Tools of the Serials Trade

Abstract

Trina Nolen reviews Rethinking Information Literacy; Elizabeth Parang, Fundamentals of Managing Reference Collections; Ann Roll reviews Building and Managing E-Book Collections; and Sarah Tusa reviews HR: A Human Resources Handbook for Academic Library Staff.     

The personalisation agenda: the case of the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme

As part of the international trend towards personalisation, in 2013 Australia launched a major disability scheme aiming to give participants greater choice and control over services. The scheme aims to cover a wide diversity of disabilities, services and significant geographical area – resulting in a highly complex system of local overlapping markets. At four years into implementation a range of challenges have emerged. In this paper we firstly describe the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme, then explore a range of implementation challenges it currently faces as a large-scale personalisation scheme. Based on these experiences we pose a range of questions for similar schemes internationally.     

Safety training: An overview of current needs

Abstract

This article considers the changing nature of the demands and pressures faced by today's training practitioner. It emphasizes that safety is no longer a matter of ‘tin hats, safety guards and first aid boxes’, and explores the problems created by new legislation and rapidly changing technology. It also points up the skills required by the safety practitioner in effectively dealing with his/her organization, and the constraints placed on them by social and economic factors. The article reviews the training implications of this developing scenario.     

“Unexpected and Distressing”: Understanding and Improving the Experience of Transferring Palliative Care Inpatients to Residential Care

The survival of patients with advanced cancer, coupled with the increased presence of end-stage chronic illnesses in an aging population, is leading to a demand in palliative care. Due to the ongoing need for acute-pain and symptom control in hospice/palliative care units, few are able to offer long-stay admission for those whose symptoms have stabilized. When a patient no longer requires specialist palliative care services, transfer from an inpatient palliative care facility may then be necessary. A core component of the role of palliative-care social workers involves working with patients and their families/carers when the care pathway shifts and the option of residential aged care facility (RACF) needs to be considered. This research explored several issues, including the impact of this transition on the patient and their families and on the interdisciplinary health care team treating the patient. An investigation was undertaken to identify concerns and barriers regarding the transition from hospice care to RACF and opportunities were highlighted to improve clinical practice in this area. A tripartite approach was adopted conducting face-to-face interviews with patients, their families/carers, and health care professionals. Members of the interdisciplinary team were interviewed and social workers working in similar inpatient palliative-care facilities undertook telephone interviews to gauge their experiences. A thematic analysis discerned a number of themes highlighting the impact of this transition on key stakeholders and incorporated recommendations to improve or best manage this process. The research has highlighted the difficulties that patients/families encounter in this transition, as well as the emphases of protecting the integrity of the patient and family. This is achieved by holding open and ongoing dialogue, particularly through family meetings and working in collaboration with the patient, the family, and the team. Understanding the experience and impact of this transition on key stakeholders is helpful in building up a knowledge base and to ensure a more effective relationship occurs. This research incorporated the voices of terminally ill patients, families, and members of the health care team in order to understand their views and recommendations for best managing the transition from a hospice/inpatient palliative-care facility to a RACF. This enables their input to have some real impetus in clinical practice and service delivery.     

State Responses to Alcohol Use and Pregnancy: Findings From the Alcohol Policy Information System

This article describes U.S. state policies related to alcohol use during pregnancy, using data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Alcohol Policy Information System. Specifically, this study examines trends in policies enacted by states over time and types of policies enacted across states in the United States, with a focus on whether laws were supportive or punitive toward women. Findings revealed substantial variability in characteristics of policies (19 primarily supportive, 12 primarily punitive, 12 with a mixed approach, and 8 with no policies). Findings underscore the need to examine possible consequences of policies, especially of punitive policies and “mixed” approaches.     

Uncertainty and Incest—Beyond True and False Commentary on Janice Haaken's Pillar of Salt

In this discussion of Pillar of Salt, I address the ambiguous location of truth within the false-memory controversy. Proposing a vision of traumatic history and knowledge as inherently confusional with regard to truth, I share with the author a repudiation of simple true-false dichotomies. Arguing for a new epistemological paradigm, I examine the nature of traumatic truth (and falsehood) and the way confusional history is manifest in this controversy.