Screening for patients with alcohol problems: severity of patients identified by the CAGE.

Primary care physicians are well situated to identify patients with substance abuse problems and motivate them to seek appropriate assistance, but active programs are the exception. A study in a community setting was undertaken to assess the CAGE (the first letters of key words in a series of four questions about drinking: cut down; annoyed; guilty; and eye-opener), instrument in the routine screening for alcohol problems in both new and established patients. The screening process identified subjects for a pilot evaluation of a motivational interview designed to encourage problem-solving behavior. This article focuses on the screening results and the use of the CAGE instrument. During June and July of 1990, 687 patients of two primary care physicians belonging to a large group practice were asked to complete a health questionnaire that included the CAGE. Those who responded affirmatively to at least two of the four CAGE questions were requested to participate in follow-up assessment of problems associated with alcohol and health. The type and severity of alcohol problems experienced by patients who scored positive on the CAGE are described. Prevalence of a positive score on the CAGE was 8.6 percent with males, smokers, and blue collar and unemployed persons being more likely to score positive. The positive predictive value was .68. Primarily, persons with moderate alcohol problems were identified. Results show that the CAGE instrument is a useful screening device for identifying those with mild to moderate substance abuse problems, increasing the opportunity for intervention prior to serious medical complications. The instrument is easily administered, and has demonstrated relatively high levels of sensitivity and specificity. When combined with assessment and motivational interviews, the CAGE shows promise in the secondary prevention of substance abuse and related health problems.     

Scholarly Communications Training: Professional Development for the Next Generation of Scholars

Abstract

Many campuses are seeing increased needs for support in scholarly communications areas such as open access, research identity management, scholarship metrics, and related topics. This article discusses a professional development program that addresses scholarly communications needs for online and in-person graduate students and faculty at UNC Greensboro (UNCG), through a collaborative, interdepartmental effort that brings together librarians from the departments of Research, Outreach, and Instruction (ROI) and Technical Services. The authors provide a brief overview of the literature related to scholarly communications needs and training in academic libraries and discuss the UNCG program’s inception, modules, format, assessment, and future directions.     

BP initial image repair strategies after the Deepwater Horizon spill

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded on April 20, 2010 off the coast of Louisiana, and the ensuing oil spill caused substantial economic and environmental damage to states on the U.S. Gulf Coast. British Petroleum received strong public criticism for its role in the disaster and quickly attempted image repair strategies. These strategies centered on describing what they were doing to correct the problem and compensate the victims, but did not include strategies such as shifting the blame to the other companies involved nor admitting their own blame. This study applies Benoit's work in Image Repair to a content analysis of the press releases from British Petroleum in the initial aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill. We also note the difficulty of using this theory to capture the nuances of responses.     

Postmodernization: A Phase We're Going Through? Management in Social Care

This paper considers the challenges facing managers of socialcare services in public sector organizations in the UK. Sometheorists might argue that these challenges are the manifestationof a new postmodern era. It is argued here, however, that societyis not fully postmodern: indeed modernity continues with someof its features (such as a concern with rationality and reason)heightened and intensified. Social trends associated with thistransitional phase of postmodernization have been highlightedin the literature and here they form the framework for discussingsocial care management today.     

Science-Based Trade Disputes: A New Challenge in Harmonizing the Evidentiary Systems of Law and Science

In November 2001, the University of Michigan hosted one of the first dialogues among international trade law scholars and scientists in the field of risk assessment with the goal of identifying critical areas of misunderstanding between the two fields. This article discusses key issues that need to be addressed in order to better harmonize the scientific and legal systems of evidence within the context of trade disputes and trade law and presents the recommendations that emerged from the Michigan meeting.     

Cultural Constructions: Contrasting Theories of Organizational Culture and Gender Construction

This article addresses the relationship of the theorizing of organizational culture and the theorizing of gender construction. It begins by recognizing some of the difficulties of defining and understanding what is meant by the contested concept of culture. Drawing on the work of Smircich (1983) and Linstead and Grafton-Small (1992), an attempt has been made to explore the theorization of organizational culture(s) in terms of the concepts of organizational culture as: responses to human needs, integration, rules, shared symbols and meanings, unconscious projection, text, otherness, paradox, seduction and discourse. The implications of each of the approaches for the understanding of gender in organizations are considered. No one theoretical approach is advocated, but rather the breadth of theoretical possibilities is explored. The article is concluded with the argument that theories of organizational culture need to be much more explicit about their theorizing of gender construction.     

Aging in black America: Service needs and utilization patterns

This paper profiles the findings of an analysis of the black elders in the Supplement on Aging to the 1984 National Health Interview Survey. This national survey offers insight into the prevalence rates of various health problems and limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) or instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Focusing on the 65 + sample of elders, older blacks report higher rates of chronic problems such as arthritis, hypertension, diabetes, and strokes than older whites, but are less likely to report cancer. Older blacks are more likely than older whites to experience three or more ADL limitations, and almost 14% had three or more IADL limitations. These findings are important in view of the trend toward determining multiple ADLs to determine eligibility for various in-home services. Since many of the problems experienced by black elders may be life-style related, an opportunity may exist for effective intervention with health promotion strategies.     

Academic Affiliations of Social Work Journal Article Authors from 1999–2003: A Productivity Analysis from the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

Following the protocols established by Ligon, Jackson, and Thyer (2007), author affiliations of 639 articles published in five UK social work journals between 1999 and 2003 were tabulated to generate a ranking of universities. Seventy-three universities published three or more articles. The findings are discussed in relation to the earlier article by Ligon et al. (2007) Ligon, J., Jackson, D. L. and Thyer, B. 2007. Academic affiliations of social work journal article authors from 1993–2003: A productivity analysis spanning 25 years of social work scholarship. Journal of Social Service Research, 33(2): 13–20. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]. It is argued that a globalized approach to the analysis of the productivity of social work academics should be developed. A first step might be the integration of the U.S. and UK productivity analysis for relevant years.