Siblings of People with Disabilities’ Explicit and Implicit Disability Attitude Divergence

Siblings of people with disabilities have more exposure to people with disabilities than most nondisabled people, uniquely positioning them toward disability, yet less is known about how this might impact their attitudes. This study examined siblings’ disability attitudes by determining siblings’ explicit and implicit disability bias, mapping their 2-dimensional prejudice, and examining theoretical variables that might be relevant to their attitudes. To do so, the Disability Attitudes Implicit Association Test, the Symbolic Ableism Scale, and survey questions were administered to 48 siblings. Findings revealed the majority of the siblings implicitly preferred nondisabled people, despite reporting low levels of explicit attitudes.     

The role of federal regulations in assuring research integrity

The federal government has a proper interest in research integrity. Regulations have had effects on scientists and institutions; some appear to have been beneficial, such as recent educational efforts; others have augmented bureaucracy and sowed divisiveness. The federal oversight bureaucracy should be subject to the sunset provision.

Participation by the community is essential to the development of effective regulations, but ethical issues should be dealt with by professional standards, not laws. It is argued that the scientific community had begun to respond to public concerns when change was accelerated by regulation, and that change from within is most effective.     

Longitudinal Prevalence and Correlates of Elder Mistreatment Among Older Adults Receiving Home Visiting Nursing

The objectives of this study were to identify elder mistreatment (EM) prevalence among a cohort of older adults receiving visiting nurse care in their homes, determine EM subtypes, and identify factors associated with EM. EM data were collected by nurses during monthly home visits for up to 24 months. It took the nurses a mean of 10.5 visits to discern EM. Fifty-four (7.4%) of 724 patients were identified as mistreated, of which 33 had enough information to subtype the EM. Of these 33, 27 were victims of neglect, 16 of psychological abuse, and 10 of financial exploitation, and 17 suffered more than one type. Among the entire sample, 11 variables were positively correlated with EM presence. Nurses visiting older adults in their homes should be aware that their patients are, as a group, vulnerable to EM, and that the factors identified here may be specific markers of greater risk.     

The Effects of 'Transnationalism Reversed' in Venezuela: Assessing the impact of UN global conferences on the women's movement

The UN world women's conferences - in particular the two most recent ones, held in Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995) - have been celebrated as catalysts for the development of a transnational women's movement. But their achievements are less clear when examining their impacts on national organizing. Consideration of the effects of 'transnationalism reversed', or how transnational organizing affects national contexts, reveals that domestic conditions combine with global opportunities in ways that may be detrimental as well as productive for national women's movements. This article illustrates the effects of 'transnationalism reversed' using the case of Venezuela. Field research from national, regional, and transnational contexts (1994-1995) shows that the stage of the national movement, its sources of funding, and the politics of particular national administrations all interact with conference preparation, with quite different outcomes at different junctures.     

Differences in the locational attainment of immigrant and native-born households with children in New York City

In this paper we use a data set created especially for New York City to evaluate whether the locational attainment of households with children, as indicated by the context of the neighborhoods in which they live, varies by their immigrant status. In addition, we evaluate whether the relationship between immigrant status and neighborhood conditions varies by the householder's race/ethnicity. Overall, when compared with native-born households with children, immigrant households with children live in neighborhoods of lower quality, characterized by higher teenage fertility rates and higher percentages of students in local schools scoring below grade level in math and of persons receiving AFDC, but lower rates of juvenile detention. Further analyses, however, revealed that race/ethnicity is far more potent than immigrant status per se in predicting where households with children live.     

Importance of tobacco cessation services at higher education public institutions in Texas

While rates of tobacco use on university campuses rose over the past decade, little is known about what institutions are doing to address this rising concern. Health center directors at public institutions of higher education across the state of Texas were surveyed (n = 42) regarding the perceived importance of smoking cessation, prevalence of interventions on their campuses, and perceived success of intervening efforts. While most health center directors regarded smoking cessation as important, over half of the directors indicated that their sites did not offer tobacco cessation services of any kind. Furthermore, of those offering smoking cessation, most believed that their smoking cessation programs were only somewhat or not at all effective. Findings revealed that there is a noticeable gap between perceived importance and actual implementation of smoking cessation programs within university-based health centers. Recommendations include implementing innovative cessation methods, such as those that are Web-based and highly accessible to students.     

Nonverbal Communication Between Patients and Medical Practitioners

Proper health care necessitates face-to-face interaction between health providers and their patients. This direct contact is important for two sets of reasons: the provider must assess the special quality and intensity of the patient's symptoms, emotions and pain; and the provider must create positive expectations, provide emotional support, and enlist the patient's cooperation with treatment. Regarding medical diagnosis, patients are often unable or unwilling to describe precisely and completely what is wrong with them. Regarding medical treatment, a number of factors make kind words and verbal prognoses from practitioners insufficient to communicate the expectations essential to "placebo" effects and the sense of commitment known to be therapeutic to a distraught patient. Effective nonverbal communication—through touch, facial expression, voice tone, etc.—is essential for successful patient-practitioner interaction. Major aspects of nonverbal communication that are of direct relevance to health care have been studied scientifically but have not yet been systematically utilized. Promising areas of application are reviewed in this paper.