Increasing Follow-Up Rates at a Free Clinic

This project aimed to increase the follow-up visit rates at a free medical clinic and evaluate the effects of SMS messaging on follow-up adherence, regardless of whether patients scheduled their follow-up appointments prior to leaving the clinic or if they received paper reminder cards. The use of the SMS application increased overall follow-up rate by 7%. This project supports that patients who received reminder messages via the SMS application kept their follow-up appointments consistently.     

Prospective memory intervention using visual imagery in individuals with brain injury

Prospective memory deficits are common after brain injury and can create impediments to independent living. Most approaches to management of such deficits are compensatory, such as the use of notebooks or electronic devices. While these can be effective, a restorative approach, in theory, could lead to greater generalisation of treatment. In the current study a metacognitive technique, using visual imagery, was employed under conditions of rote repetition and spaced retrieval. Treatment was provided in an AB-BA crossover design with A as the active treatment and B as a no-treatment attention control to 20 individuals with brain injury. A group of 20 healthy participants served to control for effects of re-testing. Individuals with brain injury demonstrated improvement on the main outcome measure of prospective memory, the Memory for Intentions Screening Test, only after the active treatment condition. In addition, some generalisation of treatment was measured in daily life. Moreover, treatment gains were maintained for one year after treatment was completed.     

Error rates in proficiency testing in Australia

ABSTRACT

Recent criticism of forensic science has focused on the fundamental aspects of the science, including the lack of supporting empirical studies, validation, accreditation, limitations and error rates. Proficiency tests are an essential component of accreditation and can be used to evaluate laboratory performance and identify systematic issues within components of the service provision. In 2016 we reported on the results of an analysis of 3176 CTS proficiency tests undertaken between 2005 and 2015 by Australian government service providers. The data analysed represented 43 unique CTS test types and covered 21 disciplines. Here we present further data from 2016 to 2017 and compare these results with those obtained from the previous study. These combined results further demonstrate that errors exist even though practitioners know they are examining proficiency tests and the tests undergo a review process. This study illustrates the need to continue to monitor trends in proficiency test results and also further highlights the need for well-designed, relevant, blind error rate studies to determine the approximate error rates for casework.