A survey of New York secondary schools showed that nearly 25 percent do not employ a physician to oversee medical coverage of football games. The authors suggest several ways to improve this much-needed coverage--not only to protect athletes but also to shield the administration from litigation. (JD)

Provides background information in health care ethics and an overview of nursing ethics in the recent past. Suggests that communal moral experience should be the starting point for health care ethics research. Includes 60 references. (Author/JOW)

Examines the role of narrative conventions in the epistemological development of a health-care field. Argues that changes marking the emergence of occupational therapy as an autonomous profession illustrate how explanatory narrative frames emerge from and embody assumptions about the world. Provides new ways to think about the long-term dialog…

States that obtaining informed consent can be an intricate process further complicated by managed care. Reviews the features of informed consent as they apply under managed care and addresses ways to ensure that consent is appropriately delivered under managed care systems. (MKA)

Experiences of 15 union and management representatives from French, Finnish, and United Kingdom health care services suggested that training is not a neutral tool but is perceived differently by different people. Training provision is best handled by collective bargaining procedures. (SK)

Developments in the realms of medical innovation and geriatric clinical intervention impact our understanding of the nature of late life, the possibilities for health in advanced age, medical decision making, and family responsibility in ways that could not have been predicted 15 years ago. This essay begins to map new forms of biomedicalization…

Although previous studies have found a decline in health-care use during major sporting events, the Children's Hospital Boston researchers are the first to quantify the magnitude of the events--using television Nielsen ratings--showing that the bigger or more suspenseful the event, the quieter the emergency department. Borrowing data from a…

Support of telemedicine for largely rural and ethnically diverse populations is premised on expectations that it increases opportunities for appropriate and timely medical services, and that it improves cost-effective service delivery. To understand the cost-effectiveness of telemedicine in 8 small and/or rural sites in Arizona. A cost analysis…

An analysis of human errors in complex work settings can lead to important insights into the workspace design. This type of analysis is particularly relevant to safety-critical, socio-technical systems that are highly dynamic, stressful and time-constrained, and where failures can result in catastrophic societal, economic or environmental…

Introduction: Deficiencies in physician competence play an important role in medical errors and poor-quality health care. National trends toward implementation of continuous assessment of physicians hold potential for significant impact on patient care because minor deficiencies can be identified before patient safety is threatened. However, the…

This study aimed to evaluate current practice in, and to explore primary care professionals' views about, providing cervical screening to women with learning disability, in two areas of Edinburgh. A postal questionnaire was sent to all 24 GP practices in the project area: 20 responded. Seven respondents were invited to participate in follow up…

We develop an approach to conducting large-scale randomized public policy experiments intended to be more robust to the political interventions that have ruined some or all parts of many similar previous efforts. Our proposed design is insulated from selection bias in some circumstances even if we lose observations; our inferences can still be…

Laypeople tend to be overly sensitive to side effects of treatments that prevent illness, possibly leading them to refuse beneficial therapies. This Internet-based study attempted to reduce such side effect aversion by adding graphic displays to the numerical risk probabilities. It also explored whether graphics reduce side effect aversion by…

The school year can be an especially troublesome time for the 4.4 million U.S. children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as their inattentive, hyperactive, and impulsive behavior hampers their ability to do well and succeed in the classroom. In order to ensure children perform at their best level during the school…

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the reasons for which migrant agricultural workers in Pennsylvania seek health care. Methods: Participants were individuals 14 years of age and over, actively involved in agricultural labor and presenting for medical care at 6 migrant health care centers. Bilingual health care providers…