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Purpose: To appraise the application of accepted good practice guidance on public involvement in assistive technology research and to identify its impact on the research team, the public, device and trial design. Methods: Critical reflection and within-project evaluation were undertaken in a case study of the development of a functional electrical stimulation device. Individual and group interviews were undertaken with lay members of a 10 strong study user advisory group and also research team members. Results: Public involvement was seen positively by research team members, who reported a positive impact on device and study designs. The public identified positive impact on confidence, skills, self-esteem, enjoyment, contribution to improving the care of others and opportunities for further involvement in research. A negative impact concerned the challenge of engaging the public in dissemination after the study end. Conclusions: The public were able to impact significantly on the design of an assistive technology device which was made more fit for purpose. Research team attitudes to public involvement were more positive after having witnessed its potential first hand. Within-project evaluation underpins this case study which presents a much needed detailed account of public involvement in assistive technology design research to add to the existing weak evidence base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most influential and apparently enduring models of the political-bureaucratic relations has been the 'Whitehall model' derived from British practices. Yet the relationship between bureaucrats and politicians in Britain, often poorly understood in the past, has changed in recent years to such an extent that the continued existence of the 'Whitehall model' can be doubted. This article draws on published sources and, for background, interviews conducted since 1989 with higher (Grade III and above) civil servants and current or former ministers to explore how and why the Whitehall model is threatened with extinction. The wider implications of this development for British policy making and for the study of the relations between bureaucrats and politicians are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents for the first time an outline of a classified review of the many types (some 20) of public policy inquiry or review exercises used in British public affairs. They are mainly created by the government but are also increasingly promoted by private bodies hoping to influence government and the established specialist interests in a policy field by supplying free and authoritative information and recommendations. A brief commentary on each of these ‘decision advice processes’ (DAPs) draws out their changing profile and questions the democratic propriety of the executive itself now investigating or reviewing important public policy issues which were, until quite recently, unquestioningly given out by departments for external and (normally) independent‐minded commissions and committees of inquiry to study and recommend upon. The question of whether the current movement for constitutional reform should include the overall ‘decision advice process’ and place it on a more independent and authoritative basis is raised. A parliamentary, rather than (or as well as) an executive, basis for most official ‘DAPs’ is proposed, while the currently flourishing practice of charitable foundations, think‐tanks and established interest groups promoting unofficial DAPs for the information and guidance of the government, parliament and the public is endorsed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We sought to establish the effects on cognitive performance and autonomic arousal of a multi-electrode transcutaneous electrical sensory stimulator compared with single-electrode stimulation. Progressing from a feasibility study (n = 10) to a repeated-measures, within-subject study (n = 67), healthy, righthanded participants (34 male, mean age 28 ± 11.5 yrs.) received four separate predictable ("lines" or "ring") or unpredictable ("fly" or "random") complex electrical stimulation patterns to the non-dominant forearm via 24 individually programmable electrodes, or single-electrode stimulation. During stimulation, participants in the main study performed a series of cognitively demanding tests or a two-point discrimination task and had their autonomic arousal (skin conductance response) monitored. Single-electrode "first felt" current intensity decreased from distal to proximal forearm, was positively correlated with forearm circumference and was lower in females. Single-electrode stimulation was associated with a significant decline in two-point discrimination performance. There were no significant autonomic arousal or cognitive performance differences between complex patterns, but all patterns were associated with greater autonomic arousal than single-electrode stimulation. In conclusion, gender and forearm location and circumference significantly influence perception-levels for electrical current. Future research should examine whether the induction of increased autonomic arousal, via multi-electrode complex patterns, has improved therapeutic application, compared with single-electrode stimulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]