Withholding Of Information Research Articles

The Visibility of Climate‐Related Disclosures by Large Australian Companies

Mobilising the work of Brighenti (2007), we assess the visibility of climate‐related disclosures across different reporting venues and sectors for the 2022 reporting period. We do so by analysing the content of the corporate reports of 28 ASX50 companies. This is supplemented by articles published in the Australian media and on prominent activist investor websites. We find that physical climate risks are often under‐reported or superficially addressed in company reports, whereas transition opportunities related to a low‐carbon economy are more frequently disclosed. This discrepancy suggests a pattern of selective disclosure emphasising more favourable outcomes and potentially obscuring the full spectrum of climate‐related risks and opportunities. In contrast, transition risks are supra‐visible because of the attention from media and activist investors—particularly in the energy and materials sectors. Our results reflect concerns raised by regulators with regard to greenhushing (the withholding of information) of physical and transition risks and greenwashing (exaggerated claims) of transition opportunities. We also find inconsistencies in reporting practice, with implications for comparability and the faithful representation of climate‐related information.

Comply or Explain: Do Firms Opportunistically Claim Trade Secrets in Mandatory Environmental Disclosure Programs?

ABSTRACTThis paper studies whether firms opportunistically make proprietary claims in mandatory environmental disclosure programs with trade secret exemption rules. Examining the mandatory chemical disclosure program in the fracking industry, I find evidence of opportunistic withholding of information among operators that are less likely to have trade secrets. Specifically, I find that these operators claim fewer chemicals as trade secrets when the operating site is in close proximity to water quality monitors. This is only observed among publicly traded operators that face a higher cost of societal backlash when disclosing pollutant information. Further analyses suggest that these operators are concerned about external environmental monitoring, which deters them from opportunistic information withholding. Regarding public and private operators that are more likely to have trade secrets, I do not find strong evidence that their information withholding varies with the monitoring conditions.

Cutting the Gordian knot of the education ‘crisis’ with teacher testing. A blunt instrument that crushes marginalised pre-service teachers

ABSTRACT This paper offers a brief yet evocative glimpse into marginalised pre-service teachers’ (PST) experiences of teacher testing in Australia’s High-stakes Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students (LANTITE). Utilising Critical Disability Theory (CDT)in particular, Goodley’s (2016) concept of neoliberal-ableism, we problematise teacher testing as a gatekeeping tool for students undertaking teacher education. The article highlights how neoliberal education policies in Australia have disempowered and turned away talented and empathetic future teachers. By illuminating their embodied experiences of stress and anxiety, we interrogate neoliberal discourses of power and how teacher testing is used as a blunt instrument to solve complex problems and funnel public funding to private corporations. As part of a larger longitudinal research project, we offer four narrative portraits giving voice to vulnerable PSTs who have become unwitting victims of the high-stakes test juggernaut. This article focuses on five emergent themes from the research: (a) the embodied impact of stress and anxiety on test-takers, (b) withholding of information regarding testing processes and support, (c) the lack of differentiation available to PSTs (d) impacts of edu-businesses and the business of education on vulnerable participants and (e) a passion for differentiation.

The Types and Motives of Maxim Infringement in Agatha Christie’s Murder on The Orient Express Novel (Pragmatic Approach)

This study performs a pragmatic analysis of Agatha Christie’s "Murder on the Orient Express," focusing on the intentional types and motives behind Grice’s conversational maxims infringement strategies. This research is descriptive qualitative that uses document analysis from the dialogues where the characters strategically infringe the maxims and find the motive(s) behind every infringement. The motives are namely withholding information, providing misleading details, using ambiguity, and creating communicative effects. This research uses domain, taxonomy, componential analysis, and cultural theme as well as inductive technique for the data analysis technique. The results show that there are 118 infringements of the maxims that fulfill the types of all the maxim of quality, quantity, manner, and relevance as well as the motives This research finds out that the story is dominated by the infringement of the maxim of relevance to control information flow which aligns with the novel’s purpose as a crime-solving detective novel.

The Unseen and the Unsayable: Walpolean Gothic Theatre

One of the defining features of the Gothic mode is its attraction to obscurity, its central interest in what cannot quite be apprehended. Gothic writing circles around the unseen, the unsayable, and the unknowable, and often self-consciously draws attention to the withholding of information. This article focuses on the foundational example of the Walpolean Gothic: Horace Walpole’s unperformed tragedy The Mysterious Mother (1768) is structured around what cannot be said, while Robert Jephson’s The Count of Narbonne (1781) – a dramatic adaptation of The Castle of Otranto (1764) – repeatedly draws attention to elements that are imminent but never quite realised. In these two plays, silence and absence make their paradoxical presence felt. The tragedies draw attention to questions of what can be said and done on stage, while simultaneously exploring the power of the negative to reveal the cracks in narratives of patriarchal order. Together, they demonstrate how the Gothic can use the force of what is not there to trouble theatrical and political hierarchies.

Social support as perceived, provided and needed by family-members of migrants with type 2 diabetes – a qualitative study

BackgroundSocial support provided by a family member has been found to have a buffering effect on distress and is associated with better diabetes self-care. This study explores the meaning of social support, as described by close family members of foreign-born people living with type 2 diabetes (PWDM) in Sweden. It also explores the support provided by family members, and the support they need to be able to support the PWDM.MethodsQualitative explorative study, semi-structured interviews for data collection. Qualitative content analysis based on a theoretical framework on social support. Purposive sample of 13 family members, 18–52-years-old, born in countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Russia.ResultsThe meaning of support was described as social and emotional. Most participants described a stressful situation; feelings of sadness/worry about the risk of the PWDM developing complications added to a strained life situation from which one could not opt out. Frequent daily contacts in a family network were evident, particularly by children trained as healthcare professionals. Caring for a family member was considered a filial piety, but it was also a chance to reciprocate. The support provided was mainly informational (e.g., reminders about nutritional intake), but it was also instrumental/practical (administering medicines, helping with economy/logistics, planning/cooking meals, basic care) and emotional (sharing meals, thoughts, and activities). The support the family members needed was getting first-hand information by attending the physician visits, being able to book appointments themselves at suitable times, and preventing the withholding of important information about the PWDM. They also desired an open telephone-line, oral and written information, particularly on diet.ConclusionsTo family-members, supporting the PWDM was normal and a filial piety. Support provided and needed was not only informational but also instrumental/practical and emotional. In diabetes care, addressing foreign-born individuals, diabetes education needs to be developed, also including family members. Informational material, particularly on diet, and improved access to healthcare and information about the healthcare system have the potential to increase family members’ control over the situation and prevent a negative trajectory in caregiving with perceived demands causing high levels of stress.

Does voluntary assisted dying impact quality palliative care? A retrospective mixed-method study

ObjectivesWe aimed to explore the relationship between the pursuit of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) and the delivery of quality palliative care in an Australian state where VAD was newly availableMethodsWe...

Midwifery hurdles: Navigating tuberculosis screening challenges in South Africa.

In South Africa, screening for tuberculosis during pregnancy is a serious challenge. Tuberculosis is one of the leading indirect causes of mortality in pregnant women. The objective of the study was to explore the challenges experienced by midwives regarding tuberculosis in pregnant women. A qualitative exploratory research method was used to conduct the study. The study population comprised midwives who worked at primary healthcare clinics in the selected local area, Capricorn District, Limpopo province. Purposive non-probability sampling was used to select 10 participants. Data from participants were acquired using in-depth individual semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was carried out using manual thematic analysis following Tesch's technique. The outcomes of this study included midwives knowing their roles regarding tuberculosis screening among pregnant women. They further highlighted their challenges while screening tuberculosis in pregnant women, such as shortage of screening tools, withholding of tuberculosis information, and language barrier. Midwives should have the necessary equipment and be trained in various languages used in the province to improve tuberculosis screening among all pregnant women.Contribution:Infected pregnant women and their unborn children's health can be improved by tuberculosis screening.

When Parents Request Nondisclosure: Rights of Adolescents to Access Their Health Information and Implications of the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule.

AbstractDespite broad ethical consensus supporting developmentally appropriate disclosure of health information to older children and adolescents, cases in which parents and caregivers request nondisclosure continue to pose moral dilemmas for clinicians. State laws vary considerably regarding adolescents' rights to autonomy, privacy, and confidentiality, with many states not specifically addressing adolescents' right to their own healthcare information. The requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act have raised important ethical concerns for pediatricians and adolescent healthcare professionals regarding the protection of adolescent privacy and confidentiality, given requirements that chart notes and results be made readily available to patients via electronic portals. Less addressed have been the implications of the act for adolescents' access to their health information, since many healthcare systems' electronic portals are available to patients beginning at age 12, sometimes requiring that the patients themselves authorize their parents' access to the same information. In this article, we present a challenging case of protracted disagreement about an adolescent's right to honest information regarding his devastating prognosis. We then review the legal framework governing adolescents' rights to their own healthcare information, the limitations of ethics consultation to resolve such disputes, and the potential for the Cures Act's impact on electronic medical record systems to provide one form of resolution. We conclude that although parents in cases like the one presented here have the legal right to consent to medical treatment on their children's behalf, they do not have a corresponding right to direct the withholding of medical information from the patient.

Hard-to-reach schools? Discrimination experienced by parents with a migrant background. A participatory research approach

ABSTRACT This study investigated the discrimination experienced by parents with a migrant background in German schools. For this, we shifted the perspective from speaking about to speaking with parents using the critical incident technique as a participatory research approach. The sample included 40 parents from 20 countries of origin, with different languages of origin who had lived in Germany for between two and ten years. The most frequently reported experiences were of low expectations of competence, stereotypical attributions and the deliberate withholding of information. Parents described the pathologising of behaviours due to their family backgrounds that was equated with problem behaviour and the need for treatment. Additionally, school staff alleged that parents were unable or unwilling to support their children in academic matters, giving their ‘migrant status’ as justification. Schools did not offer opportunities for clarification or made it a requirement to seek expert opinion on a child’s mental health before providing opportunities for clarification. Further discriminatory effects, such as the outcomes of self-fulfilling prophecies; feelings of humiliation, helplessness and exclusion; and the fear of being disadvantaged, became evident, which exhausted families mentally and physically. The discussed implications aim at establishing concepts that raise awareness of discrimination and the consequences.

Conversational technology and reactions to withheld information.

People frequently face decisions that require making inferences about withheld information. The advent of large language models coupled with conversational technology, e.g., Alexa, Siri, Cortana, and the Google Assistant, is changing the mode in which people make these inferences. We demonstrate that conversational modes of information provision, relative to traditional digital media, result in more critical responses to withheld information, including: (1) a reduction in evaluations of a product or service for which information is withheld and (2) an increased likelihood of recalling that information was withheld. These effects are robust across multiple conversational modes: a recorded phone conversation, an unfolding chat conversation, and a conversation script. We provide further evidence that these effects hold for conversations with the Google Assistant, a prominent conversational technology. The experimental results point to participants' intuitions about why the information was withheld as the driver of the effect.

Self-determination in older patients: Experiences from nurse-dominated ambulance services.

To describe ambulance clinicians' experiences of self-determination in older patients. The study had an inductive and explorative design, guided from a life-world perspective. Thirty-two Swedish ambulance clinicians were interviewed in six focus groups in November 2019. The data were analysed with content analysis, developing manifest categories and latent themes. The ambulance clinicians assessed the older patients' exercise of self-determination by engaging in conversation and by being visually alert, to eventually gain an overall picture of their decision-making capacity. This assessment was used as a platform when informing older patients of their rights, thus promoting their participation in care. Having limited time and narrow guidelines counteracted ambulance clinicians' ambitions to support older patients' general desire to avoid hospitalization, which resulted in an urge to displace their responsibility to external decision-makers. Expectations that older patients with impaired decision-making ability will give homogeneous responses mean an increased risk of ageist attitudes with a simplified view of patient autonomy. Such attitudes risk the withholding of information about options that healthcare professionals do not wish older patients to choose. When decision-making is difficult, requests for expanded guidelines may paradoxically risk alienation from the professional nursing role. The findings show ambulance clinicians' unwillingness to shoulder their professional responsibility when encountering older patients with impaired decision-making ability. In assuming that all older patients reason in the same way, ambulance clinicians tend to adopt a simplistic and somewhat ageist approach when it comes to patient autonomy. This points to deficiencies in ethical competence, which is why increased ethics support is deemed suitable to promote and develop ethical competence. Such support can increase the ability to act as autonomous professionals in accordance with professional ethical codes. This study adhered to COREQ guidelines. None.

Peer and parent influences on youth skateboarding and factors that affect their decision to return to the sport after injury

Skateboarding is an increasingly popular sport among youth, despite the fact that they are a high-risk group for injuries during this activity. The purpose of this study was twofold: to explore youths’ perceptions about the influences that peers and parents have on their skateboarding; and to identify factors that affect their decisions about returning to the sport after injury. Virtual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 youth, 14–17 years of age, who had experienced a medically-treated injury while skateboarding during the past year. Applying thematic analyses, major findings indicated that sharing the activity with peers fosters psychological well-being, companionship, and a valued sense of community that motivates return to the sport even after serious injury and sometimes before they are fully physically ready to do so safely. Parental concerns about physical injury (vulnerability, severity) were acknowledged but not influential, with youth feeling that parents do not appreciate the valued mental health benefits that they experience from the skateboarding community. Youth reported withholding injury information from parents, hiding injuries and downplaying their severity, and not always disclosing returning to the sport. Youths’ decisions to return to the sport after injury was motivated by their feelings that skateboarding enhances their sense of identity, promotes their mental health, and provides respite because it allows them to escape from reality temporarily. Recommendations for reducing risk of injury to youth skateboarders at skateparks are provided.

Multi-level barriers to digital health literacy in the Deep South.

203 Background: Technology is increasingly used to facilitate healthcare interactions. However, poor digital literacy has the potential to create disparities amongst vulnerable populations. While health literacy has been well described, little is known about potential barriers to digital health literacy from the varied perspectives of patients, providers, and community health workers. Methods: This qualitative study explored barriers to digital health literacy among a convenience sample of (1) patients and (2) providers at two academic institutions participating in a digitally delivered remote symptom monitoring program, and (3) community health workers serving patients with cancer across the state of Alabama. Semi-structured interviews, conducted between December 2021 and May 2023, occurred over the phone, digital videoconference, and in-person and lasted approximately 30 minutes. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and inductively content coded for recurring themes and exemplary quotes by two independent coders using NVivo software. Results: Interviews (N=47) included 19 patients with cancer, 15 providers, and 13 community health workers. Interviewees discussed varied difficulties associated with uptake of the digitally delivered remote symptom monitoring program. Patients primarily focused on discrete logistical problems with technology, while providers commented on patient attitudes toward technology and the program more broadly. Community health advisors further identified technological barriers experienced by patients, such as unfamiliarity with current technology, lack of affordability or access to technology, limited technological training, difficulty reading small digital text, and privacy concerns. For example, one community health worker reported, “They don't know how to use FaceTime on their phones. And some of them only have phones that don't have the capability of using that sort of technology. Most of them don't use e-mail at all.” Community health workers also discussed patient-provider communication barriers, including excessive use of medical jargon, provider cultural illiteracy, provider withholding of information from patients, and language barriers. One community health worker noted, “there are sometimes when... patients cannot actually understand the medical terminology. I believe that if it could just be broken down for them, that the literacy would be improved.” Conclusions: Technological- and communication-based barriers impact the uptake of digitally delivered remote symptom monitoring in patients with cancer receiving treatment in Alabama. Guided efforts focused on solving the most frequent and significant barriers including both unfamiliarity with and lack of access to technology could aid in increasing digital health literacy, thus decreasing potential inequities.

When less is more: coy display behaviours and the temporal dynamics of animal courtship.

Sexual selection research has been dominated by the notion that mate choice selects for the most vigorous displays that best reflect the quality of the courter. However, courtship displays are often temporally structured, containing different elements with varying degrees of intensity and conspicuousness. For example, highly intense movements are often coupled with more subtle components such as static postures or hiding displays. Here, we refer to such subtle display traits as 'coy', as they involve the withholding of information about maximal display capabilities. We examine the role of intensity variation within temporally dynamic displays, and discuss three hypotheses for the evolution of coy courtship behaviours. We first review the threat reduction hypothesis, which points to sexual coercion and sexual autonomy as important facets of sexual selection. We then suggest that variation in display magnitude exploits pre-existing perceptual biases for temporal contrast. Lastly, we propose that information withholding may leverage receivers' predispositions for filling gaps in information-the 'curiosity bias'. Overall, our goal is to draw attention to temporal variation in display magnitude, and to advocate possible scenarios for the evolution of courtship traits that regularly occur below performance maxima. Throughout, we highlight novel directions for empirical and theoretical investigations.

260 Using participatory action research to examine attitudes and awareness of adult safeguarding practices in the acute hospital context

Abstract Background The investigation of, and interventions on, the alleged abuse of vulnerable adults has become an important feature of social work and other professional practices in Ireland. This implies important organisational challenges in ensuring that adult safeguarding responsibilities are delivered in ways that ensure positive outcomes for all stakeholders. Many factors can influence staff responses to concerns in acute care contexts. This can relate to awareness of the many forms of abuse and reporting obligations, attitudes to adult safeguarding and understanding the impact of abuse. Acute hospitals offer unique opportunities to intervene in abusive situations and to offer support to those at risk. This study set out to explore the awareness, understanding and attitudes towards safeguarding practices of staff in a large Dublin teaching hospital using a Participatory Action Research Approach (PAR). Methods A PAR methodology was utilised involving a social work academic and six members of the Medical Social Work team as co-researchers in the study design, data collection and data analysis. A quantitative, descriptive study design was adopted, which utilised a cross-sectional online survey of hospital staff which generated 100 responses from a variety of hospital staff including nurses, doctors and health and social care professionals. Results Findings indicate that acute care staff have varying levels of awareness of different categories of abuse. 59% of respondents reported being ‘somewhat confident’ in recognising and reporting suspected harm, neglect or abuse of a patient they were treating. 66% of respondents reported being aware of their mandated reporting requirements under the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012. Conclusion Many staff in acute care contexts lack confidence and knowledge in detecting and reporting the abuse of adults at risk, including their mandated reporting obligations with 90% of respondents stating that they need further training in this area.

Q&A Interactions: Managers’ Withholding of Information and the Effect of Giving Investors a Voice

Q&A Interactions: Managers’ Withholding of Information and the Effect of Giving Investors a Voice

The Safety and Impact of Raising the Urine Culture Reporting Threshold in Hospitalized Patients

Objective: To assess the impact of changing the reporting threshold policy of positive urine cultures in hospitalized non-pregnant adults from 104 CFU/mL to 105 CFU/mL on the unwarranted use of antibiotics and patient safety. Setting: A 1100-bed tertiary-care hospital in southern Israel. Methods: As an intervention, we changed urine culture reporting policy for patients admitted to general medical wards. If culture grew ≥105 CFU/mL, it was reported with pathogen and antibiotic susceptibility data, if it grew ≤104 CFU/mL, it was reported as "low growth". The withheld information was available upon request. We retrospectively collected data on all patients in a four-month period following the intervention and report using STROBE guidelines. Results: 7808 patients were admitted, in whom 3523 urine cultures were obtained. A total of 496 grew a pathogen, 51 were excluded (candida spp. positive, history of urinary surgery, obtained from catheter). A total of 300 were reported as positive and 145 were reported as low-growth. A higher rate of patients in the low-growth group were not treated with antibiotics 45/145(31%) vs. 56/300(18.7%) in the positive group p = 0.015 and the antibiotic duration of treatment was shorter by day 5 (IQR 0.9) vs. 6 (IQR 0.9) p = 0.015. No between-group difference was observed in recurrent admission rates, pyelonephritis within 30 days, bacteremia or all-cause mortality. Conclusions: Changing the reporting threshold of positive urine culture results from 104 CFU/mL to 105 CFU/mL in hospitalized patients reduced the number of patients who were unnecessarily treated for asymptomatic bacteriuria without negatively impacting patient safety. We urge microbiological laboratories to consider this change in threshold as part of an antimicrobial stewardship program.

How Are Retailers Describing Delta-8 THC?A Mixed-Methods Study in Fort Worth, Texas.

Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a largely unregulated psychoactive substance rising in popularity in the United States. This study aimed to understand how retailers explained Delta-8 THC to potential customers and if these descriptions were associated with socioeconomic deprivation surrounding the retail location. In Fort Worth, Texas, stores with retail alcohol, cannabidiol (CBD), or tobacco licenses were called. Among the 133 stores that sold Delta-8 THC, 125 retailers (94%) answered the question "What is Delta-8?" Qualitative methods were used to identify related themes; logistic regression models tested associations between themes and area deprivation index (ADI) scores, a measure of socioeconomic deprivation (1-10; 10 = most deprived areas). Retailers often compared Delta-8 THC to other substances (49%). Although most often described as a type of cannabis (34%), several retailers likened Delta-8 to CBD (19%) or hemp (7%), which are nonpsychoactive. Retailers also described potential effects from use (35%). Some retailers reported that they were unsure of what Delta-8 was (21%), told surveyors to look it up themselves (6%), or withheld information (9%). Higher ADI scores were associated with higher odds of retailers communicating limited information (odds ratio = 1.21, 95% CI [1.04, 1.40], p = .011). Study findings may inform the development of marketing regulations, as well as informational campaigns for both retailers and consumers.

Self-Reported Health Care Avoidance Behavior in U.S. Military Pilots Related to Fear for Loss of Flying Status.

U.S. military pilots are required to meet certain medical standards in order to maintain an active flying status. Military pilots face potential temporary or permanent loss of flying privileges in the setting of a new condition or symptom that does not meet required standards, which could result in negative social and occupational repercussions for the pilot. For this reason, it has been proposed that U.S. military pilots participate in health care avoidance behavior, but little evidence exists to characterize such a trend in this population. We conducted a non-probabilistic Internet survey of the general population of U.S. pilots from November 1, 2019 through August 1, 2021. The current study is a sub-analysis of military pilots. A total of 4,320 pilots answered the informed consent question, and 264 selected one military pilot type and were included in this sub-analysis. There were 72% of military pilots who reported a history of health care avoidance behavior (n = 190), and no statistical difference was found between age groups, gender, and military pilot types. There were 55.5% of pilots who reported a history of seeking informal medical care (n = 147), 33.7% of pilots who have flown despite a new symptom they felt required medical evaluation, 42.5% of pilots who reported withholding information on aeromedical screening (n = 111), and 11.4% of pilots who reported a history of undisclosed prescription medication use (n = 30). U.S. military pilots may participate in health care avoidance behavior because of fear for loss of flying status.