Informed choice and public health screening for children: the case of blood spot screening

Objective: To examine parents' and health professionals' views on informed choice in newborn blood spot screening, and assess information and communication needs. Design and participants: A qualitative study involving semi-structured telephone interviews and focus groups with 47 parents of children who were either found to be affected or unaffected by the screened conditions, and 35 health professionals with differing roles in newborn blood spot screening programmes across the UK. Results and conclusions: Parents and health professionals recognize a tension between informed choice in newborn blood spot screening and public health screening for children. Some propose resolving this tension with more information and better communication, and some with rigorous dissent procedures. This paper argues that neither extensive parent information, nor a signed dissent model adequately address this tension. Instead, clear, brief and accurate parent information and effective communication between health professionals and parents, which take into account parents' information needs, are required, if informed choice and public health screening for children are to coexist successfully

Get Those Germs

Germs are little things but it is the little thing that counts in keeping the family healthy and happy. Many materials are commonly sold as disinfectants that do not have any germ-killing value. They merely give a pleasant odor or one suggesting cleanliness. Yet real disinfectants are cheap

Employment supports for adults with disabilities in low- and middleincome countries : a Campbell systematic review

Abstract: Objective: To identify, appraise and synthesise studies of interventions to improve labour market outcomes of adults in developing countries with physical and/or sensory disabilities. Method: Systematic review methods, following Campbell Collaboration guidelines, were utilised. A comprehensive search was used to identify relevant studies published between 1990 and 2013, which were graded for study quality and a narrative approach used to synthesis the research evidence. Results: Fourteen studies covering a wide range of interventions met the inclusion criteria. Although individual studies reported improvements in outcomes, heterogeneity was high and studies were generally of poor methodological quality. Conclusions: There is a lack of high quality research evidence to inform decision-making in this area. Stakeholders should be cautious when interpreting the results of the current evidence base

Purity or pragmatism? : Reflecting on the use of systematic review methodology in development

Systematic review methodology pioneered in health care has been increasingly applied to development questions of importance in lower- and middle-income countries. This paper reports one such review on the topic of microfinance in sub-Saharan Africa and reflects on the number of pragmatic methodological compromises made when applying the method to a new field. These compromises relate to multidisciplinary teamwork, application of regional filters, drawing on evidence from additional study types and exploring mechanisms for change through the development and testing of a causal pathway. The paper concludes that a pragmatic rigorous approach to systematically reviewing evidence of effectiveness is needed for international development

Cooperative Coeds at Barton Hall

Cooperative coeds are more economical at Iowa State College, for under the direction of Mrs. M. A. Perry, chaperon, they do all their own cooking and most of the light housework or their dormitory, Barton Hall, formerly South Hall

Freshman Hall

Freshman girls of\u27 Iowa State College have moved into Mary B. Welch West, the recently finished hall. The dormitory is named after Mary B. Welch, who was the wife of the first president of Iowa State and was the founder of the Home Economics Department

Textile Standardization

The question arises-just how far does the responsibility of buying rest upon the purchaser, how much upon the. stores, and how much upon the manufacturer of the goods in question