Providing medical care in state psychiatric hospitals.

Background: Dorothea Dix State Psychiatric Hospital (DDH) was cited by regulatory agencies in 1999-2001 for serious deficiencies in providing medical care to psychiatric patients. This resulted in a change in the discipline responsible for providing medical care. We report here how clinical staff and regulatory agencies evaluated the change.

Interventions for promoting booster seat use in four to eight year olds traveling in motor vehicles.

Background: Public health and traffic safety agencies recommend use of booster seats in motor vehicles for children aged four to eight years, and various interventions have been implemented to increase their use by individuals who transport children in motor vehicles. There is little evidence regarding the effectiveness of these interventions, hence the need to examine what works and what does not.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of interventions intended to increase acquisition and use of booster seats in motor vehicles among four to eight year olds.

Safety behavior of in-line skaters.

Objectives And Setting: Injuries from in-line skating have risen sharply in many cities around the world. To understand risk taking behavior and safety practices associated with urban in-line skating, 2210 outdoor skaters were observed in Boston, Massachusetts.

Methods: Estimated age, gender, use of helmets, wrist guards, elbow and kneepads were recorded.

Skateboarding: more dangerous than roller skating or in-line skating.

Objective: To describe the circumstances, severity, and outcomes of skating-related injuries among children admitted to trauma centers.

Design: A cross-sectional comparison of roller skaters (n = 154), in-line skaters (n = 190), and skateboarders (n = 254) aged 5 to 19 years who were hospitalized with injuries.

Setting: Seventy-nine hospitals and pediatric trauma centers participating in the National Pediatric Trauma Registry between October 1988 and April 1997.

Admitting paediatric trauma patients to rehabilitation following acute care: decision making practices in the USA and Australia.

Paediatric patient access to rehabilitation services following trauma has significant long-term implications for clients, their families and the community. The aim of this research was to examine and compare the process by which patients are discharged from acute care and enter rehabilitation in the USA and Australia. The subjects were 31 American and 29 Australian discharge and rehabilitation admission coordinators.