technology adoption in various contexts, including technology in manufacturing systems.

Health Care Austerity Measures in Times of Crisis: The Perspectives of Primary Health Care Physicians in Madrid, Spain.

PubMed

Heras-Mosteiro, Julio; Sanz-Barbero, Belén; Otero-Garcia, Laura

2016-01-01

The current financial crisis has seen severe austerity measures imposed on the Spanish health care system, including reduced public spending, copayments, salary reductions, and reduced services for undocumented migrants. However, the impacts have not been well-documented. We present findings from a qualitative study that explores the perceptions of primary health care physicians in Madrid, Spain. This article discusses the effects of austerity measures implemented in the public health care system and their potential impacts on access and utilization of primary health care services. This is the first study, to our knowledge, exploring the health care experiences during the financial crisis of general practitioners in Madrid, Spain. The majority of participating physicians disapproved of austerity measures implemented in Spain. The findings of this study suggest that undocumented migrants should regain access to health care services; copayments should be minimized and removed for patients with low incomes; and health care professionals should receive additional help to avoid burnout. Failure to implement these measures could result in the quality of health care further deteriorating and could potentially have long-term negative consequences on population health. © The Author(s) 2016.

Chromothripsis and kataegis induced by telomere crisis

PubMed Central

Maciejowski, John; Li, Yilong; Bosco, Nazario; Campbell, Peter J.; de Lange, Titia

2015-01-01

Telomere crisis occurs during tumorigenesis when depletion of the telomere reserve leads to frequent telomere fusions. The resulting dicentric chromosomes have been proposed to drive genome instability. Here we examine the fate of dicentric human chromosomes in telomere crisis. We observed that dicentric chromosomes invariably persisted through mitosis and developed into 50-200 μm chromatin bridges connecting the daughter cells. Before their resolution at 3-20 h after anaphase, the chromatin bridges induced nuclear envelope rupture in interphase, accumulated the cytoplasmic 3' nuclease TREX1, and developed RPA-coated single stranded (ss) DNA. CRISPR knockouts showed that TREX1 contributed to the generation of the ssDNA and the resolution of the chromatin bridges. Post-crisis clones showed chromothripsis and kataegis, presumably resulting from DNA repair and APOBEC editing of the fragmented chromatin bridge DNA. We propose that chromothripsis in human cancer may arise through TREX1-mediated fragmentation of dicentric chromosomes formed in telomere crisis. PMID:26687355

Urbanization eases water crisis in China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wu, Yiping; Liu, Shu-Guang; Ji, Chen

2012-01-01

Socioeconomic development in China has resulted in rapid urbanization, which includes a large amount of people making the transition from rural areas to cities. Many have speculated that this mass migration may have worsened the water crisis in many parts of the country. However, this study shows that the water crisis would be more severe if the rural-to-urban migration did not occur.

[Celiac crisis: presentation as bleeding diathesis].

PubMed

Gutiérrez, Sebastián; Toro, Martín; Cassar, Alejandro; Ongay, Rodrigo; Isaguirre, Jorge; López, Candelaria; Benedetti, Laura

2009-03-01

Celiac crisis is a severe and potentially fatal complication of celiac disease. Unusual at present, it has been described mainly in children younger than 2-years-old, but reports in adults do exist. We report a 26-years-old lady with tetany and bleeding diathesis at presentation. In spite of it rareness, it is important to consider celiac crisis among the multiple manifestations of celiac disease.

[Attempted suicide during the financial crisis in Athens].

PubMed

Stavrianakos, K; Kontaxakis, V; Moussas, G; Paplos, K; Papaslanis, T; Havaki-Kontaxaki, B; Papadimitriou, Gn

2014-01-01

Suicidal behavior is considered as the result of complex cognitive and emotional processes and it is a timeless, global and multifactorial phenomenon. Periods of financial crises in the past, such as the Great Depression in the USA in 1929 and the economic crises of Asia, Russia and Argentina in the late 1990s, have been associated with impairment of mental health of the economically affected. Unemployment, job insecurity, debts, poverty and social exclusion seems to lead to higher incidence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and increased suicidality. Alcohol and substance use and the reduction of the state budget for health services reinforce the negative effects of the economic recession on mental health. The financial crisis which currently affects many European countries began in 2008 and its impact on the mental health of European citizens is in progress. Greece is probably the most affected country by the European financial crisis. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential impact of the crisis' consequences on the attempted suicide rates in the Athens population and the differentiation of suicide attempters on social, demographic and clinical-psychopathological parameters during the crisis. A retrospective study was conducted. The semi-structured records of 165 attempters who were hospitalized in the Internal Medicine Clinics of the "Sotiria" General Hospital in Athens, after attempted suicide in the years 2007 and 2011, before and during the financial crisis respectively, were studied. Among suicide attempters 95(57.6%) were suffering from mental disorders. Most often diagnoses were these of mood disorders (n=60, 63.2%). Demographic data, current psychiatric disorder, previous suicide attempt and severity of psychopathology at the time of suicide attempt were recorded for each patient. Furthermore, the severity of each suicide attempt was estimated. Suicide attempts were 70 in 2007, before the financial crisis (mean age 36.9 years, 71% women

Event-Based User Classification in Weibo Media

PubMed Central

Wang, Wendong; Cheng, Shiduan; Que, Xirong

2014-01-01

Weibo media, known as the real-time microblogging services, has attracted massive attention and support from social network users. Weibo platform offers an opportunity for people to access information and changes the way people acquire and disseminate information significantly. Meanwhile, it enables people to respond to the social events in a more convenient way. Much of the information in Weibo media is related to some events. Users who post different contents, and exert different behavior or attitude may lead to different contribution to the specific event. Therefore, classifying the large amount of uncategorized social circles generated in Weibo media automatically from the perspective of events has been a promising task. Under this circumstance, in order to effectively organize and manage the huge amounts of users, thereby further managing their contents, we address the task of user classification in a more granular, event-based approach in this paper. By analyzing real data collected from Sina Weibo, we investigate the Weibo properties and utilize both content information and social network information to classify the numerous users into four primary groups: celebrities, organizations/media accounts, grassroots stars, and ordinary individuals. The experiments results show that our method identifies the user categories accurately. PMID:25133235

The Gemini Science User Support Department: A community-centered approach to user support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chené, André-Nicolas; Thomas-Osip, Joanna

2016-01-01

The Gemini Science User Support Department (SUSD) was formed a little more than a year ago to create a collaborative community of users and staff and to consolidate existing post-observing support throughout the observatory for more efficient use of resources as well as better visibility amongst our user community. This poster is an opportunity to exchange ideas about how Gemini can improve your experience while working with the Observatory and present details about new avenues of post-observing support coming soon. We encourage your feedback at any time.Shortly after its creation, the SUSD conducted a complete revision of the communication cycle between Gemini and its community of researchers. The cycle was then revisited from the perspective of an astronomer interested in using Gemini for their research. This exercise led to a series of proposed changes that are currently under development, and the implementation of a sub-selection is expected in 2016, including the following. (1) Email notifications: Gemini users will receive new forms of email communications that are more instructive and tailored to their program. The objective is to direct the users more efficiently toward the useful links and documentation all along the lifecycle of the program, from phaseII to after the data are completely reduced. (2) HelpDesk system: The HelpDesk will become more user-friendly and transparent. (3) Webpages: The organization of the Gemini webpages will be redesigned to optimize navigation; especially for anything regarding more critical periods likes phaseIs and phaseIIs. (4) Data Reduction User Forum: Following recommendations from Gemini users, new capabilities were added to the forum, like email notifications, and a voting system, in order to make it more practical. This forum's objective is to bring the Gemini community together to exchange their ideas, thoughts, questions and solutions about data reduction, a sort of Reddit, StackOverflow or Slashdot for Gemini data.

Methods to identify, study and understand end-user participation in HIT development.

PubMed

Høstgaard, Anna Marie; Bertelsen, Pernille; Nøhr, Christian

2011-09-28

Experience has shown that for new health-information-technology (HIT) to be suc-cessful clinicians must obtain positive clinical benefits as a result of its implementation and joint-ownership of the decisions made during the development process. A prerequisite for achieving both success criteria is real end-user-participation. Experience has also shown that further research into developing improved methods to collect more detailed information on social groups participating in HIT development is needed in order to support, facilitate and improve real end-user participation. A case study of an EHR planning-process in a Danish county from October 2003 until April 2006 was conducted using process-analysis. Three social groups (physicians, IT-professionals and administrators) were identified and studied in the local, present perspective. In order to understand the interactions between the three groups, the national, historic perspective was included through a literature-study. Data were collected through observations, interviews, insight gathered from documents and relevant literature. In the local, present perspective, the administrator's strategy for the EHR planning process meant that there was no clinical workload-reduction. This was seen as one of the main barriers to the physicians to achieving real influence. In the national, historic perspective, physicians and administrators have had/have different perceptions of the purpose of the patient record and they have both struggled to influence this definition. To date, the administrators have won the battle. This explains the conditions made available for the physicians' participation in this case, which led to their role being reduced to that of clinical consultants--rather than real participants. In HIT-development the interests of and the balance of power between the different social groups involved are decisive in determining whether or not the end-users become real participants in the development process. Real

Telephone Crisis Support Workers' Psychological Distress and Impairment.

PubMed

Kitchingman, Taneile A; Wilson, Coralie J; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian; Woodward, Alan

2018-01-01

In order to respond to crises with appropriate intervention, crisis workers are required to manage their own needs as well as the needs of those they respond to. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to examine whether telephone crisis support workers experience elevated symptoms of psychological distress and are impaired by elevated symptoms. Studies were identified in April 2015 by searching three databases, conducting a gray literature search, and forward and backward citation chaining. Of 113 identified studies, seven were included in the review. Results suggest that that telephone crisis support workers experience symptoms of vicarious traumatization, stress, burnout, and psychiatric disorders, and that they may not respond optimally to callers when experiencing elevated symptoms of distress. However, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn due to the paucity and methodological limitations of available data. While the most comprehensive search strategy possible was adopted, resource constraints meant that conference abstracts were not searched and authors were not contacted for additional unpublished information. There is an urgent need to identify the impact of telephone crisis support workers' role on their well-being, the determinants of worker well-being in the telephone crisis support context, and the extent to which well-being impacts their performance and caller outcomes. This will help inform strategies to optimize telephone crisis support workers' well-being and their delivery of support to callers.

Miscarriage: A Special Type of Family Crisis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Day, Randal D.; Hooks, Daniel

1987-01-01

Surveyed 102 women about their experience with miscarriage. Found that family resource variables were a much stronger predictor of level of crisis and recovery than were personal or community resource variables. Adaptation and cohesion were significant predictors of speed or recovery and level of crisis, respectively. (Author/NB)

Do You Have a Crisis Management Plan?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pleviak, Walter; Milkevitch, Frank

2001-01-01

Although certain crises cannot be prevented, reactions to many can be planned. A crisis-management team should be organized for each building. Critical crisis-plan elements include telephone trees, forms, reference articles, sample letters, and processes for dealing with local media. Spokespersons should have facts straight before speaking. (MLH)

Facing the Crisis: Third World Agriculture in the 1980s.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singh, Ajit; Tabatabai, Hamid

1990-01-01

Examines how developing nations' agrarian economy fared in the 1980s in the wake of the world economic crisis. Discusses how the economic crisis affected agricultural development and whether the performance of the agrarian economy was responsible for the economic crisis. (JOW)

Flexible and Transparent User Authentication for Mobile Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clarke, Nathan; Karatzouni, Sevasti; Furnell, Steven

The mobile device has become a ubiquitous technology that is capable of supporting an increasingly large array of services, applications and information. Given their increasing importance, it is imperative to ensure that such devices are not misused or abused. Unfortunately, a key enabling control to prevent this, user authentication, has not kept up with the advances in device technology. This paper presents the outcomes of a 2 year study that proposes the use of transparent and continuous biometric authentication of the user: providing more comprehensive identity verification; minimizing user inconvenience; and providing security throughout the period of use. A Non-Intrusive and Continuous Authentication (NICA) system is described that maintains a continuous measure of confidence in the identity of the user, removing access to sensitive services and information with low confidence levels and providing automatic access with higher confidence levels. An evaluation of the framework is undertaken from an end-user perspective via a trial involving 27 participants. Whilst the findings raise concerns over education, privacy and intrusiveness, overall 92% of users felt the system offered a more secure environment when compared to existing forms of authentication.

Replication, falsification, and the crisis of confidence in social psychology

PubMed Central

Earp, Brian D.; Trafimow, David

2015-01-01

The (latest) crisis in confidence in social psychology has generated much heated discussion about the importance of replication, including how it should be carried out as well as interpreted by scholars in the field. For example, what does it mean if a replication attempt “fails”—does it mean that the original results, or the theory that predicted them, have been falsified? And how should “failed” replications affect our belief in the validity of the original research? In this paper, we consider the replication debate from a historical and philosophical perspective, and provide a conceptual analysis of both replication and falsification as they pertain to this important discussion. Along the way, we highlight the importance of auxiliary assumptions (for both testing theories and attempting replications), and introduce a Bayesian framework for assessing “failed” replications in terms of how they should affect our confidence in original findings. PMID:26042061

User-centric incentive design for participatory mobile phone sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Wei; Lu, Haoyang

2014-05-01

Mobile phone sensing is a critical underpinning of pervasive mobile computing, and is one of the key factors for improving people's quality of life in modern society via collective utilization of the on-board sensing capabilities of people's smartphones. The increasing demands for sensing services and ambient awareness in mobile environments highlight the necessity of active participation of individual mobile users in sensing tasks. User incentives for such participation have been continuously offered from an application-centric perspective, i.e., as payments from the sensing server, to compensate users' sensing costs. These payments, however, are manipulated to maximize the benefits of the sensing server, ignoring the runtime flexibility and benefits of participating users. This paper presents a novel framework of user-centric incentive design, and develops a universal sensing platform which translates heterogenous sensing tasks to a generic sensing plan specifying the task-independent requirements of sensing performance. We use this sensing plan as input to reduce three categories of sensing costs, which together cover the possible sources hindering users' participation in sensing.

Code Optimization and Parallelization on the Origins: Looking from Users' Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chang, Yan-Tyng Sherry; Thigpen, William W. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Parallel machines are becoming the main compute engines for high performance computing. Despite their increasing popularity, it is still a challenge for most users to learn the basic techniques to optimize/parallelize their codes on such platforms. In this paper, we present some experiences on learning these techniques for the Origin systems at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division. Emphasis of this paper will be on a few essential issues (with examples) that general users should master when they work with the Origins as well as other parallel systems.

School Crisis Aftermath: Care for the Caregivers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paine, Cathy Kennedy

2009-01-01

"Professional" crisis caregivers (e.g., emergency responders, mental health providers, medical professionals, victim assistance counselors, and faith leaders) are trained to handle exposure to images of destruction and loss and to help victims or survivors cope with the impact of a crisis. They try to help individuals, schools, and communities…

A Visual Information Tool for User Participation during the Lifecycle of School Building Design: BIM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koutamanis, Alexander; Heuer, Jos; Könings, Karen D.

2017-01-01

User participation is a key element in decision processes concerning the accommodation of dynamic organisations such as schools. This article addresses the discrepancy between the perspectives of the architects and engineers, as the makers of school buildings, and school management, teachers and students, as the users of the buildings, and…

GEO Label: User and Producer Perspectives on a Label for Geospatial Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lush, V.; Lumsden, J.; Masó, J.; Díaz, P.; McCallum, I.

2012-04-01

One of the aims of the Science and Technology Committee (STC) of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) was to establish a GEO Label- a label to certify geospatial datasets and their quality. As proposed, the GEO Label will be used as a value indicator for geospatial data and datasets accessible through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). It is suggested that the development of such a label will significantly improve user recognition of the quality of geospatial datasets and that its use will help promote trust in datasets that carry the established GEO Label. Furthermore, the GEO Label is seen as an incentive to data providers. At the moment GEOSS contains a large amount of data and is constantly growing. Taking this into account, a GEO Label could assist in searching by providing users with visual cues of dataset quality and possibly relevance; a GEO Label could effectively stand as a decision support mechanism for dataset selection. Currently our project - GeoViQua, - together with EGIDA and ID-03 is undertaking research to define and evaluate the concept of a GEO Label. The development and evaluation process will be carried out in three phases. In phase I we have conducted an online survey (GEO Label Questionnaire) to identify the initial user and producer views on a GEO Label or its potential role. In phase II we will conduct a further study presenting some GEO Label examples that will be based on Phase I. We will elicit feedback on these examples under controlled conditions. In phase III we will create physical prototypes which will be used in a human subject study. The most successful prototypes will then be put forward as potential GEO Label options. At the moment we are in phase I, where we developed an online questionnaire to collect the initial GEO Label requirements and to identify the role that a GEO Label should serve from the user and producer standpoint. The GEO Label Questionnaire consists of generic questions to identify whether

[Public spheres, political crisis and the Internet: the rise of the Podemos party].

PubMed

Jerez, Ariel; Maceiras, Sergio D'Antonio; Maestu, Enrique

2015-12-01

The rise of the political party Podemos, within the context of a crisis in political representation, can be explained from a perspective of transformative interactions between public spheres, social movements and new technologies. The emergence of the 15M movement allowed Podemos to offer a new diagnosis of politics that has been actively promoted on social media, which represent a true campaign platform for low-budget parties. An analysis of Twitter and Facebook reveals the rapid growth of Podemos, its prominence on social networks, the profile of its followers and its most influential publications in these new discourses. Lastly, we analyze the challenges for this type of party in terms of incorporating into the political panorama in Spain and in Europe.

Assessment of pre-crisis and syn-crisis seismic hazard at Campi Flegrei and Mt. Vesuvius volcanoes, Campania, southern Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Convertito, Vincenzo; Zollo, Aldo

2011-08-01

In this study, we address the issue of short-term to medium-term probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for two volcanic areas, Campi Flegrei caldera and Mt. Vesuvius in the Campania region of southern Italy. Two different phases of the volcanic activity are considered. The first, which we term the pre-crisis phase, concerns the present quiescent state of the volcanoes that is characterized by low-to-moderate seismicity. The second phase, syn-crisis, concerns the unrest phase that can potentially lead to eruption. For the Campi Flegrei case study, we analyzed the pattern of seismicity during the 1982-1984 ground uplift episode (bradyseism). For Mt. Vesuvius, two different time-evolutionary models for seismicity were adopted, corresponding to different ways in which the volcano might erupt. We performed a site-specific analysis, linked with the hazard map, to investigate the effects of input parameters, in terms of source geometry, mean activity rate, periods of data collection, and return periods, for the syn-crisis phase. The analysis in the present study of the pre-crisis phase allowed a comparison of the results of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for the two study areas with those provided in the Italian national hazard map. For the Mt. Vesuvius area in particular, the results show that the hazard can be greater than that reported in the national hazard map when information at a local scale is used. For the syn-crisis phase, the main result is that the data recorded during the early months of the unrest phase are substantially representative of the seismic hazard during the whole duration of the crisis.

International Space Station Alpha user payload operations concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schlagheck, Ronald A.; Crysel, William B.; Duncan, Elaine F.; Rider, James W.

1994-01-01

International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) will accommodate a variety of user payloads investigating diverse scientific and technology disciplines on behalf of five international partners: Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the United States. A combination of crew, automated systems, and ground operations teams will control payload operations that require complementary on-board and ground systems. This paper presents the current planning for the ISSA U.S. user payload operations concept and the functional architecture supporting the concept. It describes various NASA payload operations facilities, their interfaces, user facility flight support, the payload planning system, the onboard and ground data management system, and payload operations crew and ground personnel training. This paper summarizes the payload operations infrastructure and architecture developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to prepare and conduct ISSA on-orbit payload operations from the Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC), and from various user operations locations. The authors pay particular attention to user data management, which includes interfaces with both the onboard data management system and the ground data system. Discussion covers the functional disciplines that define and support POIC payload operations: Planning, Operations Control, Data Management, and Training. The paper describes potential interfaces between users and the POIC disciplines, from the U.S. user perspective.

The crustal dynamics intelligent user interface anthology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Short, Nicholas M., Jr.; Campbell, William J.; Roelofs, Larry H.; Wattawa, Scott L.

1987-01-01

The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) has initiated an Intelligent Data Management (IDM) research effort which has, as one of its components, the development of an Intelligent User Interface (IUI). The intent of the IUI is to develop a friendly and intelligent user interface service based on expert systems and natural language processing technologies. The purpose of such a service is to support the large number of potential scientific and engineering users that have need of space and land-related research and technical data, but have little or no experience in query languages or understanding of the information content or architecture of the databases of interest. This document presents the design concepts, development approach and evaluation of the performance of a prototype IUI system for the Crustal Dynamics Project Database, which was developed using a microcomputer-based expert system tool (M. 1), the natural language query processor THEMIS, and the graphics software system GSS. The IUI design is based on a multiple view representation of a database from both the user and database perspective, with intelligent processes to translate between the views.

Towards integrated crisis support of regional emergency networks.

PubMed

Caro, D H

1999-01-01

Emergency and crisis management pose multidimensional information systems challenges for communities across North America. In the quest to reduce mortality and morbidity risks and to increase the level of crisis preparedness, regional emergency management networks have evolved. Integrated Crisis Support Systems (ICSS) are enabling information technologies that assist emergency managers by enhancing the ability to strategically manage and control these regional emergency networks efficiently and effectively. This article underscores the ICCS development, control and leadership issues and their promising implications for regional emergency management networks.

Practicing discernment: pastoral care in crisis situations.

PubMed

Landes, Scott D

2010-01-01

This article correlates a particular experience of providing pastoral care for a person in a crisis situation with a particular understanding of the practice of pastoral care. Through engaging in correlative practical theology, it highlights the need for practicing discernment when providing pastoral care for persons utilizing narratives to work through crisis situations.

Crisis Management's New Role in Educational Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gainey, Barbara S.

2009-01-01

From natural disasters to the financial debacle, it is clear to the educational community that crises know no boundaries. Far from a passing fad, crisis planning must be an integrated part of effective school district leadership. Two studies explore the status of crisis management in selected public school systems and offer recommendations for…

Financial Crisis Management in Higher Education: Responses by 20 Private Colleges and Universities to the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dorantes, Andrew R.; Low, Justin R.

2016-01-01

As a result of the Great Recession, higher education in the United States suffered from the most significant financial crisis since the Great Depression (Breneman 2008; Zumeta 2010). This crisis affected all institutions of higher education since it challenged three major revenue sources: net tuition income, endowment income, and gift income…

Current Crisis in Science Education? Women in Science and Problems for the Behavioral Scientists. Some Perspectives of a Physicist.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dresselhaus, Mildred S.

A number of problems exist in society which require the cooperation of physical and social scientists. One of these problems is the current crisis in science education. There are several aspects to this problem, including the declining interest of students in math and science at a time when functioning in our society requires more, not less,…

Understanding readmission to psychiatric hospital in Australia from the service users' perspective: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Duhig, Michael; Gunasekara, Imani; Patterson, Sue

2017-01-01

Inpatient care is integral to balanced mental health systems, contributing to containment of risk associated with psychiatric crises and affording opportunities for treatment. However, psychiatric wards are not always safe and service users are often dissatisfied with the experience. Hence, and because inpatient care is the most costly component of mental health systems, minimising duration of admission and reducing risk of readmission are clinical and strategic priorities internationally. With (primarily quantitative) research to date focused on explaining readmission in terms of characteristics of individuals and services, understanding of the 'revolving door phenomenon' remains limited. Considering verstehen critical to addressing this messy problem, we examined readmission from the service users' perspective. Using grounded theory techniques, we inductively analysed data from interviews with 13 people readmitted to inpatient care within 28 days of discharge. Participants, including eight men, were recruited in 2013 from three psychiatric wards at a metropolitan hospital in Australia. Analysis supported description of readmission as a process, fundamentally related to insufficiency of internal, interpersonal and/or environmental resources to maintain community tenure. For the people in this study, admission to hospital was either the default coping mechanism or the culmination of counter-productive attempts to manage stressful circumstances. Readmission can appropriately be understood as one representation of a fundamental social malaise and the struggle of some people to survive in an apparently inhospitable world. The findings indicate that neither locating the 'problem of readmission' within an individual and promoting self-governance/self-control/self-regulation, nor identifying failures of specific services or sectors are likely to support the economic and ethical imperative of reducing psychiatric admissions. The findings of the study and limitations

Stress in crisis managers: evidence from self-report and psychophysiological assessments.

PubMed

Janka, A; Adler, C; Fischer, L; Perakakis, P; Guerra, P; Duschek, S

2015-12-01

Directing disaster operations represents a major professional challenge. Despite its importance to health and professional performance, research on stress in crisis management remains scarce. The present study aimed to investigate self-reported stress and psychophysiological stress responses in crisis managers. For this purpose, 30 crisis managers were compared with 30 managers from other disciplines, in terms of self-reported stress, health status and psychophysiological reactivity to crisis-related and non-specific visual and acoustic aversive stimuli and cognitive challenge. Crisis managers reported lower stress levels, a more positive strain-recuperation-balance, greater social resources, reduced physical symptoms, as well as more physical exercise and less alcohol consumption. They exhibited diminished electrodermal and heart rate responses to crisis-related and non-specific stressors. The results indicate reduced stress and physical complaints, diminished psychophysiological stress reactivity, and a healthier life-style in crisis managers. Improved stress resistance may limit vulnerability to stress-related performance decline and facilitate preparedness for major incidents.

Restraining good practice: Reviewing evidence of the effects of restraint from the perspective of service users and mental health professionals in the United Kingdom (UK).

PubMed

Cusack, P; McAndrew, S; Cusack, F; Warne, T

2016-01-01

Safeguarding, balancing the concept of risk with the need for public protection and its implication for the lives of individuals, is an important facet of contemporary mental health care. Integral to safeguarding is the protection of human rights; the right to live free from torture, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and having the right to liberty, security, respect, and privacy. Professionals are required to recognise all of these rights when delivering care to vulnerable people. In the United Kingdom (UK) there has been growing public concern regarding abusive practices in institutions, with a number of unacceptable methods of restraint being identified as a feature of care, particularly in mental health care. In keeping with the service user movement, and following a review of the literature, this paper discusses the evidence regarding restraint from the perspectives of service users and professionals within mental health services and considers the implications for future practice and research. In reviewing the literature, findings revealed that restraint can be a form of abuse, it's inappropriate use often being a consequence of fear, neglect, and lack of using de-escalation techniques. Using restraint in this way can have negative implications for the well-being of service users and mental health professionals alike. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analyzing and Predicting User Participations in Online Health Communities: A Social Support Perspective

PubMed Central

Wang, Xi; Street, Nick

2017-01-01

Background Online health communities (OHCs) have become a major source of social support for people with health problems. Members of OHCs interact online with similar peers to seek, receive, and provide different types of social support, such as informational support, emotional support, and companionship. As active participations in an OHC are beneficial to both the OHC and its users, it is important to understand factors related to users’ participations and predict user churn for user retention efforts. Objective This study aimed to analyze OHC users’ Web-based interactions, reveal which types of social support activities are related to users’ participation, and predict whether and when a user will churn from the OHC. Methods We collected a large-scale dataset from a popular OHC for cancer survivors. We used text mining techniques to decide what kinds of social support each post contained. We illustrated how we built text classifiers for 5 different social support categories: seeking informational support (SIS), providing informational support (PIS), seeking emotional support (SES), providing emotional support (PES), and companionship (COM). We conducted survival analysis to identify types of social support related to users’ continued participation. Using supervised machine learning methods, we developed a predictive model for user churn. Results Users’ behaviors to PIS, SES, and COM had hazard ratios significantly lower than 1 (0.948, 0.972, and 0.919, respectively) and were indicative of continued participations in the OHC. The churn prediction model based on social support activities offers accurate predictions on whether and when a user will leave the OHC. Conclusions Detecting different types of social support activities via text mining contributes to better understanding and prediction of users’ participations in an OHC. The outcome of this study can help the management and design of a sustainable OHC via more proactive and effective user

Development of a mental health smartphone app: perspectives of mental health service users.

PubMed

Goodwin, John; Cummins, John; Behan, Laura; O'Brien, Sinead M

2016-10-01

Current mental health policy emphasises the importance of service user involvement in the delivery of care. Information Technology can have an effect on quality and efficiency of care. The aim of this study is to gain the viewpoint of service users from a local mental health service in developing a mental health app. A qualitative descriptive approach was used. Eight volunteers aged 18-49 years were interviewed with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire. Interviewees defined a good app by its ease of use. Common themes included availability of contact information, identifying triggers, the ability to rate mood/anxiety levels on a scale, guided relaxation techniques, and the option to personalise the app. The researchers will aim to produce an app that is easily accessible, highly personalisable and will include functions highlighted as important (i.e. contact information, etc.). This research will assist in the development of an easy-to-use app that could increase access to services, and allow service users to take an active role in their care. In previous studies, apps were developed without the involvement of service users. This study recognises the important role of service users in this area.

Guide of Hypertensive Crisis Pharmacotherapy.

PubMed

Wani-Parekh, Priyanka; Blanco-Garcia, Carlos; Mendez, Melissa; Mukherjee, Debabrata

2017-01-01

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the number one cause of death globally compared to any other cause. CVD accounts for approximately 17.3 million deaths per year and are rising. Hypertension is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Approximately, 80 million people suffer from hypertension in the U.S. While, majority of these individuals are on antihypertensive medications only 54% of individuals with hypertension are optimally controlled. Heart failure and stroke are some of the devastating complications of uncontrolled hypertension. Hypertensive crisis can be classified as either an urgency or emergency; difference between the two is the presence of end organ damage, which is noted in hypertensive emergency. Hypertensive crisis is usually treated by parenteral antihypertensive medications. The main drug classes of drugs for treatment are nitrates, calcium channel blockers, dopamine-1 agonists, adrenergic-blocking agents etc. In this review, we discuss approach to management of hypertensive crisis and each drug class with its physiology and complications. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Capsaicin and arterial hypertensive crisis.

PubMed

Patanè, Salvatore; Marte, Filippo; La Rosa, Felice Carmelo; La Rocca, Roberto

2010-10-08

Chili peppers are rich in capsaicin. The potent vasodilator calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is stored in a population of C-fiber afferents that are sensitive to capsaicin. CGRP and peptides released from cardiac C fibers have a beneficial effect in myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. It has been reported that capsaicin pretreatment can deplete cardiac C-fiber peptide stores. Furthermore, it has also been reported that capsaicin-treated pigs have significantly increased mean arterial blood pressure compared with controls, and that the decrease in CGRP synthesis and release contributes to the elevated blood pressure. A case has also been reported of an arterial hypertensive crisis in a patient with a large ingestion of peppers and chili peppers the day before. We present a case of an arterial hypertensive crisis in a 19-year-old Italian man with an abundant ingestion of peppers and of chili peppers the preceding day. This case describes an unusual pattern of arterial hypertensive crisis due to capsaicin. Copyright © 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Foundation and Development of Local Trimble User Groups: Perspectives from the Beginning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duncan, Brean W.

1996-01-01

Trimble Navigation was one of the original contractors building military grade GPS receivers and has been a dominant manufacturer in the civilian market. Two Trimble user groups have been formed. By participating in GPS user groups, members become more aware of GPS capabilities and opportunities, meet people with similar interests and needs, expand business opportunities, and provide Trimble with valuable information needed to engineer better GPS equipment.

The Financial Crisis in the Community College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lombardi, John

The author examines the financial crisis in community colleges on a national scale in this first paper in a projected long-range study of this crucial topic. Economic causes contributing to the crisis include inflation, rising enrollments, and such labor-intensive aspects as spiraling labor and security costs, and increasing demands for funds by…

Data Policy and Availability Supporting Global Change Research, Development, and Decision-Making: An Information Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carroll, Bonnie C.; And Others

An explosion of information has created a crisis for today's information age. How to use the best information resources, tools, and technology must be determined. To do this, leadership must exist at the interagency level to promote a coherent information policy. It is also important to find ways to educate users of information regarding the tools…

Abortion misinformation from crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina.

PubMed

Bryant, Amy G; Levi, Erika E

2012-12-01

This study assessed the accuracy of medical information provided by crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina. We performed a secondary data analysis of a "secret shopper survey" performed by a nonprofit organization. Reports from phone calls and visits to crisis pregnancy centers were analyzed for quality and content of medical information provided. Web sites of crisis pregnancy centers in the state were also reviewed. Thirty-two crisis pregnancy centers were contacted. Nineteen of these were visited. Fourteen centers (44%) offered that they "provide counseling on abortion and its risks." Inaccurate information provided included a link between abortion and breast cancer (16%), infertility (26%) and mental health problems (26%). Of the 36 Web sites identified, 31 (86%) provided false or misleading information, including 26 sites (72%) linking abortion to "post-abortion stress." Many crisis pregnancy centers give inaccurate medical information regarding the risks of abortion. Overstating risks stigmatizes abortion, seeks to intimidate women and is unethical. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Rules of Engagement: Perspectives on Secure Messaging From Experienced Ambulatory Patient Portal Users

PubMed Central

Schnierle, Jeanette; Florian, Hannah; Agarwal, Aradhna; Rundell, Kristen; McAlearney, Ann Scheck

2017-01-01

Background Patient portals have shown promise in engaging individuals in self-management of chronic conditions by allowing patients to input and track health information and exchange secure electronic messages with their providers. Past studies have identified patient barriers to portal use including usability issues, low health literacy, and concerns about loss of personal contact as well as provider concerns such as increased time spent responding to messages. However, to date, studies of both patient and provider perspectives on portal use have focused on the pre-implementation or initial implementation phases and do not consider how these issues may change as patients and providers gain greater experience with portals. Objective Our study examined the following research question: Within primary care offices with high rates of patient-portal use, what do experienced physician and patient users of the ambulatory portal perceive as the benefits and challenges of portal use in general and secure messaging in particular? Methods This qualitative study involved 42 interviews with experienced physician and patient users of an ambulatory patient portal, Epic’s MyChart. Participants were recruited from the Department of Family Medicine at a large Academic Medical Center (AMC) and included providers and their patients, who had been diagnosed with at least one chronic condition. A total of 29 patients and 13 primary care physicians participated in the interviews. All interviews were conducted by telephone and followed a semistructured interview guide. Interviews were transcribed verbatim to permit rigorous qualitative analysis. Both inductive and deductive methods were used to code and analyze the data iteratively, paying particular attention to themes involving secure messaging. Results Experienced portal users discussed several emergent themes related to a need for greater clarity on when and how to use the secure messaging feature. Patient concerns included worry

Alcohol and the economic crisis in Argentina: recent findings.

PubMed

Munné, Myriam I

2005-12-01

In 2002 Argentina participated in the GENACIS project (Gender, Alcohol, and Culture: An International Study) as one of the countries funded by the World Health Organization. Four questions about the current economic crisis in Argentina were added to the original GENACIS questionnaire in order to find out the opinions of the general population in relation to alcohol and the economic crisis. Gender differences in the answers to these questions were examined. Logistic regression was used to identify demographic, drinking pattern and drinking problems variables related significantly to responses to the economic crisis questions. During the economic crisis people stopped or reduced going to bars and instead drank at home or at friends' homes. A large number of respondents also reported that people had changed to cheaper or lower-quality alcoholic drinks. Women were more likely to agree with statements that the economic crisis had increased 'escape' drinking and required reductions in money spent on alcohol; men were more likely to agree that the crisis had led to less drinking in bars and to the purchase of cheaper or lower-quality alcoholic beverages. Respondents who reported having significant others with drinking-related problems were more likely to endorse all four statements about effects of the economic crisis on drinking behaviour. A qualitative approach was used to discuss themes in the general comments that were recorded by the interviewers while collecting data. A strongly moralistic attitude towards alcohol was present in these comments, especially among women. The findings suggest that the economic crisis in Argentina led to major changes in patterns of drinking that differed according to gender roles and other demographic variables. The long-term effects of these changes remain to be determined as economic circumstances improve.

How Should the Financial Crisis Change How We Teach Economics?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shiller, Robert J.

2010-01-01

Student dissatisfaction with teaching of economics--particularly with macroeconomics--during the current financial crisis mirrors dissatisfaction that was expressed during the last big crisis, the Great Depression. Then and now, a good number of students have felt that their lectures bear little relation to the economic crisis raging outside the…

Considering Time-Dependency of Social Vulnerability in Crisis Modeling and Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aubrecht, C.; Steinnocher, K.; Freire, S.; Loibl, W.; Peters-Anders, J.; Ungar, J.

2012-04-01

and emergency management. The vulnerability of each relevant element at risk, including human beings and society in general and its time-dependent variation is characterized both by its pre-event status and by its possible evolution during a crisis. Particularly in metropolitan areas, the spatial distribution of population is highly time-dependent due to human activities and mobility. Identifying distinct day-/nighttime population distribution characteristics is a major improvement compared to standard residence-based models, but does however only display part of reality. New technologies and data processing capabilities allow moving into the field of real-time representation of human movement. The focus of this contribution will be on illustrating, through project examples and by putting it in an emergency and crisis management context, two main categories, (1) the mapping of cell phone user activity, and (2) the use of volunteered geographic information (VGI).

[Reinvestment in health: fundamentals, clarifications, experiences and perspectives].

PubMed

Campillo-Artero, Carlos; Bernal-Delgado, Enrique

2013-01-01

During the economic crisis, the pressure to reduce health services expenditure as an isolated measure is greater than measures intended to increase the efficiency of these services. Information, methods and experiences to improve health outcomes with limited resources are available and a number of countries have been applying measures to achieve this goal. One of these measures is disinvestment. Given that this tactic is necessary but also intricate, allergenic and confusing, this article tries to clarify its meaning, place it in its correct context, and describe the methods and criteria used to identify and prioritize candidate medical technologies for disinvestment. The experiences of Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy in this endeavor are reviewed, as well as the obstacles faced by these countries when disinvesting and their mid-term perspectives. Ignorance does not excuse its application, regardless of whether there is a crisis or not. Efforts to improve social efficiency are a permanent obligation of the national health system. Copyright © 2011 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Pathogens, prejudice, and politics: the role of the global health community in the European refugee crisis.

PubMed

Khan, Mishal S; Osei-Kofi, Anna; Omar, Abbas; Kirkbride, Hilary; Kessel, Anthony; Abbara, Aula; Heymann, David; Zumla, Alimuddin; Dar, Osman

2016-08-01

Involuntary migration is a crucially important global challenge from an economic, social, and public health perspective. The number of displaced people reached an unprecedented level in 2015, at a total of 60 million worldwide, with more than 1 million crossing into Europe in the past year alone. Migrants and refugees are often perceived to carry a higher load of infectious diseases, despite no systematic association. We propose three important contributions that the global health community can make to help address infectious disease risks and global health inequalities worldwide, with a particular focus on the refugee crisis in Europe. First, policy decisions should be based on a sound evidence base regarding health risks and burdens to health systems, rather than prejudice or unfounded fears. Second, for incoming refugees, we must focus on building inclusive, cost-effective health services to promote collective health security. Finally, alongside protracted conflicts, widening of health and socioeconomic inequalities between high-income and lower-income countries should be acknowledged as major drivers for the global refugee crisis, and fully considered in planning long-term solutions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Human Rights Crisis in Indian Country

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vigil, Chris

2015-01-01

There is a human rights crisis in Indian Country. This crisis--one of many--is the result of an almost universal lack of legal representation of Native people when they appear as defendants in tribal courts. The lack of lay advocates and attorneys representing Native defendants creates tremendous problems for tribal members who find themselves in…

The Leading Edge: Enduring a Campus Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moeser, James

2003-01-01

On June 2003, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) faced a frightening crisis when an employee was diagnosed with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). In this article, the author looks back and identifies four factors that enabled the university to navigate this crisis. These factors were: (1) leadership at every level; (2)…

The Philadelphia School District's Ongoing Financial Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caskey, John; Kuperberg, Mark

2014-01-01

This article describes the budget crisis that the School District of Philadelphia has faced for the past few years. Three specific events triggered the 2012 crisis: an abrupt reduction in federal and state funding, the inability of the district to cut many of its costs, and political pressures on the district to spend available revenues in a given…