PURPOSE The aim of this paper is to investigate how waiting lists or queues could be reduced without adding more resources; and to describe what factors sustain reduced waiting-times. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH Cases were selected according to successful and sustained queue reduction. The approach in this study is action research. FINDINGS Accessibility improved as out-patient waiting list...

BACKGROUND Personalized feedback is a promising self-help for problem gamblers. Such interventions have shown consistently positive results with other addictive behaviours, and our own pilot test of personalized normative feedback materials for gamblers yielded positive findings. The current randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness, and the sustained efficacy, of the personalized...

The primary aim of the current study was to further investigate the deleterious effects of safety-seeking behaviors on fear reduction by disentangling the effects of perceived availability of threat-relevant safety behaviors during treatment versus their actual use. Participants (N=72) displaying marked claustrophobic fear were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 conditions: (a) exposure only (EO), (b)...

BACKGROUND Employing waiting list control designs in psychological and behavioral intervention research may artificially inflate intervention effect estimates. This exploratory randomized controlled trial tested this proposition in a study employing a brief intervention for problem drinkers, one domain of research in which waiting list control designs are used. METHODS All participants (N = 1...

OBJECTIVE To conduct a randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of a family-based intervention delivered to Burmese migrant families displaced in Thailand on parenting and family functioning. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURES Participants included 479 Burmese migrant families from 20 communities in Thailand. Families, including 513 caregivers and 479 children aged 7 to 15 years, were random...

Earlier this year, a paper in Hospital Quarterly, "Creating a Surgical Wait List Management Strategy for Saskatchewan," described the development of a surgical wait list strategy for Saskatchewan. The initial strategy development process uncovered several issues that needed to be addressed including lack of data, inconsistent priorities and frustration on the parts of both providers and patient...

The current trial examined the value of modifying empirically validated treatment for childhood anxiety for application via written materials for parents of anxious children. Two hundred sixty-seven clinically anxious children ages 6-12 years and their parents were randomly allocated to standard group treatment, waitlist, or a bibliotherapy version of treatment for childhood anxiety. In general...

in the private realm. Thus far, Canadians have chosen the ethical principle of distributive justice over that of autonomy as the foundation of their health care system. It will take a great deal of dedication and persistence from medicare’s supporters to keep this foundation from crumbling. A meaningful and accurate understanding of waiting lists that is transparent to physicians, patients and ...

The recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes a major expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults in 2014. This paper describes the Oregon Health Study, a randomized controlled trial that will be able to shed some light on the likely effects of such expansions. In 2008, Oregon randomly drew names from a waiting list for its previously closed public insurance program. O...

Universal access to anti-retroviral (ARV) medication for HIV/AIDS is the clarion call of the WHO/UNAIDS 3 by 5 Initiative. Treatment coverage, however, remains highly uneven. This sharpens the question of who exactly is accessing ARVs and whether access is challenging inequality or reinforcing it. Issues of distributive justice have long been debated in health policy, but the practical challeng...