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The quantity and quality of research focused on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have grown over the past several decades. Ensuring that research findings are accessible and understood by education professionals is essential for improving outcomes for individuals with ASD. In this study, we evaluated education professionals' knowledge about ASD, specifically (a) beliefs about causes of ASD, (b) their familiarity with evidence-based practices (EBPs) and non-EBPs, (c) the likelihood of using or recommending EBPs compared with non-EBPs, and (d) the extent to which source credibility influenced the likelihood of using or recommending different types of practices. Education professionals (N = 62) completed a paper survey. Responses on a modified version of the Illness Perception Questionnaire–Revised (Moss-Morris et al., 2002) were used to evaluate participants' beliefs regarding causal attributes of ASD. Educators were also asked to read texts describing four EBPs and four non-EBPs. The text presentation was based on a 2 × 2 within-subjects factorial design with practice status (EBP or non-EBP) and source credibility (credible or not credible) as the independent variables. After reading each text, participants reported on whether they were (a) familiar with the practice and (b) the extent to which they would use or recommend the practice. Results indicate that school personnel were highly confident that neurobiological factors were a causal attribute of ASD. In addition, respondents were more familiar with, and more likely to recommend or use, EBPs as compared with non-EBPs. Source credibility did not significantly affect participants' likelihood of using or recommending practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with language disorder frequently experience difficulties with vocabulary acquisition, and these difficulties often persist into adolescence. The literature indicates that clinical studies tend to investigate phonological-semantic approaches, whereas educational studies focus on the derivation of meaning within a literacy context. Little is known about whether the practices of speech and language therapists and teachers reflect these findings from the literature. The current paper reports on a survey which gathered information from speech and language therapists and mainstream secondary school teachers, about their current practice concerning vocabulary support for adolescents, aged 11–16, who have language disorder. An online questionnaire was distributed through teaching and speech and language therapy professional networks. The aim of the study was to establish which specific strategies were used in practice by speech and language therapists and mainstream secondary school teachers to teach vocabulary to adolescents with language disorder, and which strategies were the most effective. Responses were obtained from 127 speech and language therapists and 47 mainstream secondary school teachers in the UK. Speech and language therapists were more likely than mainstream secondary school teachers to teach phonological awareness and semantic feature analysis as strategies for developing vocabulary skills. Both professions used literacy-related strategies as well as strategies for independent word learning such as the derivation of meaning from morphology and context. Increased joint working and training opportunities would further develop the knowledge and skills of both mainstream secondary school teachers and speech and language therapists, enabling theoretically-grounded and relevant vocabulary support for this group of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important that nurses fully engage with the development and use of evidence-based practice so they can influence policy and improve patient care. There are significant challenges in developing nursing research and evidence-based practice in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Therefore, the UAE Nursing and Midwifery Council formed a Scientific Research Subcommittee to lead the development of nursing research. Following a literature review to assess the status of nursing research in the UAE, the Subcommittee initiated a study to clarify UAE nurses' perceptions of barriers to implementing research. The results were expected to enable comparisons with other countries and establish a baseline on which to build and prioritize initiatives to address identified barriers. A cross-sectional design with convenience sampling was used to survey 606 nurses from across the UAE. The survey included the BARRIERS questionnaire and was administered online and in paper-based formats. The top three nurse-perceived barriers that affected nurses' use of research in the UAE (in descending order) were as follows: lack of authority to change patient care procedures, insufficient time to read research, and insufficient time on the job to implement new ideas. The highest ranked barriers to nurses conducting research in the UAE were lack of time and competing demands for time. The findings of this survey and a published literature review informed development of a strategy to address identified barriers to nurses in the UAE using and conducting research. This multifaceted strategy includes initiatives to reform policy and practice at local and national levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems enable central and integrative control over all processes throughout an organisation by ensuring one data entry point and the use of a common database. T his paper analyses the attitude of healthcare personnel towards the use of an ERP system in a Spanish public hospital, identifying influencing factors. This research is based on a regression analysis of latent variables using the optimisation technique of partial least squares. We propose a research model including possible relationships among different constructs using the technology acceptance model. Our results show that the personal characteristics of potential users are key factors in explaining attitude towards using ERP systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this paper is to assess Australian young people’s awareness of mental health services available for their age group. Of particular interest was awareness of headspace, which was created in 2006 to provide youth-oriented mental health services, and has expanded to 30 centres nationally in 5 years.Method: In 2011, a telephone interview was conducted with a national sample of 3021 Australians aged between 15 and 25 years. Participants were asked questions about awareness of mental health organizations, where they would seek help for themselves and how they would assist a peer with a mental health problem.Results: There were very low frequencies of spontaneous mentions of headspace as a mental health organization, or as a service where respondents would seek help for themselves or refer a peer to. However, when prompted, about half of respondents recognized headspace as a mental health organization. Living within a headspace service area predicted better recognition of headspace. However, past-year psychological distress was unrelated to recognition of headspace as a mental health organization.Conclusions: In order to reach them more effectively, young people need to be aware of youth-oriented services that are available to them and their peers. Awareness campaigns need to be targeted to the subgroups of young people who have the greatest need for headspace services, namely those with recent mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The study aimed to explore the subjective need of healthcare professionals for ethics consultation, their experience with ethical conflicts, and expectations and objections toward a Clinical Ethics Committee. Staff at a university hospital took part in a survey (January to June 2010) using a questionnaire with open and closed questions. Descriptive data for physicians and nurses (response rate = 13.5%, n = 101) are presented. Physicians and nurses reported similar high frequencies of ethical conflicts but rated the relevance of ethical issues differently. Nurses stated ethical issues as less important to physicians than to themselves. Ethical conflicts were mostly discussed with staff from one’s own profession. Respondents predominantly expected the Clinical Ethics Committee to provide competent support. Mostly, nurses feared it might have no influence on clinical practice. Findings suggest that experiences of ethical conflicts might reflect interprofessional communication patterns. Expectations and objections against Clinical Ethics Committees were multifaceted, and should be overcome by providing sufficient information. The Clinical Ethics Committee needs to take different perspectives of professions into account. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]