Karen Ainsworth and Cliff Richardson
The purpose of this paper is to explore multidisciplinary attitudes and environmental factors affecting dementia care in the Cardiac Catheter Laboratory (CCL).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore multidisciplinary attitudes and environmental factors affecting dementia care in the Cardiac Catheter Laboratory (CCL).
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires (n=87) were distributed in a hospital CCL in the North of England. The authors utilised the Dementia Attitudes Scale which incorporates two subscales: Social Comfort and Dementia Knowledge. In addition, a newly devised questionnaire asking about perceptions of how the CCL environment affected care of patients with dementia was added.
Findings
The response rate was 71 per cent (n=62). Years’ experience in the CCL was associated with lower Social Comfort scores (p=0.026). Dementia training was associated with higher mean Dementia Attitudes Scale and Social Comfort scores (p=0.021, p=0.007). Participants who had undertaken “Professional studies” had higher Dementia Attitudes Scale and Dementia Knowledge mean scores (p=0.038, p=0.046) but “On-the-job” training was perceived as most beneficial (32 per cent, n=20). Unit co-ordinators and nurses felt the CCL was an unfavourable environment for patients with dementia. Care was perceived to be impaired by environmental functionality, equipment and the presence of ionising radiation.
Research limitations/implications
The small sample limits generalisability. Although the Dementia Attitudes Scale is a validated questionnaire it has not been widely used so reliability of these results is unclear.
Practical implications
Caring for patients with dementia has unique challenges especially in areas like the CCL. These results suggest that practical experience and training can affect the perception of staff to patients with dementia hence there may be a need to assess what would be the most appropriate training to give health professionals in the future.
Originality/value
The authors believe this to be the first multi-professional research study into care of patients with dementia in a specialised acute unit. This was the most diverse sample known to have attitudes to dementia measured quantitatively in an acute hospital department and the results need to be replicated before practice should be changed.
Details
Keywords
Cliff McKnight John and Richardson Andrew Dillon
The availability of powerful desktop microcomputers has meant that the ideas underlying hypertext can now be implemented in readily available software packages. However, despite…
Abstract
The availability of powerful desktop microcomputers has meant that the ideas underlying hypertext can now be implemented in readily available software packages. However, despite the fact that many writers on the subject assume that hypertext removes the reader/author distinction, it appears that, for a variety of reasons, many people will access hypertext documents in ‘read‐only’ form. The present paper discusses the implications of this for authors of hypertext documents. The creation of a hypertext version of a journal article, and the way in which a hypertext database of such articles is being constructed, is described.
This paper examines the relationship between environmental performance, legislation and annual report disclosure using the case of Falconbridge and sulphur dioxide emissions over…
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between environmental performance, legislation and annual report disclosure using the case of Falconbridge and sulphur dioxide emissions over a period from 1964 to 1991. Legitimacy theory and political economy theory are used to evaluate the disclosure. Two key questions are addressed: How did the corporation respond to changing government regulations for sulphur dioxide abatement? and How did the corporation choose to present these abatement activities in its annual reports? These questions are examined through the methodologies of historiography, interviews and content analysis. Falconbridge has always been in compliance with SO2 regulations (albeit with a government extension in the late 1970s) and has consistently provided disclosure discussing the technological aspects of sulphur dioxide abatement. While political economy theory has explanatory power, legitimacy theory offers a more compelling explanation.
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Servane Roupnel, Natalie Rinfre and Jennifer Grenier
In order to respond to the many challenges that confront them, organizations must assist their leaders to develop their personal and professional strengths. The development of…
Abstract
In order to respond to the many challenges that confront them, organizations must assist their leaders to develop their personal and professional strengths. The development of leaders and leadership involves more than just the development of knowledge and must become an integral part of the organizational culture so as to also develop know-how and soft skills. Accordingly, programs have been created that are based on collaborative learning and the contextualization of the various issues demanding resolution, all with a view to developing leadership capable of surpassing the limitations of current management methods. To demonstrate how these programs can influence leadership, this article proposes a theoretical review of leadership, viewed as an ongoing process and then presents three proven development programs: coaching, mentoring and action learning.
Navigation problems in a hypertext might be reduced, if multiple, coherent views of the hypertext were available. Document outlines help readers appreciate the structure and…
Abstract
Navigation problems in a hypertext might be reduced, if multiple, coherent views of the hypertext were available. Document outlines help readers appreciate the structure and meaning of the document. We propose measures of syntactic and lexical balance in an outline and show in a sample of documents the degree to which these balances occur. Based on balance in an outline, a method for semi‐automatically generating an alternative outline is applied to one textbook. The textbook with both its original and its alternative outline is available in hypertext, and subjects who were asked to evaluate this hypertext noted that the alternative outline would help readers compare concepts in the textbook. The computer programs for generating outlines have been used in several writing tasks, including the writing of this paper.
Ivan Langella, Carlo Scalo, Giuseppe De Felice and Carlo Meola
The purpose of this paper is to discuss some fundamental aspects regarding the anomalies in the passive scalar field advected by forced homogenous and isotropic turbulence, by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss some fundamental aspects regarding the anomalies in the passive scalar field advected by forced homogenous and isotropic turbulence, by inspection of the analytical properties of the governing equations and with the aid of direct numerical simulation (DNS) data.
Design/methodology/approach
Results from a pseudo‐spectral DNS of a unitary‐Schmidt‐ number passive scalar advected by a low Reynolds number flow field, Reλ=50 and 70 (based on the Taylor microscale λ) allow for a preliminary assessment of the developed numerical model.
Findings
Manipulation of the governing equations for the scalar field (which are monotonic) reveals that the unboundedness of the scalar gradient magnitude is not ruled out by the mathematical properties of the correspondent conservation equation. Classic intermittency effects in the passive scalar field have been reproduced, such as non‐Gaussian behavior of the passive scalar statistics, loss of local isotropy, and multi‐fractal scaling of scalar structure functions. Moreover, Taylor and Richardson theories are, surprisingly, not confirmed only in the dissipation range (small‐scales anomalies).
Originality/value
The authors suggest that the origin of intermittency (qualitatively pictured here as violent burst in spatial gradient quantities) should be sought in the loss of monotonicity of the evolution equation of the scalar gradient.
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Keywords
This paper explains what business planning is and why it is being criticized. It differentiates between business planning (which focuses on the strategic development of the small…
Abstract
This paper explains what business planning is and why it is being criticized. It differentiates between business planning (which focuses on the strategic development of the small firm or business unit) and corporate planning (which deals with the strategic direction and activities of the bigger, multi‐operation corporation). Ultimately, the paper comes to the defence of business planning by identifying where and how it can still be a useful tool for organizational leaders to employ in their job and primary drivers of the strategic development function. The secret of successful business planning is to use it in appropriate contexts as one aspect of a more comprehensive repertoire of strategic leadership approaches and to avoid the pitfalls which detract from its otherwise efficacy.
Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Abstract
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.