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In order to understand and take action in complex health and environmental issues, we intend to analyse the conditions that are needed for those at risk to participate in research and intervention projects. In this study, we describe and discuss an action research experience carried out with an indigenous community in the Brazilian Amazon that suffers from serious sanitary problems, where cultural aspects in the relationship with the environment and health are particularly relevant. Different types of tools were deployed and combined and were subsequently classified according to their dialectic efficacy and ability to both conduct and steer the research and encourage the participation of social actors within a process of feedback. Even tools that were considered to be non-dialectic proved to be important sources of feedback. We present a research flow as a model of analysis and a framework for implementing action research, in which challenges to the participation of social actors are classified according to their priority through a critical review of the methodology developed. These challenges are social mobilization, co-operation, appropriation and a proactive stance. We conclude that a cyclic combination of dialectic and non-dialectic tools can increase participation, which though difficult to achieve is nevertheless necessary. During the development of this process, social mobilization is a prerequisite, whereas a proactive stance, the highest level of participation, requires continuous effort and the successive deployment of a variety of tools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective. We tested the Analytical Hierarchy Process tool for its use in public health to identify potential gaps in emergency preparedness by local health departments (LHDs) in California and Hawaii during a radiological emergency. Methods. We developed a dedicated tool called All-Hazards Preparedness Squared (AHP2) that can be used by those who are responsible for all-hazards preparedness planning and response to guide them while making strategic decisions both in preparing for and responding to a slow-moving incident while it is unfolding. The tool is an Internet-based survey that can be distributed among teams responsible for emergency preparedness and response. Twenty-eight participants from 16 LHDs in California and Hawaii responsible for coordinating preparedness and response in a radiological emergency participated in using the tool in 2013. We used the data to compare the perceived importance of different elements of preparedness among participants and identify gaps in preparedness of their organizations for meeting the challenges presented by a radiological incident. Results. Clarity of information and transfer of information (to and from agency to public, state, and federal partners) were public health officials’ dominant concerns while responding to an emergency. Participants also found that there were gaps in the adequacy of training and awareness of the chain of command during a radiological emergency. Conclusion. This preliminary study indicates that the AHP2 tool could be used for decision making in all-hazards preparedness planning and response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-methodology research examines the interdisciplinary community collaborative (ICC) experiences of 50 participants from six professions: law, social work, psychology, public health, nursing, and medicine. They came together for 1 of 2 intensive days of structured dialogue and collaborative problem-solving around a common case scenario, in both mono- and multidisciplinary groups. The main purpose of this study is to explore the similarities and differences in how this group viewed their interdisciplinary collaborative experiences. This article features the quantitative and qualitative data from a self-administered questionnaire to the participants about their perspectives on their experiences after the structured dialogue day. The article presents: (a) the mapping of the professions with whom they have collaborated, (b) their perceptions of the positive and negative experiences about those collaborations, (c) their self-reported familiarity with and their perception of the leadership roles of the specific six disciplines, and (d) their perceptions about the strengths and limitations of their own profession’s ability to collaborate with other disciplines. It includes their reflections on the day’s experience. The main findings were: (a) Participants reflected their profession’s codes of ethics in valuing, learning from, and contributing to ICC activities, (b) participants understood the complexities and contradictions of ICC endeavors, and (c) participants identified professional determinants of ICC that positively and negatively affect ICC. The article concludes with recommendations about future directions for research and practice on interdisciplinary community collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clients come to psychotherapy because they have difficult and stressful problems that they are unable to resolve on their own. Advances in the applied problem-solving literature can now inform clinical interventions. This article focuses on the most commonly used problem-solving assessment tool, the Problem-Solving Inventory (PSI); empirical findings from well over 120 studies are used to inform clinical practice. The article will first discuss the PSI, what it measures, and then summarize the empirical research findings most relevant for clinical interventions. Second, based on the PSI empirical research, therapeutic and preventative implications will be discussed with clinical illustrations. The article concludes with a number of implications for psychotherapy both in terms of remedial and preventative interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: The client-therapist relationship has long been viewed as important for both the process and outcomes of occupational therapy. The recently developed Intentional Relationship Model introduced six therapeutic modes as different ways of relating to clients. Increasing students' awareness of modes, and increasing their skills in using them flexibly, has the potential of improving their subsequent practice as occupational therapists. This article aims to describe occupational therapy students' affiliation with the therapeutic modes in a variety of hypothesized practice situations. In addition, relationships between the students' affiliation with the different modes are explored. Method: The study had a cross-sectional design. Data were collected from 31 occupational therapy students in Norway, using the Self-Assessment of Modes Questionnaire. Descriptive analyses, repeated measures ANOVA tests, and correlation analyses were employed in the analytic procedures. Findings: The students identified the problem-solving mode to be their most preferred way of relating to clients, whereas the advocating mode was the least preferred. High affiliation with the problem-solving mode was significantly associated with low affiliation with the collaborating mode. Conclusion: Several limitations indicate that caution should be taken when comparing this study with previous research. Nonetheless, differences between the results of this study and previous work on the therapeutic modes are of interest. Possible explanations for differences are discussed, as are implications for practice and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the current vignette study was to examine how social workers assess adolescents with substance misuse problems, criminal behaviour and mental health difficulties, and how they make decisions about treatment interventions to reduce these problems. Earlier research has shown lack of knowledge concerning factors and processes that govern assessments and decisions in social work practice. In this anonymously administered survey, social workers in Stockholm, Sweden, were invited to assess fictitious youth issues. We found that social workers recognise the problems and needs of young people, but that they find it harder to link needs to evidence-based interventions. Also, there is a tendency to overrate alleged non-serious problems in the vignettes. We conclude that there is a need for increased knowledge about evidence-based methods and more structured procedures to broaden the basis for decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barbados, at the start of the 1990s, was a society in conflict and crisis. It was to witness its largest ever demonstrations, rising fiscal deficits, increased foreign borrowing and general disenchantment with the government and -supported austerity measures. The Barbados that emerged from this crisis has moved past its Caribbean neighbours, becoming the most developed country in the region and placing highly among international development indicators. What marked this nation apart from others in the region has been its specific form of governance and approach to addressing the crisis. This paper investigates this form of governance and its place in helping the country to overcome the turbulence of the early 1990s. It demonstrates the role of collaborative governance as a tool for conflict management and consensus building in times of crisis. It also shows how and under what conditions, groups can collaborate to elevate national interests above the sectional. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study which confirmed that the use of APJ for proper assessment of human error in the Electric Power Company of Serbia (hereinafter EPS). The proposal methodological framework was used for human error identification and quantification in the case of a repair intervention on a steel lattice tower 10/0.4 kV (jurisdiction of an EPS subsidiary ED 'Jugoistok', Nis, Serbia) which resulted in an accident with a fatal outcome. One of the aims of this study is to show the necessity of human error assessment not only in manufacturing industries but, as it will be shown in this paper, in companies that distribute electric energy, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Experiences of teaching under-graduate students and training industrial engineers on how to think creatively in problem solving are reported. The contents are based on the TRIZ methodology but have been further reorganized and unified into USIT (Unified Structured Inventive Thinking) for easier to learn and apply. Case studies, published by engineers in technologies and obtained by students for everyday-life problems, are found useful in both teaching/training situations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]