Mismatch of school desks and chairs by ethnicity and grade level in middle school

The purpose of this article is to introduce the cross-disciplinary competency standards for work-related assessments, why they are needed and how they have been developed in New South Wales (NSW). Cross-disciplinary competency standards communicate the benchmarks for effective performance of work-related assessments. They outline what is expected of rehabilitation professionals, including the ability to apply and transfer competence across different conditions and workplace contexts. Outcomes in occupational rehabilitation are affected by the efficacy of the work-related assessments performed, which is dependent upon competent, clinical decision-making by rehabilitation professionals. However, in Australia, work-related assessment practice is not governed by universally accepted competency standards or by any competency-based training/education and assessment system. To enhance professional practice, WorkCover NSW has developed cross-disciplinary competency standards for work-related a ssessments. The competencies provide (i) quality standards for professional workplace training and development, (ii) benchmarks for assessing the competence of rehabilitation professionals, (iii) a framework for evidence-based practice, (iv) benchmarks for measuring service quality and (v) "real world" learning outcomes and assessment criteria for professional education programs.     

Mitigating the tithonus error: genetic analysis of mortality phenotypes

Summarizing an organism's age at death in terms of the mean or maximum life-span is the most popular way to describe genetic effects on aging. In this Perspective, the author describes a new study with the fly Drosophila melanogaster, in which another type of measure is also used: the age-dependent risk of death, or age-specific mortality. Changes in age-specific mortality reflect the underlying physiological deterioration of an organism as it ages. Thus, the author argues that these changes provide a phenotype that is ideal for the genetic analysis of aging.     

True patient safety begins at the top. Leaders at one large health system rally around safety,avoid blame game

Making patient safety the No. 1 priority at a hospital or clinic sounds like a easy task. It isn't. At one Oklahoma health system, an improved patient safety program is a massive effort requiring input and participation from every member of the staff. Figuring out how to convince employees that patient safety is their first priority means developing an extensive communication and education program.     

How parental drug use and drug treatment compliance relate to family reunification

This study uses Cox regression to assess the relationships among parental drug use, drug treatment compliance, and reunification from substitute care. The study finds that drug treatment compliance is associated with faster reunification, even when accounting for ongoing drug use and three parenting measures. The findings are consistent with a conceptual framework suggesting that certain client actions, such as drug treatment compliance, may serve as markers that substantially affect client outcomes.     

Think they're drunk? Alcohol servers and the identification of intoxication

Despite alcohol server training programs and legal liability aimed at controlling intoxication, server intervention appears to be rare. Given the difficulty in assessing intoxication, it can be assumed that improvement in assessment skills would increase the likelihood of intervention. Unfortunately, little is known regarding practices servers use to identify intoxication. In order to build a more informed base for policy formation and server training, the focus of this inquiry was to examine practices used by servers to assess intoxication. The analysis was based upon questionnaires mailed to a random probability sample of licensed servers from one state (N = 822). Indicators found to be most important were examined in relation to a variety of occupational characteristics. Implications for training curricula, policy formation, and future research are discussed.     

Providers' perceptions of how rural consumers access and use mental health services

This article describes the third phase of a research study undertaken within a Canadian provincial regional health authority to explore and analyze mental health services and other resources used by rural consumers after discharge from inpatient mental health programs. The focus of this article is the qualitative research findings obtained from mental health service providers and members of allied agencies. This article will discuss the literature on rural consumers' access and use of mental health programs and services; describe the context and method used to conduct the focus groups with rural service providers; characterize access and use problems from the service providers' perspectives; and suggest strategies to address these problems.