Open Dialogue: Frequently Asked Questions

Open Dialogue is an approach to working with people and their families experiencing psychosocial distress. Interest in Open Dialogue in Australia has been growing recently, raising questions about its adaption and implementation to local contexts. This article is an attempt to answer some of the frequently asked questions we have encountered in training and discussions about Open Dialogue. We attempt to provide responses to questions of how Open Dialogue is different to what is done already, how it fits with current approaches, how you know if you are doing it, whether it is passive or just about doing reflections, issues about including the social network, and concerns about the evidence base. This article aims to present a variety of viewpoints in relation to these questions and to hopefully further discussions on how Open Dialogue can be implemented and adapted to Australian health care and social care contexts.     

Graphical representation of survival curves in the presence of time-dependent categorical covariates with application to liver transplantation

Graphical representation of survival curves is often used to illustrate associations between exposures and time-to-event outcomes. However, when exposures are time-dependent, calculation of survival probabilities is not straightforward. Our aim was to develop a method to estimate time-dependent survival probabilities and represent them graphically. Cox models with time-dependent indicators to represent state changes were fitted, and survival probabilities were plotted using pre-specified times of state changes. Time-varying hazard ratios for the state change were also explored. The method was applied to data from the Adult-to-Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation Cohort Study (A2ALL). Survival curves showing a ‘split’ at a pre-specified time t allow for the qualitative comparison of survival probabilities between patients with similar baseline covariates who do and do not experience a state change at time t. Time since state change interactions can be visually represented to reflect changing hazard ratios over time. A2ALL study results showed differences in survival probabilities among those who did not receive a transplant, received a living donor transplant, and received a deceased donor transplant. These graphical representations of survival curves with time-dependent indicators improve upon previous methods and allow for clinically meaningful interpretation.     

Agency and fatalism in older Appalachian women’s information seeking about gynecological cancer

Researchers consider older women in rural Appalachia to have low levels of agency and high levels of fatalism regarding decision making about cancer treatment. Using the life course perspective, we examined older women’s agency with information seeking about gynecological cancer. Semistructured interviews with 20 White women living in central Appalachia revealed four trajectories: Surrendering Control, Accepting Death, Self-Care, and Advocacy, each with its own forms of agency. Some women experienced personal transformation, increased self-efficacy, and a passion for community empowerment. Fatalism was not understood apart from placing trust in medical expertise. We implore researchers to further explore rural expressions of agency.     

Nutritional Status from 1 to 15 Years and Adolescent Learning for Boys and Girls in Ethiopia,India, Peru,and Vietnam

Population Research and Policy Review - There has been little examination of: (1) associations of early-life nutrition and adolescent cognitive skills, (2) if they vary by gender, (3) if...     

When Women Run Against Men

The electorate's reactions to women congressional candidatesare examined using both election returns and survey data. Whenparty and incumbency are controlled candidate sex alone is foundto have little or no effect on election outcomes. A curiousinteraction is found between candidate sex and party, however.This is attributed to nomination patterns     

Developmental Correlates of Family Size: A Report from the National Child Development Study

Summary This paper presents findings from tbe National Child DevelopmentStudy which examine the relationship between size of familyand school attainment, adjustment and height at the age of eleven.This relationship is shown to be a strong one, and alternativeexplanations for its existence are considered