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Introduction Six reviews/inquiries into housing adaptations/home modifications processes occurred in Wales between 2004 and 2015. One resulted in the removal of the means test for children's Disabled Facilities Grants. This research investigated families' and professionals' experiences of the adaptations/home modification process to gain an understanding of their views and experiences. Method Mixed methods of an online questionnaire for professionals, and semi-structured interviews or an online questionnaire for families (depending on their preference), were employed. Forty-eight families participated and an additional 16 families responded to an online questionnaire. Analysis of qualitative data identified emergent themes, which are discussed in this article. Findings The themes were: poor information and communication mainly aimed at older adults; negative experience of the process; and the positive impact of the completed adaptation. Additionally, whilst undergoing the process, families felt that they needed a contact to guide them through the process. This contact was often by default the community occupational therapist. Conclusion A single contact person should be made available for families; occupational therapists should consider their part in that role; more specific information on children's needs should be provided; families need to recognize the part they can play in adding to delays in the delivery of adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘The decision on capacity is one for the judge to make’.1 Deciding whose voices matter in the assessment of someone’s decision-making capacity raises issues of social and legal policy. Despite legal judgments explicitly asserting that the law has the upper hand in mental capacity assessment, both statute and judgments from the Court of Protection (CoP) have to some extent endorsed capacity as largely the domain of medical expertise. Academics have claimed that the courts have historically adopted a ‘deferential’ or even ‘medicalized’ approach to expert evidence on this issue. Yet, it is vital that the CoP exercises rigorous scrutiny of capacity assessment, for while human rights discourse constructs ‘objective medical expertise’ as a safeguard against the arbitrary forfeiture of decision-making power, excessive deference can transform medical opinion from safeguard to a form of arbitrariness in its own right. This short sociolegal study combines quantitative and qualitative approaches to probe this suggestion of deference, drawing from a sample of over 60 CoP judgments where the issue of capacity was examined in some detail. In the course of undertaking this task, the article interrogates the notions of ‘deference’ and ‘medicalization’ to explore the intertwining of medical and legal domains on the issue of mental capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article offers information on the awards of concessions for urban water supply in China. It states that competitive bidding acts as an essential method in awarding these concessions and provides its legal nature. Topics discussed include concepts and efficiency of concessions, structure of market and restricted competition.

An essay is presented on the energy efficient and environmentally-oriented Brazilian public policies that favor electric vehicles (EVs). It informs that as per such fiscal policies taxes are not comprehended as fundraising device or fiscal taxation, however, are accounted as per their non-fiscal potentiality or extrafiscality. It also presents insights into tax incentives for the progress of transport in Brazil and considers the paradigm of electric vehicles.

Copyright of Sociologie du Travail is the property of Association pour le Developpement de la Sociologie du Travail and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This Viewpoint examines the barriers researchers face in studying recreational and medical cannabis use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]