Using Evidence in the development of local health policies : Some Evidence from the United Kingdom

Objectives: This paper explores the use of evidence, focusing on economic evidence in particular, in the development of local health policies through an in-depth study of Health Improvement Programmes (HImPs) in England. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to the person responsible for coordinating the development of the HImP in each of the 102 English health authorities. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 HImP leaders, and a random sample of 26 HImP documents was reviewed using a standard pro forma. Results: Of the 102 mail questionnaires sent out, 68 (67%) were returned. It was found that those developing HImPs had multiple objectives, only some of which (e.g., efficiency in healthcare provision) would necessarily require evidence.Where evidence was used, this was a mixture of internal (experiential) and external (empirical) evidence, with the balance (66%) being in favor of the latter. Government reports and guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), were the main sources of external evidence, rather than published papers. Key barriers to the use of economic evidence were lack of time and availability and the difficulties in synthesizing information at the local level. Conclusions: Based on responses to our survey, the main ways of increasing the use of evidence in the development of local health policies in England are to produce more evidence-based national guidance and to produce accessible summaries of the available literature for local decision makers

When the Course Management System Isn\u27t Enough

Many articles have been written extoling the need for interactivity in the online classroom. Zundel (2006) states that not only should interactivity be effectively integrated, but that it is essential for enhancing the learning in online courses just as interactivity is essential for on-campus learners. Mabrito (2004) contends that success is enhanced in online courses by engaging students as active learners rather than passive participants. Mabrito goes on to state that this engagement should include ample opportunities for students to interact with not only the course content, but also with the instructor and fellow classmates

Look! Up in Cyberspace! Is it Web 2.0? Is it Web 3.0? No! It’s SuperWeb – Technologies for the Classroom!

Using the familiar Bloom‟s Taxonomy pyramid, traditionally applied in educational learning objectives, can be useful in helping to choose the right technology to assist in reaching the desired educational outcomes. Many Web technologies provide free or low-cost teaching tools. Some of the many options available for the computer are provided here along with lesson ideas to incorporate these tools into the learning environment

Action Research: Fly in the Cloud then Share the View

There is a growing bifurcation of society into those who are Informed (techno-savvy) versus the increasing number of people who are Uninformed (non-techno-savvy) when it comes to utilization of cloud-based Web 2.0 applications. The authors propose wide-spread participation in a cloud-based application. This action research is designed to gather input about one cloud-based technology that has the potential to move users from Uninformed to Informed by the nature of efficient work flow, collaboration, and shared resources (Charles & Dickens, 2012; Fisher, 2011)

Comparing Three Strategies of Motivating Gambling Behavior in the Laboratory Environment

The present study compared three methods of motivating participants’ gambling behavior in a laboratory environment. Thirteen university students played in three sessions of video poker, which differed in whether participants were 1) asked to play “as if” gambling real money, 2) staked with real money, and 3) in competition with other participants for a gift card. Also measured was whether participants’ reported annual income would influence their gambling behavior under these conditions. Results showed that the number of hands played and the accuracy of game play did not differ across the different sessions. The number of credits bet, which is a metric of risk, was significantly different across sessions. Participants bet the least credits when they were playing for actual money or competing for a gift card, but their betting did not differ between these two conditions. Results also showed that all dependent measures varied directly with annual income. The present results suggest that using competition for a prize may produce similar gambling behavior as having participants risk actual money, and may have the benefit of being more cost efficient. The results also suggest, however, that gambling researchers should measure their participants’ financial status, as that may influence how participants behave in laboratory experiments on gambling

If You Forget

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4619/thumbnail.jp

Altering Probability Discounting in a Gambling Simulation

In gambling, our decisions regarding what gambles to take and how much we are willing to wager might, in part, be influenced by our histories with respect to gambling outcomes. Given a less temporally-distant history with gambling that favors losses, wins, or breaking even may create alterations in one’s discounting pattern, albeit most likely temporary. Given the topographical similarity between gambling procedures and probabilistic discounting tasks, probability discounting was used to assess potential changes in discounting resulting from a gambling task designed specifically for this study. Probabilistic discounting patterns for 38 undergraduate students before and after exposure to a simulated die-rolling task were analyzed, and results of follow-up analyses supported the notion that probabilistic discounting patterns can be changed by gambling outcomes. Implications and limitations are discussed

Online Integrity: Student Authentication in an Online Course

Distance education has been around for over 100 years and has progressed from print based or correspondence study to radio, television, audio or video recordings, and on to video conferencing and computer mediated instruction (Wang and Gearhart, 2006). In 2000, Dooley and Murphy stated that delivery via the Internet was relatively new and challenging for higher education institutions. Most would agree that even though delivery via the Internet might no longer be considered “relatively new,” it can still be considered challenging

Investigating the Relationship Between Escape and Gambling Behavior

Recent research suggests that there is a potentially strong relationship between gambling as a means of escape and the presence of pathological gambling. The goal of the present study was to establish whether there was a correlation between endorsing gambling as a means of escape and how participants played video poker in a laboratory setting. Forty eight participants completed several questionnaires and then played video poker. Results demonstrated that endorsement of gambling as a means of escape, as measured by the Gambling Functional Assessment (Dixon & Johnson, 2007), was significantly positively correlated with number of credits risked during video-poker play. It was not, however, correlated with number of hands played or number of errors made. The results therefore support the idea that escape and gambling have a unique relationship and suggest that this relationship may display itself as increased risk taking

Temporal Discounting Predicts How People Gamble On a Slot Machine

The gambling research literature suggests that temporal discounting may be as-sociated with problem gambling, but research has not demonstrated that rates of discounting predict differences in actual gambling behavior. Thirty eight indi-viduals of different ages and backgrounds were recruited to complete several questionnaires, including a delay-discounting task. They were then given $10 in tokens with the opportunity to gamble on a slot machine. How steeply partici-pants discounted the delayed (hypothetical) monetary rewards was a significant predictor of they gambled. Gender, age, and reported annual income were not significant predictors. To our knowledge, these data are the first to demonstrate that temporal discounting may predict differences in actual gambling behavior (vs. self reports). This predictive relationship has implications for both re-searchers and practitioners