Consumers,physicians, and payors: A triad of conflicting interests

The dynamic changes in American health care are significiantly deeper than technological advancement alone. Consumers, physicians, and third party payors are all assuming new roles in the system. The balance of medical control is radically shifting. Unless the three parties come together in a mutual partnership, needed improvements will not occur and what is currently good in the system will be lost. The key to this important partnership is the consumer.     

Gender Rules: Same- and Cross-Gender Friendships Norms

We examined the relationships between gender and attitudes towards same- and cross-gender friendship norms for a sample of 269 West Coast, U.S., college students. Participants evaluated violations of friendship norms described in vignettes in which the friend’s gender was experimentally manipulated. Women differentiated more between types of violations in their evaluations than did men. There also were several significant gender differences in approval of norm violations. As expected, women tended to have relatively high expectations of their friendships in situations involving trust and intimacy, likely resulting from the high value they placed on affiliation and emotional closeness. Women were more disapproving than men of a friend who canceled plans or failed to come to their defense publicly. Men and women judged a woman who betrayed a secret more harshly than a man. Generally, expectations for cross-gender, versus same-gender, friends were more similar than different; there were no significant cross-gender interactions, with one exception. Men were particularly less approving of a male, as compared to a female, friend who kissed them in a greeting. Furthermore, an overwhelming majority of respondents (81.6%) reported that men and women can be friends. A minority of women were cautious in their responses, with women (18.5%) more apt to reply “maybe,” than men (9.9%). Overall, these findings provided evidence that gender, rather than cross-gender, norms primarily influenced friendship evaluations, and demonstrated that even a subtle manipulation of gender can trigger gender stereotypes. They suggested, too, that women may hold their friends to stricter “rules” than men.     

Cognitive performance in older adults with stable heart failure: Longitudinal evidence for stability and improvement

Cognitive impairment is prevalent in heart failure (HF), though substantial variability in the pattern of cognitive impairment is found across studies. To clarify the nature of cognitive impairment in HF, we examined longitudinal trajectories across multiple domains of cognition in HF patients using latent growth class modeling. 115 HF patients completed a neuropsychological battery at baseline, 3-months and 12-months. Participants also completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Latent class growth analyses revealed a three-class model for attention/executive function, four-class model for memory, and a three-class model for language. The slope for attention/executive function and language remained stable, while improvements were noted in memory performance. Education and BDI-II significantly predicted the intercept for attention/executive function and language abilities. The BDI-II also predicted baseline memory. The current findings suggest that multiple performance-based classes of neuropsychological test performance exist within cognitive domains, though case-controlled prospective studies with extended follow-ups are needed to fully elucidate changes and predictors of cognitive function in HF.     

Twenty Years of the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings: We Hope You Will Enjoy the Show

The 20th anniversary of the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings is celebrated by highlighting the scientist-practitioner philosophy on which it was founded. The goal of the Journal—to provide an outlet for evidence-based approaches to healthcare that underscore the important scientific and clinical contributions of psychology in medical settings—is discussed. The contemporary relevance of this approach is related to the current implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care and its focus on accountability and the development of an interprofessional healthcare workforce; both of which have been foci of the Journal throughout its history and will continue to be so into the future. Several recommendations of future topic areas for the Journal to highlight regarding scientific, practice, policy, and education and training in professional health service psychology are offered. Successfully addressing these topics will support the growth of the field of psychology in the ever evolving healthcare system of the future and continue ensure that the Journal is a key source of professional information in health service psychology.     

On Not Three Male Gods: Retrieving Wisdom in Trinitarian Discourse

Abstract : In response to recent debates over gender and the Trinity, this essay examines how biblical texts concerning Christ as the Wisdom of God played a crucial role in developing the case for the co‐equal Trinity. The theme of wisdom not only helps us understand why trinitarian doctrine precludes a tritheism of three male gods or a hierarchy within the Trinity, but it also provides insight into what lies at the heart of the Trinity and the incarnation.     

How to Collaborate Well

In this paper, I answer the question, how do we collaborate well with others? I first look at cases of good collaboration, contrasting them briefly with some cases of poor collaboration; I then describe the similarities between the good cases, such as shared aims, shared planning of projects, shared norms among collaborators. The conclusion is that collaborating well involves shared norms, derived both from societal norms and from a well-ordered relationship between participants; a shared vision derived from shared knowledge and open communication grounded in relationship; and open-mindedness and thoughtful disagreement, which depend on mutual respect and trust between participants.     

Postmodernizing the Unconscious with the Help of Derrida and Lyotard

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -