Hitting and missing targets by ambulance services for emergency calls: effects of different systems of performance measurement within the UK

Summary.  Following devolution, differences developed between UK countries in systems of measuring performance against a common target that ambulance services ought to respond to 75% of calls for what may be immediately life threatening emergencies (category A calls) within 8 minutes. Only in England was this target integral to a ranking system of 'star rating', which inflicted reputational damage on services that failed to hit targets, and only in England has this target been met. In other countries, the target has been missed by such large margins that services would have been publicly reported as failing, if they had been covered by the English system of star ratings. The paper argues that this case-study adds to evidence from comparisons of different systems of hospital performance measurement that, to have an effect, these systems need to be designed to inflict reputational damage on those that have performed poorly; and it explores implications of this hypothesis. The paper also asks questions about the adequacy of systems of performance measurement of ambulance services in UK countries.     

INQUIRY METHOD,GOAL DIFFICULTY,AND CONTEXT EFFECTS ON PERFORMANCE

The decision-making in this study compares the performance of the dialectical inquiry (DI) and the devil's advocate (DA) techniques. In addition, the task was structured to include three levels of goal difficulty and three decision-making contexts. Over all contexts, there were no significant differences between the DI and DA methods. When the DI technique was employed, however, the context of the decision appeared to be an important factor. The goal-difficulty factor was associated with significant effects on decision quality only when individuals were divided according to their perceptions of goal relevancy and meaning. Finally, the order in which the contexts were considered was important.     

A comparison of soil organic carbon stocks between residential turf grass and native soil

A central principle in urban ecological theory implies that in urbanized landscapes anthropogenic drivers will dominate natural drivers in the control of soil organic carbon storage (SOC). To assess the effect of urban land-use change on the storage of SOC, we compared SOC stocks of turf grass and native cover types of two metropolitan areas (Baltimore, MD, and Denver, CO) representing climatologically distinct regions in the United States. We hypothesized that introducing turf grass and management will lead to higher SOC densities in the arid Denver area and lower densities in the mesic Baltimore area relative to native cover types. Moreover, differences between turf grass soils will be less than differences between the native soils of each metropolitan region. Within Baltimore, turf grass had almost a 2-fold higher SOC density at 0- to 1-m and 0- to 20-cm depths than in rural forest soils, whereas there were no differences with soils of urban forest remnants. Moreover, urban forest remnants had more than 70% higher SOC densities than rural forest soils. Within Denver, turf grass (>25 years of age) had more than 2-fold higher SOC densities than in shortgrass steppe soils, while having similar densities to Baltimore turf grass soils. By contrast, the native soils of Baltimore were almost 2-fold higher than the native steppe grass soils of Denver using SOC densities of remnant forests as representative of native soils in the Baltimore region. These results supported our hypothesis that turf grass systems will be similar in SOC densities across regional variations in climate, parent material, and topography. These similarities are apparently due to greater management efforts in the Denver region to offset the constraint of climate, i.e., anthropogenic factors (management supplements) overwhelmed native environmental factors that control SOC storage.     

The History and Status of Social Workers in the American Psychoanalytic Association

Historic changes within the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) in the 1980s eventually allowed social workers and other non-medical professionals to train in clinical psychoanalysis as regular “candidates”. The steps to work through organizational resistance to this change are traced. The present level of activity of those analysts who began as social workers is discussed, with numeric data showing expansion of involvement in training and organizational life. Analysts with a background in social work are beginning to make significant positive contributions to APsaA. There is a more rapid pace of inclusion of analysts from social work in the governance side of APsaA than the educational. The ultimate impact on the organization is difficult to anticipate.

General Outcome Measures for Verbal Operants

A general outcome measure (GOM) can be used to show progress towards a long-term goal. GOMs should sample domains of behavior across ages, be sensitive to change over time, be inexpensive and easy to use, and facilitate decision making. Skinner''s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior may benefit from the development of GOM. To develop GOM, we conducted a review of the literature on mands, tacts, echoics, and intraverbals. The four areas reviewed included (a) an examination of the participant''s response form (i.e., vocal or nonvocal), (b) the type of prompt used, (c) types of materials used, and (d) timing of responses or sessions. Based on the review of the literature, we developed GOM for mands and tacts. This paper attempts to bridge the concept of GOMs with Skinner''s analysis of verbal behavior.     

Finding erotic oases: locating the sites of men's same-sex anonymous sexual encounters

Because anonymous sexual relations between two men are widely considered deviant many men seeking such activities look to erotic oases-natural environments appropriated for covert, often furtive sexual purposes. Previous research on erotic oases has focused on characteristics of involved men and processes of locating, negotiating with, and consummating sexual relations with others. This study draws on one major Web site listing of "cruising places" in the United States to identify common locations for erotic oases. Results show that the most common locations identified as erotic oases by users are public parks, adult bookstores, health clubs, and college campuses. Locations most likely to be listed as believed to be under law enforcement surveillance are outdoor, high traffic locations. Based on these results existing research has only begun to examine the most common locations for this highly stigmatized, deviant behavior and subculture.     

Pet Dogs Benefit Owners’ Health: A ‘Natural Experiment’ in China

This paper reports results from a ‘natural experiment’ taking place in China on the impact of dogs on owners’ health. Previous Western research has reported modest health benefits, but results have remained controversial. In China pets were banned in urban areas until 1992. Since then dog ownership has grown quite rapidly in the major cities, especially among younger women. In these quasi-experimental conditions, we hypothesise that dog ownership will show greater health benefits than in the West. Results are given from a survey of women aged 25–40 in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (N = 3031). Half the respondents owned dogs and half did not. Owners reported better health-related outcomes. They exercised more frequently, slept better, had higher self-reported fitness and health, took fewer days off sick from work and were seen less by doctors. The concluding section indicates how these results may be integrated and suggests further research on the potential economic benefits of pets.