Preventing Elder Abuse and Neglect Through Advance Legal Planning

Recent trends in adult protective service literature and legislation reflect a growing interest in advance planning to prevent elder abuse and neglect. This article provides basic planning guidelines and discusses in general terms the most important legal planning documents: the living will, the durable power of attorney for health care, the durable power of attorney, and the last will and testament. It also presents in general terms potential legal, medical, and financial planning tools that may function as alternatives to guardianship. Both the benefits and limitation of these documents and tools are discussed.     

Influence of human immunodeficiency virus infection on neurological impairment: an analysis of longitudinal binary data with informative drop-out

A study to investigate the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status on the course of neurological impairment, conducted by the HIV Center at Columbia University, followed a cohort of HIV positive and negative gay men for 5 years and assessed the presence or absence of neurological impairment every 6 months. Almost half of the subjects dropped out before the end of the study for reasons that might have been related to the missing neurological data. We propose likelihood-based methods for analysing such binary longitudinal data under informative and non-informative drop-out. A transition model is assumed for the binary response, and several models for the drop-out processes are considered which are functions of the response variable (neurological impairment). The likelihood ratio test is used to compare models with informative and non-informative drop-out mechanisms. Using simulations, we investigate the percentage bias and mean-squared error (MSE) of the parameter estimates in the transition model under various assumptions for the drop-out. We find evidence for informative drop-out in the study, and we illustrate that the bias and MSE for the parameters of the transition model are not directly related to the observed drop-out or missing data rates. The effect of HIV status on the neurological impairment is found to be statistically significant under each of the models considered for the drop-out, although the regression coefficient may be biased in certain cases. The presence and relative magnitude of the bias depend on factors such as the probability of drop-out conditional on the presence of neurological impairment and the prevalence of neurological impairment in the population under study.     

大学生网络成瘾的原因及干预

介绍大学生网络成瘾的现状、危害及类型;揭示了大学生网络成瘾主要来自于抑郁的人格特质、不健康的应对方式、不和谐的家庭环境、存在人际交往障碍、逃避不够理想的现实、周围环境的不良影响等方面;并提出了一些相应的干预措施。     

再估“先锋”：对“存在”的颠覆——存在主义文学与中国先锋小说比较研究

从平行研究视角出发,中国先锋小说在接受存在主义文学思想影响下产生明显变异,具体表现为:存在主义文学和现实政治密切相关,持"介入观",是置身于真实中的虚构。先锋小说远离现实政治,从虚构中假想真实,"边缘性"特征突出;存在主义文学更多的是在"荒诞"中体现悲剧精神和人道情怀,先锋小说是通过"悲剧"来体现荒诞意识和死亡意识;存在主义文学因与现实的亲缘性关系而具有一定的渗透性、对话性特征,影响"跨世纪"。中国先锋小说是在中国现代化进程中产生的,个人性、独白性特征明显,只有"阶段性"影响,文学渐渐失去了轰动效应。     

中国家庭暴力研究评述

1995年世界妇女大会在中国召开后,家庭暴力作为社会问题在中国受到普遍关注。对近年来中国家庭暴力现象和问题的研究作简要的综述和评价,分析了家庭暴力的现状调查、口述研究、干预模式,介绍了社会学、医学、历史学等研究视角下的家庭暴力研究。中国的家庭暴力研究,从研究对象看,集中于婚姻维系期内的婚内暴力;从研究视角看,社会性别视角占主流地位;从预防和干预模式看,主要集中于对反家庭暴力项目的介绍、宣传和经验总结。虽然目前中国的家庭暴力研究已取得丰硕成果,但从研究视角、研究范畴等方面看,还有许多值得深入研究的课题,有待研究者进一步深化和发展。对家庭暴力研究成果的介绍,可为该领域的研究者提供资料的帮助和进一步研究的参考。     

企业社会工作——一个亟待专业介入的新领域

当前,开展企业社会工作具有迫切性,同时又面临着千载难逢的大好机遇。在构建和谐社会的背景下,加强专业介入应注意的问题是:合理选择直接介入方法,有效选取间接介入方法,坚持权变适应原则,实现介入方法创新。     

‘I’m not really sure but I hope it’s better’: early thoughts of parents and carers in a regional trial site for the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is one of the most significant initiatives in Australian social policy history. Its complexity has been compounded by a fast-paced introduction and ongoing refinement throughout the initial trial phase. Parents and carers of very young disabled children face particular challenges accessing and navigating NDIS systems. This article presents findings from a mixed-method pilot study examining the perspectives of parents and carers of disabled children in one NDIS trial site – the Hunter Region of New South Wales. The research highlights a number of policy assumptions potentially impacting on NDIS take up for young disabled children and their families in regional contexts. Based on research findings a number of policy suggestions and improvements for disabled children and their families entering the NDIS and other individualised funding schemes are outlined.     

“You’re a ‘high-risk’ customer”: A qualitative study of women’s experiences of receiving information from health professionals regarding health problems or complications in pregnancy

BackgroundExperiencing complications in pregnancy is stressful for women and can impact on fetal and maternal outcomes. Supportive encounters with health professionals can reduce the worry women experience. Further research is needed to understand women’s perspectives on communicating with their healthcare providers about their concerns.AimThis study explored women’s experiences of receiving information about pregnancy complications from healthcare providers and their interactions with multiple professionals and services during pregnancy.MethodsThis was a qualitative interpretive study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 women experiencing pregnancy complications recruited from antenatal services at two hospitals in Sydney. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.FindingsWomen had a range of reactions to their diagnoses, including concern for their baby, for themselves and for their labour. Most women reported that communication with healthcare providers was distressing, they were not listened to and staff used insensitive, abrupt language. Women were also distressed by delays in education, receiving contradictory information and having to repeatedly share their stories with different health professionals. In some cases, this damaged the therapeutic relationship and reduced trust towards healthcare providers. Midwives were generally preferred over doctors because they had a more woman-centred approach.ConclusionTo improve women’s experiences of care for pregnancy complications, it is critical to improve the communication skills of maternity service providers. Women’s need for information, resources and support can best be provided by continuity of care with a named health professional, for example, a midwife working within an integrated multidisciplinary antenatal service model.     

经济转型期构建和谐劳动关系的思考

我国进入经济转型期,同时也是社会矛盾凸显期。期间将面临就业方式多样化、经济全球化、城镇化以及经济结构调整等方面的环境变化,乃至于急剧变化。劳动关系作为基本的社会关系,其和谐稳定问题日益显示其重要性．应该从建设和谐社会的高度予以关注。本研究从分析当前的劳动关系状况特点以及面临的挑战入手,以寻求构建和谐劳动关系的战略对策。     

Effects of Outcome and Probabilistic Ambiguity on Managerial Choices

Information ambiguity is prevalent in organizations and likely influences management decisions. This study examines, given imprecise probabilities and outcomes, how managers make choices when they are provided with single-figure benchmarks. Seventy-nine MBA students completed two experiments. We found that, in a decision framed as a decision under certainty involving an ambiguous outcome, the majority of the subjects were ambiguity prone in the loss condition and switched to ambiguity aversion in the gain condition. However, in the presence of probabilistic ambiguity in a decision under risk, this expected switching pattern was shown only when the difference in riskiness between the two choice options (in the loss condition) was perceived to be relatively small. In a companion study, we used a written protocol approach to identify factors that affect decision makers' investment choices when faced with ambiguous outcomes. Protocols frequently mentioned that the ambiguous outcome option was risky, even in the case which was framed as a decision under certainty in the problem statement. In a decision under risk with ambiguous outcomes, the combination of probabilistic risk and outcome ambiguity was seen as even more risky.