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Wandering, or random movement, affects cognitive and social skills. However, we lack methods to objectively measure wandering behavior. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the use of the Ubisense real-time location system (RTLS) in an early childhood setting to explore wandering in typically developing (TD) children (n = 2) and children with or at risk for developmental disabilities (WA-DD; n = 3). We used the Ubisense RTLS, a tool for capturing locations of individuals in indoor environments, and Fractal Dimension (FD) to measure the degree of wandering or the straightness of a path. Results of this descriptive, observational study indicated the Ubisense RTLS collected 46,229 1-s location estimates across the five children, and TD children had lower FD (M = 1.36) than children WA-DD (M = 1.42). Children WA-DD have more nonlinear paths than TD children. Implications for measuring wandering are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opinions of cognitively intact current wheelchair users and their professional caregivers were solicited to explore acceptability of the concept of a passive electric wheelchair-mounted movement monitor to track driving safety and cognitive impairment. Two focus groups of electric wheelchair users (N = 9), and two focus groups of staff caregivers (N = 8) were conducted at a congregate care facility. Participants also completed a questionnaire examining their perceptions of the concept. The results indicated most wheelchair users and staff caregivers were receptive to the idea of a passive safety monitoring system for wheelchairs to detect cognitive impairment. Three main and interrelated themes emerged regarding how the device could promote safety, how such a system might infringe upon the users' autonomy, and how and to whom the cognitive state information should be communicated. Legal, training, and marketing issues reflected similar concerns over balancing autonomy with safety issues. If successfully addressed, it appears there would be support for the device's use not only for older adults in institutional settings, but perhaps also among community living younger and older adults. A passive safety monitoring system for wheelchairs is acceptable to wheelchair users and can be successfully marketed if developers balance autonomy and safety concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Females incarcerated for drug-related offenses represent one of the fastest growing populations within jails and prisons. The few studies of female offenders with substance abuse disorders depict a population with multiple psychosocial problems and treatment needs, and one that is characterized by frequent exposure to sexual abuse and other violence. The current study examined intake assessment results from a sample of 1,655 substance-involved jail inmates referred to a jail treatment program in Tampa, Florida, including 26% female and 74% male inmates. The study was designed to identify gender differences in psychosocial characteristics and substance abuse treatment needs among jail inmates. Results indicate that female inmates more frequently experienced employment problems, had lower incomes, more frequently reported cocaine as the primary drug of choice, and were more likely to report depression, anxiety, suicidal behavior, and a history of physical and sexual abuse. Implications for developing specialized treatment approaches for female offenders are discussed, including use of integrated treatment strategies. Keywords - drug abuse: alcohol abuse: women: drug abuse treatment; inmates.

The current study evaluates the extent of prior drug use and psychosocial dysfunction related to drug use among 499 jail inmates referred to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Substance Abuse Treatment Program. Results indicate that inmates were involved with drugs for an average of more than 7 years, and with cocaine for almost 5 years. The majority of inmates reported extremely heavy use of drugs in the month prior to the last arrest, including 83% that had used cocaine. Many drug-dependent inmates reported a shift over time from intranasal to freebase cocaine use. Half of all referrals indicated a pattern of regular use within a year of involvement with drugs. The need for lengthy, heavily structured, and intensive treatment approaches for drug-dependent jail inmates is underscored by a history of chronic cocaine and polydrug abuse, a compulsive pattern of drug use, few successful periods of voluntary abstinence, and severe disruption in vocational, social, and psychological functioning. Their history of infrequent and unsuccessful involvement in rehabilitation programs reflects a significant need for compulsory treatment following release from jail, community supervision to ensure compliance with treatment, and development of linkages between jail drug treatment programs, courts, and community treatment providers., INTRODUCTION The increase in drug-related crime in recent years has had a significant impact on criminal justice and correctional systems. The largest group of new offenders entering these systems are [...]

Thc recent drug use epidemic has led to a significant increase in the number of incarcerated drug-involved inmates throughout the country and has challenged jail and prison administrators to develop programs to reduce drug relapse and drug-related crime. In response to increasing problems of drug dependence among jail inmates, the US. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in 1987 funded development of three model demonstration jail substance abuse treatment programs. The current study reviews findings from an evaluation of 535 inmates admitted to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Substance Abuse Treatment Program, in Tampa, Florida from 1988 to 1991. Evaluation findings indicate that over a one-year period following release from custody, inmates participating in the six-week jail treatment program remained significantly longer in the community until rearrest, experienced fewer arrests, and served less jail time in comparison to a group of untreated inmates. Significant improvements were also observed in program participants' abilities to use coping skills to effectively respond to high risk situations for drug relapse, in acquisition of knowledge regarding relapse prevention and recovely principles, and in self-confidence in dealing with high risk situations. Implications for development of jail substance abuse treatment programs and for further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wandering, or random movement, affects cognitive and social skills. However, we lack methods to objectively measure wandering behavior. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the use of the Ubisense real-time location system (RTLS) in an early childhood setting to explore wandering in typically developing (TD) children ( n = 2) and children with or at risk for developmental disabilities (WA-DD; n = 3). We used the Ubisense RTLS, a tool for capturing locations of individuals in indoor environments, and Fractal Dimension (FD) to measure the degree of wandering or the straightness of a path. Results of this descriptive, observational study indicated the Ubisense RTLS collected 46,229 1-s location estimates across the five children, and TD children had lower FD ( M = 1.36) than children WA-DD ( M = 1.42). Children WA-DD have more nonlinear paths than TD children. Implications for measuring wandering are discussed.

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a robust algorithm for indoor and outdoor wandering pattern detection and to analyse the relationship of these patterns to other clinical measures. Much of the previous work in this area addressed the measurement of wandering indoors or outdoors and to the best of our knowledge, there has not been a unified algorithm proposed which can deal with both scenarios. We present a novel grid-based layout representation strategy to identify the patterns, which is applicable to both indoor and outdoor scenarios. The algorithm is sufficiently robust to identify interleaving and hybrid patterns and performed with identification accuracy of 90% on a real-world sample.