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Consumer trust in the modern food system is essential given its complexity. Contexts vary across countries with regard to food incidents, regulation and systems. It is therefore of interest to compare how key actors in different countries might approach (re)building consumer trust in the food system; and particularly relevant to understanding how food systems in different regions might learn from one another. The purpose of this paper is to explore differences between strategies for (re)building trust in food systems, as identified in two separate empirical studies, one conducted in Australia, New Zealand and the UK (Study 1) and another on the Island of Ireland (Study 2). Interviews were conducted with media, food industry and food regulatory actors across the two studies (n  = 105 Study 1; n  = 50 Study 2). Data were coded into strategy statements, strategies describing actions to (re)build consumer trust. Strategy statements were compared between Studies 1 and 2 and similarities and differences were noted. The strategy statements identified in Study 1 to (re)build consumer trust in the food system were shown to be applicable in Study 2, however, there were notable differences in the contextual factors that shaped the means by which strategies were implemented. As such, the transfer of such approaches across regions is not an appropriate means to addressing breaches in consumer trust. Notwithstanding, our data suggest that there is still capacity to learn between countries when considering strategies for (re)building trust in the food system but caution must be exercised in the transfer of approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As employment law changes and develops, in sometimes surprising ways, this paper considers the possibility that employment law may not be keeping pace with the diversity of working patterns and practices which have rapidly evolved in the past few decades. It therefore poses the question whether labour law needs to change direction to accommodate the work and workers of the twenty-first century. It firstly makes and details the point, against a statistical base, that significant change in the labour market is nothing new, but then turns to the identification of quite radical recent and continuing changes, and goes on to ask whether they demand a changing law. It presents four cases to illustrate where the law appears to fall short, expressing unease that a discriminatory wrong can be done without the law being able to address it, and highlights different ways in which the law of contract may not provide an appropriate model to deal with today's problems. The possibility is canvassed that if the expression 'arrangement' were used in place of the contractual model, the concentration might then be on industrial realities rather than legal niceties. In conclusion, it is emphasised that the answers are ones of policy which are critically dependent upon the guiding political philosophy of the time. (The paper was delivered as a lecture as a general election approached.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Quality of life is included in the economic evaluation of health services by measuring the preference for health states, i.e. health state utilities. However, most intervention studies include a disease-specific, not a utility, instrument. Consequently, there has been increasing use of statistical mapping algorithms which permit utilities to be estimated from a disease-specific instrument. The present paper provides such algorithms between the MacNew Heart Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (MacNew) instrument and six multi-attribute utility (MAU) instruments, the Euroqol (EQ-5D), the Short Form 6D (SF-6D), the Health Utilities Index (HUI) 3, the Quality of Wellbeing (QWB), the 15D (15 Dimension) and the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL-8D). Methods: Heart disease patients and members of the healthy public were recruited from six countries. Non-parametric rank tests were used to compare subgroup utilities and MacNew scores. Mapping algorithms were estimated using three separate statistical techniques. Results: Mapping algorithms achieved a high degree of precision. Based on the mean absolute error and the intra class correlation the preferred mapping is MacNew into SF-6D or 15D. Using the R squared statistic the preferred mapping is MacNew into AQoL-8D. Implications for research: The algorithms reported in this paper enable MacNew data to be mapped into utilities predicted from any of six instruments. This permits studies which have included the MacNew to be used in cost utility analyses which, in turn, allows the comparison of services with interventions across the health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint geriatric/psychiatric wards are a potential solution to improving care of older patients with both psychiatric and medical illnesses in acute hospitals. A literature search using Medline, PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL between 1980 and 2010 was carried out for information about joint wards for older people. Thirteen relevant papers were identified. These wards share common characteristics and there is evidence that they may reduce length of stay and be cost-effective, but there are no high-quality randomised controlled trials. Further research is needed, particularly regarding cost-effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of men's health has grown markedly over the past few decades. Increased activity specifically relating to men's health promotion in both Australia and the UK has been noted during this period. There has, however, been a reticence to critically examine men's health promotion work within a broader discourse relating to gender and gender relations. Indeed, the vast majority of health-related gender discussion to date has been focused on women's health experiences and their health practices. In this paper, we argue that grounding men's health within this broad gender discourse is important for building an evidence base in, and advancing, men's health promotion work at a range of levels. We specifically explore the research, practice and policy contexts relating to men's health in Australia and the UK, and describe the facilitators for, and barriers to, promoting men's health. We conclude by suggesting that a critical gender lens ought to be applied to current men's health promotion work and provide strategies for researchers, practitioners and policy makers to move towards this new frontier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of quantitative performance measures to assess the quality of university research is being introduced in Australia and the UK. This paper presents the case for maintaining a balanced approach. It argues that 'metrics' have their place, and can make the process more efficient and cost-effective, but that peer review must be retained as a central element in any research assessment exercise. The role of metrics is as 'a trigger to the recognition of anomalies', rather than as a straight replacement for peer review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents new evidence both of the degree and the sources of resistance to any attempts to challenge statutory intervention and government spending in the area of social policy. The data come from the 1985-86 and 1990 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) role of government surveys. The focus is on those countries from which the assumptions are normally derived. The 1985-86 ISSP survey included six countries, all of which form part of this group. However, Austria did not participate in 1990. Although the 1990 survey included a number of additional countries, only Norway is suitable for the purposes, as well as having the full range of data available. The 1990 sample of countries is thus Australia, the United States, the Great Britain, West Germany and Italy, all of which were also surveyed in 1985, plus Norway. Whereas the analysis of the 1985 data lacked a social democratic Scandinavian country with a highly decommodified structure, the 1990 sample compensates for this with the inclusion of Norway. Still, much of the analysis in this paper concentrates on assessing change between 1985 and 1990 and on how far the results of the 1990 survey confirm or lead us to question the earlier findings.