The growing focus on performance review and monitoring means that awareness and use of performance indicators has increased throughout a number of public services. Set within a national context, this book reviews the historical development and measurement issues of performance indicators within social care and the public sector for older people. It then provides an approach to effective local performance measurement in services for older people and an organizing framework within which organizations can arrange their performance appraisal for older people's services. The development of performance review in social care of older people is examined, as is the process of developing local performance measures and engaging staff in enquiry and quality management. The book also reviews the process of developing performance indicators and their utilization at an agency level. Performance Indicators in Social Care for Older People will be of particular interest in the UK for local service providers who are developing approaches for local performance review. It will also be of interest internationally, especially in countries where services for older people are currently developing in a similar direction.

Created to assist students in speech-language pathology graduate programs, the Dysphagia Assessment and Treatment Planning Workbook: A Team Approach, Fifth Edition facilitates knowledge retention and supports skill development as a companion to Dr. Rebecca Leonard and Dr. Katherine Kendall’s Dysphagia Assessment and Treatment Planning: A Team Approach, Fifth Edition textbook. Practical exercises and application activities, drawn from Dr. Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer’s experience teaching and training graduate students and colleagues in dysphagia, are included in the workbook to increase understanding of and engagement with each chapter in the associated textbook. The workbook features quiz questions, figure labeling, case-based problem solving, application of videofluoroscopic and FEES measures or ratings, and report writing practice. Answers or model responses are provided at the end of the workbook for the reader’s reference. The exercises are designed to clarify and expand on information presented in the textbook and should be of interest not only to students but also to practicing clinicians seeking fresh approaches. The activities and questions provided in the Dysphagia Assessment and Treatment Planning Workbook, Fifth Edition will help readers improve their understanding and implementation of clinical instruction in the area of dysphagia. They have been fully updated to align with the content of the new edition of the textbook. Disclaimer: Please note that ancillary content including case studies and the bonus chapter are not included as published in the original print version of this book.

Are international courts effective tools for international governance? Do they fulfill the expectations that led to their creation and empowerment? Why do some courts appear to be more effective than others, and do so such appearances reflect reality? Could their results have been produced by other mechanisms? This book evaluates the effectiveness of international courts and tribunals by comparing their stated goals to the actual outcomes they achieve. Using a theoretical model borrowed from social science, the book assesses their effectiveness by analysing key empirical data. Its first part is dedicated to theory and methodology, laying out the effectiveness model, explaining its different components, its promise and limits, and discussing the measurement challenges it faces. The second part analyses the role that indicators such as jurisdiction, judicial independence, legitimacy, and compliance play in achieving effectiveness. Part three applies the effectiveness model to the International Court of Justice, the WTO dispute settlement mechanisms (panels and Appellate Body), the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights, and the European Court of Justice, reflecting the diversity of the field of international adjudication. Given the recent proliferation of international courts and tribunals, this book makes an important contribution towards understanding and measuring the value that these institutions provide.

New drugs, new devices, improved surgical techniques, and innovative diagnostic procedures and equipment emerge rapidly. But development of these technologies has outpaced evaluation of their safety, efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and ethical and social consequences. This volume, which is "strongly recommended" by The New England Journal of Medicine "to all those interested in the future of the practice of medicine," examines how new discoveries can be translated into better care, and how the current system's inefficiencies prevent effective health care delivery. In addition, the book offers detailed profiles of 20 organizations currently involved in medical technology assessment, and proposes ways to organize U.S. efforts and create a coordinated national system for evaluating new medical treatments and technology.

Nuclear medicine is the bridge between a particular clinical problern and a relevant test using radionuclides. It began as a minor technical tool used in a few branches of medicine, notably endocrinology and nephrology. However, throughout the world it has now become established as a clinical discipline in its own right, with specific training programmes, special skills and a particular approach to patient management. Although the practising nuclear medicine physician must necessarily learn a great deal of basic science and technology, a sound medical training and a clinical approach to the subject remains of fundamental importance. It is for this reason that we have attempted in this book to approach the subject from a clinical standpoint, including where necessary relevant physiological material. There exist many excellent texts which cover the basic science and technology of nuclear medicine. We have, therefore, severely limited our coverage of these aspects of the subject to matters which we felt tobe essential, particularly those which have been less well covered in other texts- for example, the contents of Chapter 20 on Measurement by Royal and McNeill. Similarly, we have limited details of methodology to skeletal summaries of protocol (Appendix 1) and have included at the end of some chapters descriptions of particular techniques where we and the authors felt that it would be helpful.

For the first time, a single reference identifies medical technology assessment programs. A valuable guide to the field, this directory contains more than 60 profiles of programs that conduct and report on medical technology assessments. Each profile includes a listing of report citations for that program, and all the reports are indexed under major subject headings. Also included is a cross-listing of technology assessment report citations arranged by type of technology headings, brief descriptions of approximately 70 information sources of potential interest to technology assessors, and addresses and descriptions of 70 organizations with memberships, activities, publications, and other functions relevant to the medical technology assessment community.

Is the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system (DSS) effective? How exactly is the effectiveness of this adjudicative system to be defined and measured? Is its effectiveness all about compliance? If not, what goals, beyond compliance, is the WTO DSS expected to achieve? Has it fulfilled these objectives so far, and how can their achievement and the system's effectiveness be enhanced in the future? Building on a theoretical model derived from the social sciences, this book lays down the analytical framework required to answer these questions, while crafting a revealing insider's account of the WTO DSS-one of the most important and debated sites of the evolving international judiciary. Drawing on interviews with WTO adjudicators, WTO Secretariat staff, ambassadors, trade delegates, and trade lawyers, the book offers an elaborate analysis of the various goals steering the DSS's work, the diverse roles it plays, the challenges it confronts, and the outcomes it produces. Through this insider look at the WTO DSS and detailed examination of landmark trade disputes, the book uncovers the oft-hidden dynamics of WTO adjudication and provides fresh perspective on the DSS's operation and the undercurrents affecting its effectiveness. Given the pivotal role the WTO DSS has assumed in the multilateral trading regime since its inception in 1995 and the systemic pressures it has recently come to face, this book makes an important contribution towards understanding and measuring the benefits (as well as the costs) this adjudicative body generates, while providing valuable insights into current debates on its reform.

Providing students and practitioners with a comprehensive introduction to evaluation research, this book shows how social research methods and methodologies can be applied in a variety of evaluation contexts. The author: - illustrates the contribution both quantitative and qualitative methods can make to evaluation; - stresses the important part played by theory in the evaluation enterprise; - introduces some of the conceptual, methodological and practical problems encountered when undertaking this type of applied research, especially in the areas of criminal justice, health care and education.