Development Of Appropriate Skills Research Articles

Features of creative self-development of adolescents with intellectual disabilities by means of theatrical art

Importance. The problem of creative self-development of adolescents with disabilities is very relevant, since the social adaptation of such adolescents implies the complexity of interaction with others, is characterized by an unformed skills of self-knowledge, self-organization, self-regulation, and other mechanisms of self-development. In particular, the creative self-development of adolescents with intellectual disabilities is associated with the development of thinking, motor skills, and communicative functions. This is possible through amateur theater as a form of social and pedagogical work with young people with disabilities. The purpose of the study is to determine the role and pedagogical possibilities of amateur theatrical art as a means of creative self–development of adolescents with disabilities, taking into account the specifics of adolescents with intellectual disability (mental retardation).Research Methods. In the course of the research, such theoretical methods as generalization, comparison, etc. were used, domestic psychological and pedagogical works in the field of theater pedagogy were studied, empirical methods were used – understanding the experience of working with participants of the psychotherapeutic theater “We”.Results and Discussion. It is revealed and substantiated that amateur theater is a means of creative development and self-development of a personality, that is, an environment where activities aimed at the personal development of adolescents with disabilities can be fully realized on the basis of the existing personal potential in accordance with the norms of morality and cultural context accepted in society. The pedagogical possibilities of theatrical art, realized in specific forms of work (trainings, sketches, effective analysis of a play, staged work, etc.) and used at various stages of organizational and creative activity of an amateur theater group, contribute to the development of appropriate skills of self-knowledge and self-organization, thinking, and communicative abilities of adolescents with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation).Conclusions. The application of the research results contributes to the development of new methods and means of pedagogical work with young people with disabilities, the formation of an effective creative environment for their creative self-development and social adaptation.

Профілактична медицина як складова об’єктивного структурованого клінічного іспиту (ОСКІ)

The purpose of the study was to develop an optimal model of simulation and practical examination stations “hygiene and ecology” as components of objective structured clinical examination for the actualization of the formation of a preventive way of thinking among students of higher medical training. The paper analyzes the Passports of the simulation and practical stations of the objective structured clinical examination, their methodological and logistical support, which will allow to fully perform all the tasks and methods provided by the algorithms for mastering special professional competencies. The simulation station reproduces a number of real-life situations in specific tasks (25 options in total), the solution of which allows to assess the student's mastery of the professional competencies provided by the higher education standard, in particular: determining the risks to public health from the consumption of poor-quality drinking water, determining the nutritional status of the patient and the appropriateness of the prescription of therapeutic nutrition for the prevention of “diseases of civilization”, determining the requirements for compliance with sanitary and epidemiological requirements in health care facilities. The practical station is equipped with modern analytical instruments which allows the student to demonstrate their practical skills, in particular: bacterial air testing with evaluation of the results, research and evaluation of indoor microclimate parameters, research and evaluation of light environment parameters, measurement and evaluation of ionizing radiation, professional hand hygiene in health care facilities. To ensure high-quality training of students to perform the tasks of a practical station additional educational video guides were created, which are posted for general access on the department's page on the website of the University. Conclusion. Ukraine has now formed its own complex set of social, technogenic and environmental problems, which necessitates the development of appropriate skills and abilities in preventive medicine in future general practitioners. Objective structured clinical examination is a modern type of assessment of students' practical knowledge and skills, designed to test their acquisition of clinical skills and competencies that cannot be assessed by traditional forms of examinations. For the practical implementation of the preventive part of objective structured clinical examination in institutions of higher medical education, it should be taken into account that the traditional methods of protection and prevention, which have been developed by mankind over the centuries for the prevention of mass infectious, environmentally dependent, occupational and lifestyle diseases, in modern conditions are insufficient and/or ineffective

Using digital technologies by medical professionals

Creation of digital space in healthcare requires linking technical changes with raising trust in information and communication technologies (ICT) and development of appropriate skills of medical workers. Digital skills are considered as an important element of the general qualification of a medical professional. The paper examines to what extent doctors and nurses use ICT in their work, whether they have sufficient competencies and what are the scope and types of training in this field of knowledge. The sources of empirical materials are databases from two surveys conducted by Rosstat in 2020, namely, Comprehensive observation of the living conditions of the population and the second round of the Statistical Observation on the participation of the population in continuing education. It turned out that most doctors used computer and other digital equipment, but a significant part of nurses (47%) did not use them. In comparison with other specialists, doctors and nurses have a very limited remote format of work that is caused by both the field specifics and lack of opportunities. About 30% of doctors and nurses did not have enough digital competencies that reduced their job satisfaction. With basic computer literacy and the Internet skills, the lack of knowledge and skills concerned the field of medical information systems and specific digital tools. Medical professionals made up for the lack of skills mainly through self-education, rather than by specialized training. For successful implementation of a large-scale state program of digitalization in healthcare, it is necessary to create a flexible system of professional development in the field of ICT, included in the general system of continuing medical education.

Employability of graduates and postgraduates in respect to retail industry: a study of selected states of North India

PurposeTaking a multidimensional perspective, the study aims to identify and examine the factors that are essential for employability. The study pursues to understand the underlying causes that facilitate the development of appropriate skills and attitudes that influence the development of employability in an individual.Design/methodology/approachThe study pursued an exploratory research design followed by a descriptive. It explored the employability factors from the perspectives of the recruiter, student (candidate) and trainer. Additionally, it followed a causal research approach to examine the relationship between factors related to the personal environment, academic system, recruiter’s bias, industry and job attributes and overall employability. The antecedents of employability and their impact were examined with all the constructs taking the recruiter, student and trainer data sets.FindingsThe study identifies and analyses the antecedent factors that influence the employability development among college graduates and undergraduates. With its findings, the study identifies the changes or improvements required in teaching and learning mechanisms, grooming students and societal practices, social and economic biases in accessibility to facilities leading to employability. It also calls for a reflection on individual’s own attitude, motivation and abilities. The study calls for an assessment of the education systems and academic quality to develop employability among students. It conjures that the alignment of teacher and learner with industry requirements is an imperative requirement for the expansion of the industry and, in particular, the retail sector.Practical implicationsThe study will be of significance to the policymakers and academicians while designing the retail-specific courses and aims toward addressing the mismatch amidst the demand and supply of manpower in the retail industry. The study has been designed to make it highly relevant for the students who are potential manpower to the retail sector as well as the employees who have already entered the industry. It addresses the major factors required for India to develop a cohesive and inclusive ecosystem that provides for the benefit of millions of youths in India.Originality/valueThe literature lacks a coherent meaning and measurement of employability and identifies the need to empirically explore and examine employability skills. Furthermore, the scant empirical research focuses largely on employee or student perspective, even when the role of recruitment in the assessment of employability is most critical. This study empirically evaluates the market from the perspective of students, employees, employers, trainers and academicians and develops a model that gives a holistic picture of the causes that influence the development of employability in an individual.

Development of the Rural Generalist Program Japan: meeting the needs of Japanese rural communities.

There is a worldwide shortage of physicians, which is worse in rural areas, with a large underserved rural and remote population. Most jurisdictions in countries of all income levels report shortages of rural doctors, often exacerbated where primary care is not strong. Japan is not an exception: Japanese specialist-driven approaches in medical education and public health have resulted in disproportionate distribution of medical services in the country. Rural generalism, or rural generalist medicine, is emerging in many jurisdictions as one approach to training and provision of care for rural communities. While there is considerable variation in titles, the format of the training and models of care, the emphasis is on training a generalist doctor capable of meeting community needs. This usually includes development of appropriate skills in primary care, inpatient care, emergency medicine, public health and one or more extended skills. These models are well established in Australia, particularly in Queensland, which has offered a rural generalist program for over a decade. The Rural Generalist Program Japan (RGPJ) has been developed to meet the needs of Japanese rural communities. This article outlines development of the RGPJ using the World Federation for Medical Education standards. While early evaluations are positive, there is much more to do to develop a mature program capable of meeting the needs of Japan's rural and remote communities.

Theoretical Substantiation of Specifics of Formation of Ukrainian National Moral and Ethical Values of the Person at a Young School Age

The article provides a theoretical substantiation of the specificity of formation of Ukrainian national moral and ethical values of younger students’ personality. The comparative analysis of existing points of view on the nature of moral and ethical values and their functional significance in the formation of personality is carried out. The content of national moral and ethical values as a historical property of the people, which determine its mentality and national character, is revealed. Ukrainian national moral and ethical values are as imperative entities, developed and formed, which exist throughout the life of the Ukrainian people, they have an intransitive character, moral requirements, regulate the regulatory function and use the necessary knowledge regarding their free species and personality. Ukrainian ethnology has shown that it is possible to preserve Ukrainian national moral and ethical factors by growing up in childbirth, defining enrichment and updating the most up-to-date elementary education. The younger school age becomes more sensitive in the development of moral and ethical and the qualities that determine the patterns, moral behavior is formed. The goals and content of the process of formation of moral and ethical values of junior students by means of the sciences are specified through adequate tasks, which reflect the main directions of educational influence on the personality of the student. In the formation of the system of moral and ethical values in the younger students pedagogical efforts and actions of the primary school teacher should be directed to the development of moral and ethical needs and motives of behavior, formation of ethical knowledge and education of ethical feelings, development of appropriate skills, habits, as well as strengthening of will qualities. In formation of moral and ethical values of people do not matter indirect educational actions, but the attitude of the pupil to them, transformation of external influences into the internal moral and psychological sphere of personality, internal perception of external influences, including educational ones.

UAE’s Labor Market Snapshot | Skills and Educational Mismatch During Industry 4.0

The increased penetration of technology which brings efficiency to businesses globally has caused a shift in the skills that are required by the employees. One of the ways that the economy can reap the benefits of the digital revolution is by ensuring the development of appropriate skills that are mandated by the technological economy. Skills and educational mismatch have been noted to have a negative influence on employee and labour market outcomes. Due to this, several studies that focused on diagnosing the phenomena of skills and educational mismatch have been conducted in some developed countries. Despite the rate of economic growth that the UAE has achieved, far too little scholarly attention has been paid to skills and educational mismatch in the country. Therefore, this study’s objective is to measure the extent and nature of skills and educational mismatch from the perception of current workforce in the market. Using quantitative methodology, primary data in the form of surveys was collected from 206 respondents. SPSS was used to analyze the survey data in the form of descriptive statistics and cross tabulations. The results indicated that skills and educational mismatch is prevalent in the UAE across the private and public sector. Moreover, we found evidence suggesting the nature of skills mismatch is skills gap and the type of educational mismatch that is most prevalent in the UAE is horizontal mismatch. The results also indicate that engineers are some of the most affected by both skills and educational mismatch where most of the engineers are not working in engineering jobs compared to business management graduates most of who are working in their field of graduation. This paper contributes by creating new evidence in the area of skills and educational mismatch in the UAE’s labour market. It has bridged a gap by examine the state of mismatch in the UAE which can then allow to establish corrective actions to reduce the said mismatch in the country.

DIGITAL EDUCATION OF ADULTS IN AUSTRIA

In the article, the urgency of the issues of digital adult education for European society has been proven. The purpose of modern adult digital education has been determined. Three Priority Areas Investing in the development of digital competences throughout life: active use of digital technologies in the teaching and learning process, the development of appropriate skills for digital transformation, and the improvement of education systems through effective data analysis and pre-planning. The analysis of key competencies has been carried out. Key competences: information literacy, communication and collaboration, digital content creation, security, problem solving. Trends in the development of adult adult education in Austria have been identified. Prospects for using the Austrian experience in the development of digital competence for adult Ukrainians were outlined. Key words: adult learning , digital education, continuing education, digital competences, informal and non-formal learning, Austria, Ukraine. кандидат педагогічних наук, Боярська-Хоменко А.В. Цифрова освіта дорослих в Австрії / Харківський національний педагогічний університет імені Г.С. Сковороди, Україна, Харків У статті доведено актуальність питань цифрової освіти дорослих для європейського суспільства. Визначено мету сучасного цифрового навчання дорослих. Розкрито три пріоритетні напрями «Інвестицій в розвиток цифрових компетентностей протягом усього життя»: активне використання цифрових технологій у процесі викладання та навчання, розвиток відповідних навичок для цифрової трансформації, покращення систем освіти за рахунок ефективного аналізу даних і попереднього планування. Здійснено аналіз ключових компетенцій: інформаційна грамотність, комунікація та співробітництво, створення цифрового контенту, безпека, вирішення проблемних питань. Визначено тенденції розвитку цифрової освіти дорослих в Австрії та окреслено перспективи використання досвіду Австрії у питаннях формування цифрової компетентності дорослих українців. Ключові слова: освіта дорослих, цифрова освіта, неперервна освіта, цифрові компетенції, неформальне та інформальне навчання, Австрія, Україна.

Hiring the right CEO: A pilot explorative study of the most innovative CEOs’ career pathways in the healthcare sector

ABSTRACT Background: In order to face the unsustainability of the healthcare sector, the Italian reforms of the 90s – in line with international trends – transform healthcare organizations into accountable ‘business-like’ entities. With great expectations on their ability to achieve results in terms of quality and efficiency, it becomes crucial to select the right people to drive them. This study defines the profile of the most innovative CEOs in the sector. Methods: The work arises from a previous study conducted by AGENAS that identified the managerially most innovative Italian healthcare organizations. After a deep analysis of CEOs’ biographies, through a semi-structured questionnaire, additional information concerning their educational and professional background was collected. Results: Although no dominating profile emerges in terms of educational background – suggesting it is not clear whether it is preferable that CEOs hold a degree in Medicine or in other disciplines – the most innovative CEOs have mainly developed their careers within the public healthcare sector and not in other private industries. Practice Implications: This study provides important implications in terms of CEOs’ selection. This, provides interesting food for thought on how career ladders should be designed within the sector and how effective these are in assuring the development of appropriate skills.

Творча активність у формуванні екологічної культури студентів ЗВО

The article deals with the important pedagogical problem as young person creative activity; the development of efficient mechanism of this process and proper pedagogical conditions for successful formation of students’ ecological culture are revealed as well. A human is characterized by a conscious, active and creative attitude to nature that is covered both materialistic and spiritual areas. Ecological culture determines a person’s spiritual outlook, way of thinking, aesthetic values and orientations, individual readiness for creation of cultural and ecological wealth as well as a more secure world. A person can learn how to act creatively when the situation requires their creative decisions. Creativity is an activity that actively engage person's imagination across all domains - cognitive, communicative, social, emotional, and physical. It is obvious that the assimilation of some knowledge and the development of appropriate skills are completely insufficient. These requirements of life are directly related to the educational process of higher education. High priority to the problems of students’ ecological education is due to the following reasons: the need to consider ecological education as a continuous and systematic process that operates during the entire period of training, the relevance of the formation of ecological culture in the period of the professional development of a personality. Our study showed that the greatest efficiency in the formation of ecological culture is achieved through the practicing of various pedagogical influence methods that are including the use of special questions, eco-games, auto-trainings, problem situations ensuring compliance with ethical standards of behavior and developing “environmental conscience” as well as other different types of creative tasks. The combination of various forms of work with the close students–educators cooperation makes a positive effect on formation of the ecological culture of future specialists.

Conceptual play and science inquiry: using the 5E instructional model

ABSTRACTPlay has been synonymous with early childhood education and is an important aspect of child development. Researchers have characterized and defined play from different perspectives. If play is an integral part of the early years what is its relationship to learning? This paper describes the development of conceptual play by using the pedagogy of the 5E instructional model and the role of conceptual play in learning science as viewed through the cultural–historical lens. The nature of science invokes the inquiry process and with the development of appropriate skills, young children understand simple phenomenon. Learning science in an early childhood setting is essential, as it lays the foundation to problem solving and critical thinking later in the process of schooling. Today, the demands of curricular standards and technology have made kindergarten readiness a necessity. As a result, play is slowly losing its place in the early childhood curriculum. Children should get an opportunity to be creative, joyful and engage in playful learning. The curriculum should afford learning opportunities that are meaningful and encourage the learning of science concepts through play. The child-centred pedagogy of the 5E instructional model lends itself to greater interactivity of the teacher and child, the environment and the social setting.

Педагогический потенциал поэзии в преподавании иностранного языка курсантам ведомственного вуза

The use of poetic works by English authors at foreign language lessons is covered. The use of poetry in the teaching process is assessed from the point of view of formation of communicative and other skills of the cadets of departmental educational institutions. It is shown that the study of literary works not only forms the worldview of students, their independent aesthetic perception of the world through the realization of the author’s idea, but also contributes to the development of practical language skills. The author’s development of studying poetry at the English language lessons in the Law departmental University is presented. The results of the study show the importance of integrated training in a foreign language and literature. It is noted that the analysis of literary works, the idea of which is expressed in poetic form, allows students to develop observation skills, to improve their thinking and also promotes the formation of communicative competence, encourages them to express their views, while memorizing poems improves memory. It is shown that knowing of the cultural heritage, particularly literature, at foreign language lessons, and the introduction of other cultural elements in the teaching material enhance the understanding of the cadets on the facts of social and cultural sphere and contribute to the development of appropriate skills, which indicates the achievement of the teacher’s pedagogical goals.

Involving Young People in Polish and Lithuanian Social Enterprises by Fostering Entrepreneurial Skills and Abilities as Entrepreneurial Opportunity at University

Objective : The paper aims to analyse theoretically and empirically the development of social entrepreneurship in Poland and Lithuania, emphasizing the development of appropriate skills and abilities gained at university as entrepreneurial opportunity. Research Design & Methods : The research undertaken for the purposes of the paper is based on a literature review and empirical research partly devoted to a situational analysis of social entrepreneurship in Poland, as well as a pilot survey of target groups pertaining to the entrepreneurial skills and abilities as entrepreneurial opportunity of Lithuanian and Polish students as potential social entrepreneurs. Findings: The main research findings imply that despite the existence of entrepreneurial opportunity as education at university, social entrepreneurship is increasingly important in Poland. Overall support is needed for the creation of social enterprises and attracting young people to them. Empirical research based on Lithuanian and Polish students’ perception of acquiring entrepreneurial skills and abilities at university can be entrepreneurial opportunity for social entrepreneurship. Implications & Recommendations: Implementing further research in the field, as empirical this research was just a pilot one. Research can be developed by taking into account more respondents in both countries. Contribution & Value Added: The study provides empirical evidence entrepreneurial skills and abilities gained/developed at university are a possible entrepreneurial opportunity for exploiting and creating social enterprises. Â

Learning to learn self-regulation in practice: A 2 cohort evaluation

The transfer of nurse training into higher education following ‘Project 2000’ dramatically changed the status of student nurses. While the majority received a grant or bursary, students were no longer regarded as belonging to the hospital staffing complement. Elcock et al. (2007), argue that the intended advantage of supernumerary status following the move of nurse education into higher education has not been reflected in the student learning experience. Students have reported difficulties in being accepted into the community of practice, as they are no longer viewed as belonging in the professional sense to the practice environment ( Cope et al., 2000). Students must therefore be prepared for their supernumerary role through the development of appropriate skills for learning in practice ( Elcock et al., 2007). The Thames Valley University pre-registration nursing curriculum promotes the effective socialisation of students into the professional role ( Fitzpatrick et al., 1996) through a 35-day practice orientation programme in the Common Foundation Programme. The results of a 2 cohort evaluation of a 35-day programme facilitated in the Brent and Harrow learning community indicate that novice pre-registration students will not always possess the self-directed ability to spontaneously engage with nursing care in practice. Students must be provided the opportunity to develop the skills that define the self-regulated learner ( Langendyk, 2006). Students must be empowered to self-assess what they know and what they do not know. It is argued that in order to learn during practice experiences, the student nurse of today must first learn how to be self-regulated.

Developing a High-Performance Computing/Numerical Analysis Roadmap

A roadmap activity in the UK has leveraged US and European efforts for identifying the challenges and barriers in the development of high-performance computing (HPC) algorithms and software. The activity has identified the Grand Challenge to provide: 1. Algorithms and software that application developers can reuse in the form of high-quality, high performance, sustained software components, libraries and modules 2. A community environment that allows the sharing of software, communication of interdisciplinary knowledge and the development of appropriate skills. Through a series of workshops and discussions with UK HPC application groups and numerical analysts, five areas of challenge have emerged.

The dying child: should we tell the truth?

Children and young people who are dying after having lived with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition will often be aware of their impending death. Whether that awareness is acknowledged and talked about will depend on the child, the parents and the professionals involved. A review of these three perspectives on truth telling reveals some of the many factors that influence openness, communication and truthfulness. Creation of a truthful care environment requires development of appropriate skills and attitudes in professionals, use of research evidence, ongoing assessment of the child and family's communication needs and support for members of the multidisciplinary care team.

Identifying best support care patients in an outpatient medical oncology unity: difficulties presented by training medical oncologists

20613 Background: the large increase in the number of new drugs and technologies requires that oncologists correctly identify pts who are candidates for BSC, to provide appropriate symptom control and avoid futile aggressive treatments to poor prognosis patients who do not benefit from them. It may be particularly difficult to young medical oncologists in training to identify these patients. We conducted a survey between medical oncology residents to measure their perception of patients not able to receive chemo, radio or hormonal therapy for advanced cancer. Methods: For a week, questionnaires were answered by medical residents at the end of all outpatient consults in an adult, solid tumor medical oncology unit, in a public university hospital. A score was applied to identify patients that could be candidates to BSC, and this data was compared with the actual treatment given. Results: Questionnaires were answered in 200 (95,2 %) medical consults done in a week at the unit. Median age was 56.5 ± 14 years (range 18 - 89), 131 (65.5 %) patients were female and 69 (34.5 %) male. Primary tumor sites were mainly breast (75; 37.5 %), colorectal (43; 21.5 %), head and neck (24;12.0 %), lung (18; 9.0 %), and gynecological (13; 6.5 %). ECOG was 0 in 70 (35%), 1 in 76 (38 %), 2 in 41 (20.5 %) and 3 in 13 (6.5 %) pts. Out of the 200 cases, 26 (13%) were scored as candidates to BSC. However, while 126 (63%) patients received radio/chemo or hormonal therapy, only 8 (4%) were referred to BSC. From 93 (46.5 %) stage IV pts, 11 (12%) were considered potentially curable by the residents. Conclusions: Medical oncology residents have difficulties identifying BSC candidates among patients with advanced cancer. Development of appropriate skills and application of algorithms to identify BSC pts may be necessary to better control symptoms and avoid unnecessary treatments. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Effects of punishment and response-independent attention on severe problem behavior and appropriate toy play.

Abstract Problem behavior can interfere with learning, the development of appropriate skills, and socialization in persons with developmental disabilities. In severe cases, problem behavior could result in life-threatening injury. For one 21-month-old participant diagnosed with autism engaging in severe problem behavior for whom reinforcement-based interventions had failed, punishment was implemented. After the efficacy of punishment alone was evaluated, it was implemented concurrent with response-independent attention. Problem behavior was suppressed and appropriate toy play emerged as a function of these combined interventions. Thus, punishment in combination with response-independent attention was an effective intervention for severe, attention-maintained problem behavior. Keywords: Noncontingent reinforcement, response-independent reinforcement, punishment, self-injury, property destruction, toy play, autism. ********** Self-injurious behavior (SIB), severe aggression, and property destruction are among the most challenging behaviors exhibited by individuals with developmental disabilities. Such behavior adversely impacts the individual's learning and independent functioning and interferes with more age-appropriate behavior, such as development of appropriate play and social skills in young children. If severe, challenging behavior can threaten the health and safety of the individual and/or the people who interact with the individual. Reinforcement-based procedures such as functional communication training (Carr & Durand, 1985) generally are preferred in reducing problem behavior and increasing appropriate behavior for both ethical and practical reasons. It may not be possible or preferable, however, to maintain the delivery of a reinforcer on a response-dependent schedule. For example, a child might request a food that is not immediately available. Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) is the response-independent delivery of a preferred stimulus (e.g., response-independent attention) according to, for example, a fixed-time (FT) schedule (e.g., Vollmer, Iwata, Zarcone, Smith, & Mazaleski, 1993). Such a schedule might be considered easier to implement, for parents, teachers, and/or staff, than a response-dependent schedule (e.g., Tucker, Sigafoos, & Bushell, 1998). At least two explanations have been put forth in the applied literature as to why NCR might be an effective intervention. One reason is because when the reinforcer is delivered response-independently instead of response-dependently, extinction effects might reduce the problem behavior. Another explanation indicates that NCR might serve as an establishing operation (Michael, 1982) insofar as the delivery of the stimulus noncontingently may decrease its value, thereby decreasing the occurrence of the problem behavior. On the other hand, the term positive punishment refers to the presentation of a stimulus that, when delivered contingent on a response, decreases the future probability of that response. It generally is considered more ethical to use punishment when it is used in combination with reinforcement-based procedures so that not only behavior-decreasing mechanisms are in effect. Some investigators have claimed that punishment may not always be desirable because its long-term use may have negative side effects (Matson & DiLorenzo, 1984). Further, parents and teachers often report difficulty in consistently implementing punishment procedures over time (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 1987; Miltenberger, 1997). Finally, the use of intrusive punishment procedures often focuses attention on the individual and may be stigmatizing (Mayer, 1995). For these reasons, if punishment is necessary to suppress severe problem behavior immediately due to the risk to the health of the individual, it would be preferable to add procedures, such as NCR, after punishment reduces the severe problem behavior. When punishment is combined with NCR, preferred stimuli also are obtained and the punishment schedule might be faded, and the punisher may be made less severe or ultimately discontinued. …

Ecological restoration at Mainland Islands in New Zealand

While important advances have been made in recovering threatened species and restoring damaged habitats on offshore islands, effective conservation management is also required on the main (North and South) islands if representative elements of New Zealand's remaining biodiversity are to be protected. The recent initiation of Mainland Island projects constitutes an important step in that ecosystem-focused restoration goals are being pursued at mainland sites. The intensity and scope of pest control undertaken at Mainland Islands is greater than has normally been the case previously, as has been monitoring of results and conservation outcomes. Preliminary results suggest that declines in monitored species have been arrested and ecological processes re-vitalised. In addition to restoring values at individual sites Mainland Islands may be important places where our capacity to manage ecosystems more generally may be developed. Advances in our understanding of ecological processes and of responses to management using sound scientific procedures as part of operational programmes could lead to improved predictions to underpin management decisions. Refinements to management techniques and the development of appropriate skills, as well as enhancing public support and involvement could also be expected to have major benefits for conservation management more widely.

Supporting and resourcing treatment decision-making: some policy considerations.

This paper considers some of the policy implications of issues raised during a conference about treatment decision-making in the clinical encounter held in Hamilton, Ontario in May 1999. Policies promoting patient participation in treatment decision-making need to be flexible enough to ensure that they are appropriate across the range of contexts in which health care decisions are made and acceptable to people with diverse preferences and abilities. They should also be formulated in consideration of other health policies and of available resources. Policies of informing people and involving them in decisions about their care are unlikely to be simple to implement. Various strategies might be needed to support them. These include the development of appropriate skills among health professionals and in the general population, the use of interventions to encourage people to play more active roles in decisions about their health care, the provision of decision aids for people facing specific decisions and the provision and accreditation of more general information resources and services. If information and other facilitators of patient participation in decision-making are seen as integral to good quality health care, then funding should be made available for them. This will, however, have opportunity costs. Policy makers' decisions about how much health care funding should be invested in which strategies should be underpinned by good research evidence about the effects that different types of intervention have on a range of outcomes for individuals, health care systems and populations. The knowledge on which current policies are based is limited. The development of future policies will be enhanced if policy makers invest in critical conceptual thinking, reflective practice, imaginative development work and good quality evaluative research.