Annual Report 2013

The 2013 Annual Report includes a review of the year, research highlights and activities across the School's three Faculties, and key facts and figures. The financial review provides an overview of the School's finances and activities during 2012-13

Paying for Quality: Understanding and Assessing Physician Pay-for-Performance Initiatives

Reviews the structure, prevalence, measurement issues, perception, and impact of current quality incentive programs, and discusses how much and under what circumstances they will improve quality of care. Includes descriptions of select programs

Moving Ahead: Factors contributing to successful transition of people with intellectual disabilities from congregated to community-based residential options in two regions in Ireland

This report details the findings of a research project entitled Moving Ahead. The project aimed to examine factors that contribute to the successful transfer of people with intellectual disabilities from congregated to community-based living in two regional areas in Ireland. It was undertaken by a team of researchers from Ireland and the UK, led by Dr. Christine Lineha

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference: an early career regional researcher's narrative journey

The role of a university researcher, particularly in the light of recent reports, such as the Bradley Review into Higher Education, has changed substantially since the elitism of the Menzies era. One of the emphases in the Bradley Review is to increase members of groups under-represented within the system including those from regional areas. My current role as a university academic and researcher has been informed by my perception of marginalisation initially represented by my regional origins, gender and later my artistic practice. This paper will provide insights into key moments of my research journey using critical event narrative analysis in order to create a 'storied ground' which aims to link the reader socially and culturally to these experiences. Polkinghorne (1988) notes that even though each of us has direct access to our own cognitive processes of meaning-making they are not directly observable to others. Therefore, the narrative events composed through this methodology have enabled me to construct, re-construct and ultimately make sense of experiences in relation to my research journey. In turn this allows others to engage with the events described in these narratives and connect with them according to their personal and professional experiences. In this paper I explore my transformation through three critical hybrid identity transformations: artist to artist-teacher; artist-teacher to sessional academic; and sessional academic to senior lecturer in the regional context. Bohl (1995) notes that the most important qualification for an event to be considered critical is that it has an impact on the person telling the story, and is usually a change experience that is not recognised as such until a certain period of time passes. Upon reflection these critical events were crucial in forming my academic and researcher identity. As Weeks (1990) notes, identity is about having a sense of belonging, about what you have in common with some people and what differentiates you from others. I am currently positioned in a regional university which, as the Bradley Review has recommended, is supporting marginal groups currently under-represented in the system. Critical Event Narrative Analysis (Webster & Mertova, 2007) has enabled me to reflectively consider how the events I have chosen have been informed by a sense of marginalisation which continues to affect, but also enrich, my current and complex position as an academic and researcher in a regional area. The findings from this research may assist those teachers and academics who take 'the road less travelled' to understand how their experiences shape and inform their interest in and commitment to those on the margins

European Philanthropic Support to Address HIV/AIDS in 2010

Analyzes data from a survey of thirty-one European foundations' HIV/AIDS-related funding in 2010 compared with past years, projected funding for 2011, and trends by country of origin, recipient country, types of projects supported, and population served

Achieving the Potential of Health Care Performance Measures: Timely Analysis of Immediate Health Policy issues

The United States is on the cusp of a new era, with greater demand for performance information, greater data availability, and a greater willingness to integrate performance information into public policy. This era has immense promise to deliver a learning health care system that encourages collaborative improvements in systems-based care, improves accountability, helps consumers make important choices, and improves quality at an acceptable cost. However, to curtail the possibility of unintended adverse consequences, it is important that we invest in developing sound measures, understand quality measures' strengths and limitations, study the science of quality measurement, and reduce inaccurate inferences about provider performance

Innovative Medicaid Initiatives to Improve Service Delivery and Quality of Care: A Look at Five State Initiatives

Outlines initiatives in Alabama, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington to implement patient-centered medical home models designed to coordinate and improve quality of care; strategies; key lessons; and new opportunities under healthcare reform