Prevalence and predictors of advance directives in Australia

Background Advance care planning is regarded as integral to better patient outcomes yet little is known about the prevalence of advance directives in Australia. Aims To determine the prevalence of advance directives (ADs) in the Australian population. Methods A national telephone survey about estate and advance planning. Sample was stratified by age (18-45 and >45 years) and quota sampling occurred based on population size in each State and Territory. Results Fourteen percent of the Australian population has an AD. There is State variation with people from South Australia and Queensland more likely to have an AD than people from other states. Will making and particularly completion of a financial enduring power of attorney are associated with higher rates of AD completion. Standard demographic variables were of limited use in predicting whether a person would have an AD. Conclusions Despite efforts to improve uptake of advance care planning (including ADs), barriers remain. One likely trigger for completing an AD and advance care planning is undertaking a wider future planning process (e.g. making a will or financial enduring power of attorney). This presents opportunities to increase advance care planning but steps are needed to ensure that planning which occurs outside the health system is sufficiently informed and supported by health information so that it is useful in the clinical setting. Variations by State could also suggest that redesign of regulatory frameworks (such as a user-friendly and well publicised form backed by statute) may help improve uptake of ADs

An Investigation of the Impact of Note Taking on the Quality of Mock Jurors’ Decisions

Abstract This research investigated the extent to which taking notes influenced the quality of mock jurors’ decisions. High quality decisions were defined in this research as those which did not reflect the influence of the offender stereotype. The impact of note taking on the quality of jurors’ decisions is central to the judicial community’s concerns about note taking as a jury aid and their willingness to offer it in trial contexts. Previous research has argued that note takers make better quality decisions than non-note takers because note takers recall more trial content and make judgements that better reflect the evidence presented. However, according to dual process models of persuasion, high quality decisions should show evidence of both effortful processing of information and no influence of peripheral cues, such as stereotypes. To date, the existing literature has neglected to consider the extent to which note takers, as compared to non-note takers, are influenced by peripheral cues. The current research sought to address this by investigating the extent to which note taking and non-note taking mock jurors were influenced by stereotypes when making decisions in a mock criminal trial. In particular, note taking and non-note taking mock jurors were presented with a criminal trial in which either a male or female defendant had been charged with a stereotypically masculine crime (e.g., aggravated robbery or murder). The extent to which mock jurors were more likely to convict the male defendant and acquit the female defendant was used as a marker of the extent that stereotypes about offenders influenced participants in these studies. Across studies, note takers’ perceptions of guilt, evaluation of the defendant, and, in some instances, recall of trial content, reflected stereotype-based processing while the corresponding measures for non-note takers did not. This research then went on to investigate why note takers were more vulnerable to the influence of stereotypes than non-note takers. It was proposed that one reason might be the requirement that note takers simultaneously record and evaluate trial content. Previous research has shown that persons engaged in dual tasks rely on stereotypes to increase information processing efficiency and are therefore able to re-direct cognitive resources to the additional task. Consistent with previous studies, the current research found that both note takers and mock jurors engaged in an additional task during the trial were more vulnerable to the influence of stereotypes than non-note takers. Furthermore, whilst investigating interventions designed to reduce the influence of stereotypes on note takers’ decisions, results revealed that such interventions were less successful in improving decision quality than interventions that removed the requirement to engage in dual tasks. In particular, the influence of stereotypes was reduced when note takers were encouraged to elaborate on the content of their notes during designated review periods. Whilst methodological features of this research program--namely a reliance on student samples and the relative brevity of mock trials used--may have led to an underestimation of the reliance on stereotypes for note takers, the research has implications for the instructions given to jurors about note taking in judicial contexts. Specifically, the central conclusion of the thesis is that it would seem prudent to amend instructions to direct note takers to engage in the effortful review of their notes prior to coming together to reach a verdict

Sugar and spice and all things nice: the role of gender stereotypes in jurors’ perceptions of criminal defendants

Female defendants in criminal trials have been evaluated both more harshly and less harshly than their male counterparts. This variation in treatment may be a function of the stereotype (offender or gender) against which the defendant is compared. This study manipulated congruence with offender stereotypes by varying the gender of the defendant (male or female), and congruence with gender stereotypes by varying the defendant's traits (feminine or masculine). The participants (n = 137) read a fictional transcript of a murder case and then gave a verdict and evaluated the case. Male defendants were more likely to be found guilty, and the case for a female defendant was viewed less positively when she was described in masculine (compared to feminine) terms. The findings suggest that male defendants are compared to offender stereotypes while female defendants are compared, at least to some extent, to gender-based stereotypes

Relationship between spontaneous or radiation-induced apoptosis and telomere shortening in G(0) human lymphocytes

To examine the correlation between spontaneous or radiation-induced apoptosis and telomere shortening, G0 human peripheral blood lymphocytes were irradiated with X-rays and analyzed for viability, apoptosis, and telomere length. Part of the lymphocytes was kept under liquid-holding conditions for 48 h, and then loaded onto Ficoll-Paque medium to separate apoptotic (high-density) from normal (normal-density) cells. Then all samples were examined for the same three end-points. To determine whether expression of p53 influences the telomere shortening associated with a spontaneous or radiation-induced apoptotic process, the lymphocytes were also analyzed for expression of p53 at 0 and 48 h recovery times (non-irradiated and irradiated samples) and after 2 weeks in liquid-holding conditions (non-irradiated sample). After 48 h in liquid-holding, the p53-dependent apoptotic lymphocytes in the irradiated cultures presented shortened telomeres. After a 2-week recovery time, non-irradiated cells showed a p53-dependent spontaneous apoptosis, but no telomere shortening. These results demonstrate that radiation-induced apoptosis correlates with shortened telomeres in G0 human lymphocytes. Spontaneous and radiation-induced apoptosis are dependent on expression of p53. In contrast, p53 may not play an effective role in telomere shortening, because spontaneous apoptosis did not correlate with telomere shortening. As most tumours are compromised with respect to p53 function, our findings on the role of p53 in telomere shortening may prove critical for applying therapeutic modalities in the clinic, and may facilitate the design of agents that selectively disrupt telomere integrity in tumour cells.L'articolo é disponibile sul sito dell'editore: http://www.sciencedirect.comUniversity of Tusci

Review of Public Trustee files - Families and generational asset transfers: making and challenging wills in contemporary Australia

The Public Trustee file review was designed to address research questions relating to will disputes and socio-cultural and family norms, expectations and obligations that underpin challenges to wills. Findings from this review will augment the earlier review of all adjudicated succession law cases in Australia between January and December 2011. The research team obtained 139 cases for the review. Within the reviewed cases, parties generally needed some kind of formalised assistance to resolve disputes and almost a third ended up going to court. Most claims launched to contest wills were successful i.e. led to a change in distribution. The existence of poor and/or complex personal relationships between beneficiaries, disputants and/or the deceased were a feature of most cases involving will disputes, particularly where disputes were escalated to court. There are significant costs of will contestation both for the estate and the individuals involved in disputes. Previous research has identified that in addition to the direct costs is the indirect cost of extending the time for probate of the will. This review highlights that one of the most significant costs of will contestation is the damage to familial relationships that appears to both drive and be worsened by contestation. Findings of this review highlight the role of Public Trustees in providing financial management and advocacy services to protect and support vulnerable people in the community such as those with impaired capacity, as well as offering services such as will drafting and deceased estate administration

Note takers who review are less vulnerable to the influence of stereotypes than note taker who do not review

The current research investigated whether the opportunity to review reduced note takers' vulnerability to the influence of stereotypes when making decisions. Participants were presented with a trial in which a man or a woman had been charged with a stereotypically masculine crime. Results revealed that note takers who did not review were more likely to find a man guilty than a woman, and attributed a higher degree of offender relevant traits to a man than to a woman. Non-note takers and note takers who reviewed did not engage in stereotype-based processing. It was concluded that the provision of dedicated review periods reduced the extent to which note takers were influenced by stereotypes during decision making. Future research may consider investigating whether the benefit of dedicated review periods remains when jurors are presented with longer trials and when they are required to engage in deliberation