Do you see what I see? Identification of child protection concerns by hospital staff and general dental practitioners

Aim An exploration of the threshold that dentists, doctors and nurses recognise for dental and child protection (CP) actions in sample clinical cases, and any differences between these professional groups. Method We present a cross-sectional survey of dentists, doctors and nurses (50 each), who regularly examine children, utilised five fictitious vignettes, combining an oral examination image and clinical history reflecting dental and CP issues. Demographics were collected, and each participant gave their likely action for the cases presented. Results Dentists were significantly better at answering the dental element than the doctors and nurses, (P <0.0001) with no significant difference between these two; only 8% of the latter had undergone any training in assessment of dental health. Although 90.6% of all professionals had undergone CP training, dentists were significantly less accurate at identifying the CP component than doctors and nurses, (P <0.0001) between whom there were no significant differences. Those with higher levels of CP training were most accurate at identifying correct CP actions. Conclusions CP training is effective at improving recognition of child maltreatment, although there remains a worrying lack of knowledge about thresholds for action among dentists. Doctors and nurses have minimal training in, or knowledge of, dental health in children, thus precluding appropriate onward referrals

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Online learning can be useful as a means of preparing individual students for assigned readings and study With respect to programmes and modes of operation, engineering colleges and universities will be different in the future. The providers of engineering education will make extensive use of the Internet and powerful computer technologies to define the new methods of distance learning, the alternative methods of delivery of educational content, and the norms and standards for quantity and quality, as well as scale and breadth of online learning In this study, research was undertaken on the use of the Internet for online learning for the students of a regular class taught in a traditional way. A questionnaire was developed in order to establish the availability of computers at home, Learning through technology, using the Internet at home for first year engineering students L.G. Boussiakou † &amp; E.C. Kalkani ‡ King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia † National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece ‡ ABSTRACT: In the present study, the findings are presented from research that was undertaken for a course for first year students of a technological curriculum. The students were asked about the availability of computers at home, Internet connections, the use of the Internet for education and playing games, the use for access for course materials, and for communication with the instructor. The findings indicate that students can use multiple sites on the Internet, devote different percentages of their study time to online learning, while the availability and the use of the Internet does not predict the grade of the final examination attained for the course. Students also indicated the most popular sites that they use on the Internet, the benefits to their learning from their present use of the Internet and the expected benefits from future use. Based on the above findings, not only do certain university Web sites need re-evaluation to improve their usefulness, but also there needs to be a modification in the teaching of the courses that are available online

Gender and pension individualisation: the case of Greece

Within pension reforms in Europe, one of the policy trends with significant gender implications is a gradual emphasis on individual pension rights based on labour market participation and the recognition of periods of care, and a decrease in the importance of derived pension rights for women’s pension income. The paper analyses six pension reforms in Greece between 1982-2002 to illustrate a gradual shift towards greater pension individualisation for women. It argues that unless this shift is coordinated with employment and family policies that allow both women and men to build adequate individual pension rights, greater pension individualisation could have adverse consequences for those with weak links to the labour market