This paper explores the use of system modelling as an approach for appraising critical infrastructure systems. It reports on focus group findings with relation to the system modelling aspects of a critical infrastructure security analysis and modelling framework. Specifically, this discussion focuses on the interpretations of a focus group in terms of the likely benefits or otherwise of system ...

The Internet is an invaluable resource for critical care clinicians. However, the search for useful Internet resources can be frustrating and time-consuming. In this issue, Critical Care launches a new section entitled ‘Web Reports’, which will regularly provide critical appraisal of Internet resources that may be of interest to critical care health care workers.

Despite the increasing popularity of the concept of ‘public value’ within both academic and practice settings, there has to date been no formal review of the literature on its provenance, empirical basis, and application. This paper seeks to fill this gap. It provides a critical introduction to public value and its conceptual development before presenting the main elements of the published lite...

As physicians' requirements for knowledge and skills evolve, medical educators often encounter the need for new curricula. This article presents an approach to identifying, appraising, and adapt-ing an established curriculum as an alternative to developing a new one. A published managed care curriculum is reviewed as an educational case example.

BACKGROUND Increasing incidences of dementia necessitate the improvement of supportive measures for patients suffering from this disease and their proxies. Clinicians without psychiatric backgrounds and others involved in appraising the supportive needs of dementia patients, such as those who allocate nursing insurance, base their appraisals on the ability of patients to perform basic and instr...

Background: Compassion in healthcare represents an ideal way of interacting with patients. It entails an active response to suffering, distress or discomfort that can be associated with people seeking health related support or treatment. However, reports from within healthcare highlight that compassionate care (CC) is not always achieved. It may be especially problematic when trying to work wit...

The AGREE II instrument has 3 goals e to assess the quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), to provide a methodologic strategy for the development of guidelines, and to recommend how and what information should be reported in guidelines. Of these, the main purpose seems to be to assess guideline quality (i.e., ‘‘confidence that the potential biases of guideline development have been add...

appropriate evaluation procedures. Given the existence of multiple evaluation models, counselors would benefit by having a systematic means for identifying the evaluation model best suited for the task at hand. This article responds to that need by presenting a conceptual framework or meta-model for appraising the utility of existing evaluation models and for identifying the evaluation procedur...