Informational nudges as an effective approach in raising awareness among young adults about the risk of future disability

As many consumers have neither sufficient time nor the cognitive and motivational resources to deal with complex insurance decisions, the mere provision of information might not be enough to influence consumer perception and choice. The way such information is presented might also affect any decision made. This paper focuses on the risk of becoming unable to continue in a profession as a result of illness or an accident. In collaboration with an insurance company, we examined the effectiveness of ‘informational nudging’ (i.e. providing information which acts as a nudge) in sensitizing young adults to the potential risk of disability. In a pre‐study, an online survey (n = 1003) was conducted to assess the main barriers preventing young Swiss adults from participating in private provision. Based on the results of the pre‐study, we developed four ‘informational nudges’ and tested their effects on risk awareness and insurance choices among young adults using an online experiment (n = 240). We found that by presenting information on a company website in such a way that heuristics such as availability or loss aversion were exploited, enhanced risk awareness and a corresponding increase in insurance preferences were observed to some degree. However, the informational nudges did not motivate the participants to investigate the issues any further. Indeed, the results suggested that informational nudging could be an effective tool in raising participant awareness, but that future research is needed to understand better the interplay between automatic and deliberate processes activated by the informational nudges. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the advancement and software support of decision‐making in focused ultrasound therapy

Focused ultrasound therapy (FUS) is a modern and promising way for minimally invasive cancer treatment. Recent advances in treatment technology, bio‐physical models, and numerical simulation methods have given rise to a significant curative potential. However, clinical routine of FUS still features classical planning approaches, which widely fail in exploiting this potential. The structure of FUS planning problems strongly suggests interactive multi‐criteria decision‐making concepts in order to improve treatment quality. This research work introduces an multi‐criteria decision‐making approach to FUS planning and explains how to bridge the conceptual gap between the clinical state of the art and this new planning paradigm.     

Treating Prepartum Depression to Improve Infant Developmental Outcomes: A Study of Diabetes in Pregnancy

Whether and how the co-occurrence of depression and diabetes in pregnancy may worsen infant development has not been reported. Pregnant women with diabetes and with (n?=?34) or without (n?=?34) major depressive disorder (MDD) were followed during pregnancy and 6-months postpartum. The MDD subset received randomly assigned treatment with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or supportive counseling (SC). Depression severity was measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); infant developmental outcomes were measured with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) and its Behavior Rating Scale (BRS). Infants of women with MDD had lower BRS scores (p?=?.02). Reduction in depression scores was associated with better infant outcomes on the BSID and BRS (p values <.03). These preliminary findings suggest depression occurring in pregnant women with diabetes is associated with poorer infant development and improvement in prepartum depression is associated with improvement in measures of infant development.     

Comparisons Between Patients Diagnosed with PTSD in Primary Care Versus Mental Health Care in Five Large Civilian Health Care Systems

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health disorder that may not be adequately detected or treated in primary care (PC)....     

Training to increase safe tray carrying among cocktail servers

We evaluated the effects of training on proper carrying techniques among 3 cocktail servers to increase safe tray carrying on the job and reduce participants' risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders. As participants delivered drinks to their tables, their finger, arm, and neck positions were observed and recorded. Each participant received individual safety training that focused on proper carrying positions and techniques after baseline data were collected. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of the safety training. Results showed that the training increased safe carrying for all 3 participants.