bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
European Health Care Costs
Authors: Gray Alastair M. 
Published: February 2007

The rising cost of health care in Western European countries is now seen by many governments as a problem, and attempts are being made to find a solution by introducing cost‐containment policies.The author begins by reviewing trends in health care expenditures, and examines some of the underlying reasons for the upward trend.He then considers some of the more important differences in the organization and financing of Western European health care systems, before surveying the different kinds of cost‐containment policies which are being, and could be, pursued.The conclusion is that present cost‐containment policies do not take sufficiently into account the underlying reasons for rising costs, and that the criteria for evaluating the success of these policies are inadequate. To be successful, the policies will have to be altered, and the objectives and means of evaluation reconsidered.
Discretion in Welfare Provision
Authors: Williams Rory 
Published: February 2007

While discretion has been studied in systems of distribution which are governed by rules, or in those where there is a crucial gatekeeper, there remain many informal and diffuse systems where little is known about the discretion used. An example is the allocation of community services. In such cases, a useful strategy is to analyze the informal rationing system along lines which are discussed, and by this means to identify as discretionary the cases which emerge as anomalous.Possibilities are outlined for comparing the amount of discretion used and its bias, in areas with different resource levels or degrees of regulation; and the paper concludes with a detailed illustration, drawn from an area study of community services for the elderly, of changes in the use of discretion with increasing pressure on resources.
Last Chance For The Last Refuge
Authors: Jack Raymond 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe theme of this article is the drastic reduction in residential care for the elderly which has met little opposition from within the health and social services despite the growing population of the very aged. The reasons for this professional compliance are examined and found to lie in a combination of mistaken confidence in community care policies and an uncritical acceptance of influential but largely outdated studies whose findings on the adverse effects of institutional care are seriously questioned by later research.
Working Together Apart
Authors: Macpherson Isobel , McKeganey Neil 
Published: February 2007

AbstractIn this paper we report upon the development and operation of a “street‐level” response to the problems of interprofessional joint working in providing appropriate care for elderly people living in one Scottish city. The “exchange system”, as it was known in the locale, was a mechanism for co‐ordinating the movement of elderly people between the geriatric, psychiatric, and residential services within the city in response to changes in the needs of the individual elderly person, and the needs of service providers. The importance of the scheme stemmed from the fact that it was not imposed on professionals' work, but rather that it developed out of that work.By focusing on the operation of interprofessional joint working at the street level we draw attention to those complexities involved in such work which are often overlooked in the broad policy statements on joint working which have emerged from government departments, and health and social services agencies. Policy makers and analysts alike have largely ignored the meaning and consequences of joint working at the level of professionals' actual work, and it is this lacuna in the literature that the paper seeks to address. The paper concludes with an appeal to researchers and practitioners to describe any such schemes of whatever nature operating in their own locales. In so doing a corpus of knowledge looking critically at the experience of interservice and interprofessional collaboration at the street level may emerge which would inform broad policy statements.
Rented Housing and Market Rents: A Social Policy Critique
Authors: Ivatts John 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe private rented sector of the British housing market has been in decline since the beginning of the present century; that decline has continued apace since the end of the Second World War. A proposed solution for the stemming of this demise is the removal of present rent controls and the substitution of free market conditions so that rents find their own market levels. This, so it is argued, would enable landlords to obtain a proper return on their housing investments and lead therefore to an increase in supply and an ending to the present disinvestment from this housing sector.This article disputes this thesis. In the first place it is argued that “market rent” is a problematic concept and raises complex issues of distributive justice and social policy — which its advocates ignore. Secondly, it is argued that a free market solution is ahistorical in that it takes no account of the past failure in Britain of privately rented housing; and similarly it ignores the complex web of historical circumstances behind its decline — attributing the decline to the single causal factor of rent control. Thirdly, it is suggested that a market solution is sociologically misconceived because it ignores the characteristics and needs of those social groups dependent upon this sector. Finally, on grounds of practicability it is proposed that a free market in rented housing may be quite inappropriate for the rump of housing stock remaining in the private rented sector; and that, given the current social and economic constraints operating in the housing market as a whole, any revival of this sector is unlikely even with enhanced rental inducements.It is thus concluded that a free market solution is misconceived and would merely serve to impose an ideological straightjacket upon the provision of a basic human need.
Judaism and Social Policy
Authors: Brick Yitzhak 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe article deals with the connection between Judaism on the one hand and social policy and the development of social services on the other. The article deals with those aspects of Judaism that are specifically related to the foundations of social policy: the nature of interpersonal relationships as well as the relationship between society as an all‐encompassing framework and the individual who is a part of that framework.
Religious belief and social policy: Part I
Authors: Peirce John 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe nature of religious belief is briefly examined and reference is made to specifically Christian religious belief. The practical expression of this is described as four responses under stereotypical allegorical animals. The difficulties of translating religious belief into practice are alluded to and a plea is entered for a fifth response that distils a number of values from a contemplation of society that will be of relevance to it.
Office of Economic Opportunity: U.S.A.
Authors: Paton C.R. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), was created at the height of Lyndon Johnson's “Great Society” anti‐poverty programmes. It represented a degree of radical activism that reached its culmination in the 89th Congress (1965‐66) and indeed has never been repeated: that Congress was perhaps the only genuinely left‐liberal one this century (outside the New Deal era, at any rate).The OEO's social policies were tied to a particular theory of public and social administration: that a “rival” federal agency to the existing ones (Health, Education and Welfare, now Health and Human Services; Housing, and Urban Development, et al) could escape their conservative norms. Both at the federal level and in the “field” agencies it spanned to implement its programmes, the new approach to social administration was to by‐pass traditional channels.This short, illustrative rather than definitive article, examines how such an approach was undermined by both the U.S. political structure and by traditional “politics as usual”. It is but a snapshot of the era. However, it hints at the general problems that such approaches to “by‐passing” traditional agencies and attempting to develop a new autonomy in social reform may have in many countries, especially those with decentralized political structures. For, while decentralized politics provides opportunities as well as barriers to reformers seeking to by‐pass traditional elites (which themselves tend to be decentralized, mirroring political structures), it is suggested here that the balance sheet will tend to be negative from the viewpoint of reformist social administration.
Medical Negligence and Resource Allocation in the NHS
Authors: Bowles Roger , Jones Philip 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe recent growth in medical malpractice claims and in awards for damages has created concern both amongst doctors and health administrators. Steps which have been taken by the Review Body on Doctors’and Dentists’Remuneration and policy now advocated by the BMA suggest a movement away from the current system of negligence and towards a stricter no‐fault system of liability. Under the current system, medical negligence occurs when doctors have not met the standards of treatment expected by reference to current professional standards. Under a no‐fault system patients would be entitled to compensation for losses which arise from treatment, irrespective of whether negligence had occurred; although the implication is that the amounts of compensation would necessarily be limited. While there are reasons to believe that financial difficulties for doctors and pressures on NHS budgets may be ameliorated by a no‐fault system, there are other criteria against which the current system of negligence should be judged. This article attempts to provide a framework within which a negligence system may be assessed. In particular, attention is drawn to the educative role of a negligence system and to the provision of information which may improve decisions on resource allocation. A critique of the current system of medical negligence in the UK suggests that a package of reforms to improve the system would be better than further movements towards non‐market solutions.
The “Exceptional”United States: First New Nation or Last Welfare State?
Authors: Pierson Christopher 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThe author discusses the American welfare state in the context of Lash and Urry's thesis on ‘disorganized capitalism’. Attention is directed to the claim that the US welfare state has been the laggard of organized capitalism but is becoming the pathbreaker in defining patterns of public welfare provision under an increasingly disorganized capitalism. In this context the US may be “showing the way” to the welfare states of Western Europe. A number of claims about the “exceptional” nature of US development are reviewed and a number of reservations are entered against the “disorganization” thesis as applied to the welfare state. It is suggested that attention should be focussed upon contemporary patterns of welfare state re‐organization rather than dis‐organization.
Developing Models for Day Services
Authors: Shaw Ian , Williamson Howard , Parry‐Langdon Nina 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThis paper reports an evaluation of a rural activity project for people with learning difficulties. The project is situated in (but not a regular part of) an agriculture college. Both statutory and voluntary interests are represented in the management of the scheme, which is funded by the All Wales Strategy for the Mentally Handicapped through the local authority.Despite the widespread presence of ideas about normalization and carer participation, key stakeholders in the project appeared to draw on various aspects of three different models in describing, assessing and participating in the work of the scheme: a training for work model, a personal and social growth model, and an education for life model.We explore the question of whether such contrasting views can be tolerated in a single project, and their implications for policy and practice decisions. Each model has its distinctive consequences for project aims, selection, programme planning, staffing requirements, future development objectives and desirable project outcomes. The debate has implications for the way in which policies of normalization are operationalized in and beyond the field of learning difficulties.
Collective Decision‐Making: the Analytic Hierarchy Process
Authors: Rabinowitz Jonathan 
Published: February 2007

AbstractAnalytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a method to improve decision making whose application here is to complex environments. “A.H.P.” involves structuring a decision into a hierarchy, determining relative priorities for the elements in the hierarchy, and combining the numbers into overall weights estimating each decision outcome. The need for decision aids such as AHP, is supported by the literature, which suggests that even experts can contend with only limited amounts of information and tend to arrive at decisions in a simple fashion. AHP allows for using more information to make decisions in more complex ways. This leads to more coherent decisions. In the case presented AHP helped a committee make resource allocation decisions in an urban renewal project in Israel. The example highlights the usefulness of AHP in group settings. Areas of disagreement were easily identified and discussed. This diffused much of the tension typical of these proceedings.
Needs as Claims
Authors: Spicker Paul 
Published: February 2007

AbstractPeople “need” things if they will suffer negative effects without them. Needs are based in problems, but they are not only problems; they have to be understood in terms of a relationship between functional problems and resources. Needs are a form of claim made against services.The concept of “need” is not decisive in the allocation of resources, and this paper argues that the concept has to be understood as a form of claim‐language. Once needs are understood in terms of claims, many of the apparent difficulties in conceptualizing the issues dissolve; the main conflicts are between different types of claims, rather than contested definitions of need. Similarly, the establishment of priorities between greater and lesser needs depends on the strength of the claim which the needs present, and the context in which services operate, rather than on intrinsic comparisons between different levels of need.It follows that need is often not the sole, or even the primary, determinant of the legitimacy of a claim. Greater needs only have priority over lesser ones if they also constitute a claim of a different, and stronger, kind.
The Criminal Justice System and the Politics of Scrutiny
Authors: Spencer Jon 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe criminal justice system remains largely untouched by over a decade of scrutiny and restructuring of public services by consecutive Conservative administrations. This is despite the system's lack of accountability, absence of clear objectives, prolific unfettered spending patterns, and discrepancies in its treatment of suspects and offenders at all stages of the prosecution process as witnessed by regular and embarrassing “mishaps”.This paper explains the apparent contradictions in the New Right's social policy agenda showing how the overtly Thatcheritepolicies of “law and order” with its own brand of moral authoritarianism continues to immunize and protect the professional players on the criminal justice stage from the policies of scrutiny and consequent change. Ironically, it is argued, criminal justice and penal policy is one area of social policy where the machinery of appraisal, audit and management by objectives would be highly beneficial.Paul Wilding provided stimulating and helpful comments on the first draft of this paper and Howard Parker helped me to keep the contradictions of the system as the theme of the paper.
Implications of Subsidiarity for the Care of Older People in Germany
Authors: Tester Susan 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThis paper examines definitions and origins of the principle of subsidiarity and its application to welfare systems of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with particular reference to the care of older people. The German corporatist welfare system is influenced by conservative views about status relations and Catholic teachings on family responsibilities. Since unification of Germany in 1990 new care systems based on the principle of subsidiarity have been imposed in eastern Germany. The FRG's social insurance system based on entitlement benefits those fully employed, while women and marginalized groups with low status in the labour market are poorly covered by insurance and may have to rely on stigmatizing means‐tested social welfare based on subsidiarity. Access to pluralist, fragmented care services depends on eligibility for funding through insurance or social welfare or else on ability to pay. Social care is poorly developed because of the emphasis on insurance and the medical model as well as on the principles of subsidiarity and self help which place an explicit duty on the family, mainly women, to care.
The Burden of Risk: Who Dies Because of Cars?
Authors: Erskine Angus 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThis article argues that those interested in social policy should by definition be interested in issues of transport policy. It analyses data on road traffic fatalities and suggests, in the light of this evidence, that those who benefit least from the motor vehicle seem disproportionately likely, given their relative exposure to the risk, to die in road traffic accidents.
COMPUTER IDENTIFICATION AND MEASURMENT OF CARDIAC CYCLIC ACITVITY
Authors: Welford Norman T. , Lacey Beatrice C. , Peckham Cyril 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTHeart rate was recorded on a SETAR (Serial Event Timer and Recorder) This gave a digital reading on punched paper tape for each R‐R interval. A computer program for the analysis of cyclic cardiac activity, which identifies the troughs and peaks in a series of heart beats, is described. These readings are cast into frequency distributions, as are differences between successive troughs and peaks, both in terms of amplitude and elapsed time.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE VARIABILITY IN REPEATED IN PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS IN TRANQUILIZED MENTAL PATIENTS
Authors: Acker Charles W. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThis study was undertaken to determine those changes which take place in a number of psychophysiological measures as a function of time and repetition of experimental sessions.Eight male chronic schizophrenic patients served as subjects. They were seen twice weekly for a total of 12 30‐min sessions, during which continuous polygraph recordings and blood pressures at 3‐min intervals were obtained. Variables analyzed for this study were blood pressure, heart and respiration rates, skin conductance, finger pulse volume, and muscle tension. The data were treated by analysis of variance for between‐session (days) and within‐session (intervals) effects.The hypothesis of decreasing activation was sustained only for heart rate. No other variable showed systematic changes associated with successive test sessions.Auxiliary data suggests that the variables which reflect adaptation effects depend upon the laboratory, subject population, and frequency of measurement. It is concluded that except for the particular variable which shows a session‐to‐session adaptation effect, individual variability and measurement error remain as the major sources of test‐retest unreliability in the variables and population studied.
AN INSTRUMENT FOR SIGNALING HEART RATE TO I NRESTRAINED HUM AN SUBJECIS
Authors: Brown Clinton C. , Thorne Philip R. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThe circuit described represents a relatively simple and economical solution to the problem of presenting to the human S his heart rate data in the form of an auditory signal. The requirements of portability, low cost, and long‐term unattended operation have been met. In addition, portions of the circuit have additional uses in the general area of psychophysiological instrumentation.
ON THE SCORING OF HEART RATE: REPLY TO CRITICISMS
Authors: Galbrecht Charles R. , Dykman Roscoe A. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTLang and Hnatiow, who derived a measure of heart rate (HR) response different from that employed by Dykman, Reese, Galbrecht, and Thomasson, reported better evidence of HR adaptation to serially presented tones than did Dykman et al. The former authors found no habituation when Dykman's procedure for scoring HR responses was applied to their data. When Dykman's HR records were rescored by Lang's method, both measures yielded adaptation curves.McDonald, Johnson, and Hord, who employed a measure of HR response similar to that of Lang and Hnatiow, noted that alert Ss adapted in HR, while drowsy (by electroencephalogram (EEG) activity) Ss failed to adapt. They said that HR adaptation results of Dykman et al. may have been influenced by inadequate control for arousal level of Ss. However, the most drowsy Ss (judged by behavioral notes) in Dykman's study provided good evidence of HR adaptation by both McDonald's and Dykman's measures.These discrepancies in results are believed to depend mainly upon differences in experimental procedures rather than upon methods of scoring or arousal level.
PHYSIOLOGICAL CONCOMITANTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION
Authors: Courter R.J. , Wattenomaker R.A. , Ax A. F. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTThirty‐two male college students who scored above 50 (standard score) on the Closure Flexibility (CF) test were designated field independent (FI), and eight who scored below 50 were designated field dependent (FD). It was found that FI subjects were able to discriminate between the conditioned tone (CS) and the un‐reinforced generalization tones by the amplitude of their GSR significantly better (p < 0.01) than were FD persons. Although it cannot be asserted with certainty that this relationship is dependent on the autonomic response system, there is tentative support for this position. It seems probable that even the FD subjects could distinguish between the two most different pitched tones; yet they failed to make this distinction by their GSR responses. This lack of differentiation by the FD subject appears to be a function of a less well‐differentiated autonomic nervous system. This study demonstrates that the stimulus generalization gradient involves an interaction between the cognitive style of the organism and the impinging stimuli, not merely the quantitative physical characteristics of the stimuli.
A RE‐ANALYSIS OF GSR CONDITIONING
Authors: Mcdonald David G. , Johnson Laverne C. 
Published: February 2007

ABSTRACTLockhart and Grings (1963) have suggested that a previous analysis of galvanic skin response (GSR) conditioning by Stewart, Stern, Winokur, and Fredman (1961) failed to establish its major point since it neglected to include a pseudoconditioning control for sensitization effects. In the present paper an experiment is reported in which this control was included, and it was found that the initial report of Stewart et al. was supported. That is, there was significant evidence of a conditional anticipatory GSR which was not due to sensitization effects.