Why This Book Is Needed
A conceptual introduction sets forth the book’s aim: to guide clinical social work students (and practicing clinicians) to explore assessment from a range of theoretical frameworks, each with its own emphasis, limitations, and form of evidence, and to think critically about what each perspective has to offer, takes for granted, omits, and counts as knowledge. It begins by exploring the meaning of the key terms “critical thinking,” “diagnosis,” and “assessment” and draws on both theory and research to trace how these concepts have been addressed in social work education and practice. Following an overview of the book’s structure and content, including introduction to the case of Ray (a case that will be used throughout the chapters and analyzed from each clinical perspective), the introduction concludes with specific suggestions for educators about ways to use the book to develop complex, reflexive, and critical thinking in their students.
The Role of Information Retrieval in the Diagnostic/Decision making Process within the Medical Appointment: A Review of the Literature
ABSTRACT Information retrieval/memory recall by patients/carers within the medical appointment is reported to be of paramount importance to the diagnostic/decision-making process within the medical appointment and hence to the outcome of the medical encounter itself. The rationale behind this paper (second in a series of papers) is to delve into the current literature to ascertain the pervasiveness of long-term information retrieval/memory recall concepts within this intricate environment, including the disease states in which patient information retrieval/memory recall research has been conducted, affording an analysis of research activities in order to identify the gaps in knowledge that currently exist. A rigorous systematic process detected 49 papers that clearly consider information retrieval/memory recall events within the medical appointment. Content analysis was conducted using a Concept-Centric Matrix in conjunction with open-coding techniques, giving rise to the detection of 227 concepts, which were subsequently assembled into 63 categories. Our analysis reveals the prevalence of long-term information retrieval/memory recall concepts, and the disease states that have conducted patient information retrieval/memory recall research (within the medical appointment) reported in writings over the past 43 years. Additionally, we have advanced our conceptual model of memory recall/information retrieval within the elicitation phase of the medical appointment, which we first presented in an earlier paper . The current paper is of significance as it facilitates an augmented understanding of information retrieval/memory recall (and the importance of same to the diagnostic/decision-making process and to patient outcomes, within the medical appointment. Furthermore, the exploration serves to highlight a number of IS research opportunities.
The Impact of EU Unfair Contract Terms Law on U.S. Business-to-Consumer Internet Merchants
When the Court of Appeals for Versailles issued its decision in AOL France v. UFC Que Choisir2 in September 2005, it sent the message to U.S. Internet businesses that even contractual boilerplate localized for European markets may be invalid in European consumer transactions. In that case, a French consumer advocacy group challenged the terms AOL offered its French customers after AOL had made extensive revisions to its standard form contracts to respond to the concerns regarding those terms expressed in an advisory opinion by a French consumer protection agency. In 2004, a trial court invalidated nearly every term in the revised agreement; the appeals court affirmed on all counts. Subsequently, in July 2006 following concerns raised by the Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”), a United Kingdom government agency charged with “making sure markets work well for consumers,”3 Dell Corporation Limited changed its online terms and conditions to make them fairer to consumers.4 European consumer contract law had an impact in both cases. At issue for AOL France and Dell Corporation Limited was the application of France’s and the UK’s consumer contract law which is based on the Unfair Contract Terms Directive of 19945 and calls into question the validity of many of the terms that U.S. courts routinely enforce in transactions involving American consumers and merchants.