Philippe Starck is one of the most renowned contemporary French designer/architects in the world. His work ranges from the most acclaimed buildings and interiors to the most ubiquitous kitchen tools.
Birth and childhood
Born in Paris in 1949 to an aircraft designer and manufacturer, Starck was initiated into the world of design at an early age; his childhood was spent drawing, cutting, dismantling and gluing things at his father’s workshop (Philippe Starck, n.d.).
Education and Career
During the mid-sixties, Starck attended the Ecole Nissim de Camondo in Paris. It was in 1968 when he started his first company, specializing in inflatable furniture. Between years 1976 to 1978, he became part of the design team of two night clubs in Paris, La Main Bleue and Les Bains-Douches, and in 1979, he founded his namesake company, Starck Products (Philippe Starck Biography, 2004).
Starck’s big break happened in 1982 when he was commissioned by the President of France, Mitterand to for the interior design and the refurbishment of his private apartments in Elysee Palace. From then he was able to found UBIK and became the designer of hotels and buildings around the world including Rouyalton Hotel in New York; Paramount Hotel in New York; Delano Hotel in Florida; Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles; Hudson Hotel in California; La Flamme Building in Tokyo; the Nani Nani office for Rikugo; Teatriz Café in Madrid; Groningen Museum in the Netherlands; The Green Baron Office Block in Osaka; and a whole street block in France, La Rue Starck, among others (Philippe Starck Biography, 2004).
Starck’s work is not limited to design and architecture of buildings. When his company became partners with Target Store, his designs started to penetrate the household. His works include the design of lines of products from furniture: tables, chairs, stools; electronics: lamps, radios, television; accessories and home tools: watches and toothbrushes and magazine racks; to kitchenware: his famous orange squeezer (Philippe Starck Biography, 2004).
Design
Starck’s design philosophy can be best described as “democratic”. This is substantiated in his answers in many of his interviews.
He told People magazine, “Good design can and should be part of everyday life. I’m always looking for magic in reality. For the same price, you can give a lot more love and respect and service to people” (Tauber, 2002). His reason for such philosophy is “…to make possible the most joyful and exciting experiences for the maximum number of people (A Starck reality check at target, 2002).”
Consistent with this philosophy, Starck’s design can be characterized by the prominence of its natural, smooth and simple lines; each essential element is confused to one original design to evince style, simplicity and class but without the opulence commonly associated with design (Designer Spotlight: Philippe Starck, 2008).
References
A Starck reality check at target. (2002). Retail Merchandiser. Retrieved 16 April 2009 from http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/4301093-1.html.
Designer Spotlight: Philippe Starck. (2008). Modern Design Blog. Retrieved 16 April 2009 from http://www.moderndesignblog.com/2008/07/designer-spotlight-philippe-starck.html.
Philippe Starck. (n.d.). In Design Technology. Retrieved 16 April 2009 from http://www.design-technology.org/starck1.htm.
Philippe Starck Biography. (2004). In Notable Biographies. Retrieved 16 April 2009, from http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2004-Q-Z/Starck-Philippe.html.
Tauber M. (2002). Starck Reality. People Magazine. Vol.58(22).
Trial Of Problem Solving And Depression Treatment
Subject
Research Critique of “Randomized controlled trial of problem solving treatment, antidepressant medication, and combined treatment for major depression in primary care” As stated by the Royal College of Nursing (1993), nurses should be able to expand their knowledge and skilled to initiate changes in their practice through reviewing and evaluating research studies. The foundation of nursing is an evidence-based practice that involves finding, critiquing and applying evidences within the field.
Critique research involves a careful examination of all aspects of the research so as to judge its strengths, weaknesses, purpose, and importance (Hek 1996). The aim of this paper is to critique the study of a randomized controlled trial of problem solving treatment, antidepressant medication, and combined treatment for major depression in primary care. The reason why I selected the mentioned study is because of its relevance to the filed of psychiatric nursing specifically the treatment of depression.
The current research critique uses the critique tools produced by the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ). The critique paper is divided into four sections: its relevance to my topic or question, the conclusions, my confidence in its findings, and how well the findings carry over to the settings I’m interested in.
Introduction
Based on the introduction of the study, the research was conducted to examine whether a combination of problem solving treatment with antidepressant medication is more effective than either treatment alone. The researchers also studied the effectiveness of problem solving treatment administered by practice nurses in comparison to general practitioners having both trained in the technique.
Its relevance to my topic or question
My research question is related to the treatment of depression and how nurses can take an active role in partner of the patient in his or her recovery. The PICO framework can be applied to the study with patients who are depressed as the population; the interventions used are problem solving treatment by research general practitioner or research practice nurse or antidepressant medication or a combination of problem solving treatment and antidepressant medication; the comparison between the subjects as groups were measured using Hamilton rating scale for depression, Beck Depression Inventory, clinical interview schedule, and the modified social adjustment schedule assessed at 6, 12, 52 weeks; and, finally, the outcome showed that patients have clear improvement over 12 weeks, the four kinds of treatments were effective, and the effectiveness of the four treatments regardless whether suitably trained practice nurses or general practitioners administered the problem solving or medication treatments.
The abstract of the paper showed the objectives, design, setting, participants, interventions, main outcome measures, results, and conclusions of the study. The researchers utilized a randomized, controlled trial with four treatment groups namely
- problem solving treatment given by research general practitioners;
- problem solving treatment given by research practice nurses;
- antidepressant medication given by research general practitioners;
- combined problem solving treatment and antidepressant medication.
The selection of the participants were based on the following criteria: aged 18 to 65 years old, have a depressive disorder that required treatment but not urgent hospital referral, scored 13 or above on the 17-item Hamilton rating scale for depression, and a minimum duration of illness of four weeks. Some patients were excluded from the study due to the presence of additional psychiatric disorder prior to the onset of depression; were receiving concurrent treatment with antidepressant medication or psychological treatment; had brain damage, learning difficulties, schizophrenia, drug dependence, recent alcohol abuse, or physical illness; have clinical condition inconsistent in the research protocol such as psychotic features or serious suicidal ideation.
As a result, a total of 151 patients met the entry criteria with 144 patients diagnosed to have definite depression while seven patients have probable major depression. While this is a good sample size, the problem lies with distribution of the sample. The sample number for patients with probable major depression, specifically, is rather low. An equal, if not almost equal, sample size with regard to the categories would have supported data analysis, when determining profound differences between the effectivity of various treatment approaches and definite depression diagnosis as opposed to the seven patients who have probable major depression.
The study addresses the issue concerning my research question of the treatment of depression and the role of nurses as a partner of the client and his or her recovery. The research study can also be applied to other branches of nursing care such as geriatric nursing where the nurse can take an active role in rehabilitation programs provided that nurses are trained on how to conduct and manage the necessary nursing intervention deemed appropriate to the recovery of the patients.
The abstract showed a shorter version of the conclusion that does not explicitly explain the overall findings of the study. The abstract simply stated the study arrived to a conclusion that problem-solving treatment is an effective treatment for depressive disorders in primary care. The combination of this treatment with antidepressant drugs is no more effective than either treatment alone.
The conclusion page, however, explained in detail how appropriately trained nurses can actively participate in the administration of the problem solving treatment given to patients. It also stated that the problem-solving treatment is a goal oriented, collaborative, and active process and focuses on the present. This process enables patients to gain a clear sense of involvement in the recovery process.
The conclusion also offered a recommendation that the treatment for depression is suitable for primary care because it’s relatively brief and can be given by primary care nurses. Lastly, the conclusion page stated recommendations for future studies specifically the first challenge for the future is to provide training for interested practice nurses in delivering the treatment as evaluated; and a need to evaluate a briefer adaptation of problem solving techniques can be used by general practitioners in their regular consultation.
The study results showed tables and figures as data gathered from the groups of participants. The conclusion were fairly in favor of the recovery of patients who belonged to the groups of problem solving by general practitioner, problem solving by nurse, and the combination of problem solving and medication treatment. It does not, however, reflect the decline or drop of the percentage of patients who recovered. Based on the table, it showed a drop of 4% of the number of patients who recovered on the 12th week and the 52nd week.
The review of related literature showed an accurate basis of the study. The literature review supports the study mainly because of studies such as problem solving treatment in primary care has been shown to be effective for major depression; the treatment has been shown to be effective when given by general practitioners; and that community nurses can be trained in problem solving techniques. The research study confirmed that nurses can be trained to administer problem solving techniques. Furthermore, the literature review also supports the purpose of problem solving treatment as a therapy to treat major depression.
The results compares to other studies in the sense that it affirms that nurses can be trained to provide psychological treatments successfully. In primary care, nurses have used behavioral methods to treat obsessional and phobic patients (Ginsberg et al. 1984). Nurses have also been used in primary care to try to improve compliance with antidepressant medication (Wilkinson et al. 1993). In hospitals, nurses also have been trained to incorporate problem-solving techniques in the counseling of patients after intentional self-harm (Hawton and Kirk 1989; Salkovskis et al. 1990). Thus, the quantitative study of the treatment of depression is supported by other studies.
The researchers chose to focus on the four treatment groups to determine whether there is any difference on the rate of effectiveness whether it is anti-depressant medications alone, solely problem solving treatment given by general practitioners, problem solving treatment given by nurses, or a combination of problem solving treatment and anti-depressant medication.
My confidence in its findings in the methods section
My confidence on the findings of the study is mainly on the large sample size, randomized and controlled manipulation of the subject groups, and characterized by PICO or patient, intervention, comparison and outcomes framework. Additionally, the methods section should have five principal elements that influence the quality of the findings namely the completeness of the model analyzed, the quality of the measures or methods, the quality of the data, the ability to control the differences between groups being compared, and the appropriateness of the statistical analyses.
The model analyzed pertains to the description of the dependent variable and independent variable. The independent variable of the study is the primary care of nurses and general practitioner while the dependent variable is the effectiveness of the treatment for depression. The relationship of the independent variable and the dependent variable correlates to the outcome of the study. Thus, the more efficient and well-trained the nurses and general practitioner are in the context of primary care then there is a higher rate of effectiveness of a particular treatment, among the four types, for depression. The study left out important variables such as the background and experience of the nurses and general practitioners and whether the same primary caregivers were rendered the treatment during the course of the 52-week study.
The study made use of the two most common tools to assess depression amongst adolescents and adults namely the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) as the main outcome measure and the Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI-II). The statistical analyses were based on the BDI II and HDRS data. The BDI-II is a self-report measure while the HDRS serves as an assessment used by therapists in clinical interviews to resolve the severity of depression in adults. The Hamilton Depression Inventory is composed of 38 questions design to determine 23 items linked with symptoms of depression (Reynolds & Kobak 1995).
Participants answered on a rating scale of zero to four. This assessment, commonly used in clinical research and practice, is doubted in terms of its standardization of scoring criteria and administration. On the other hand, the Beck Depression Inventory II assesses 21 items connected with symptoms of depression on a four-point scale of zero to three (Osman, Kopper & Barrios 2004). BDI II is a widely used assessment tool that has been updated in order to keep up with latest diagnostic criteria for depression based on the DSM-IV. It has been, however, questioned due to its reliability and validity in measuring depression in such individuals.
The location of test administration and the working relationship of the primary caregivers and patients can influence the data gathered. There is a greater likelihood that participants are biased on giving the expected positive responses to the tests given. It is because of the fact that the people who gathered data are their primary caregivers. The participants were not blinded to the purpose of the study hence promotes bias to the study.
There were four groups of subjects studied in the research. There are different from each other. The first group was given problem solving intervention by general practitioners, second group was given the same intervention but given by trained nurses, third group was medications only, and the fourth group was a combination of the problem solving technique and medications. Thus, the study has a wider range of control made possible by the four different groups to differentiate and compare the rate of effectiveness on the choice of treatment per group. The only drawback observed in the study is the time series aspect where it is expected that a higher rate of morbidity of participants can happen. It means there is a higher possibility that participants might withdraw from the research given its long duration of 52 weeks.
The study observed a randomization to minimize the differences between the groups being compared. The sample size is sufficiently large to provide a wider scope for comparison on their responses to treatments given to them, respectively.
The paper imparts a meaningful conclusion to further support other studies on how primary caregivers specifically nurses can participate in giving psychological treatments successfully. It provides a higher level of nursing care in a collaborative care when in partnership with the patient towards his or her recovery.
The research study was completed at 2000 at Warneford Hospital based in Oxford, Southeast England. The time or the course of the study was done on a course of 52 weeks. The treatment was usually given in the patient’s home or local health centre.
The circumstances involved in the study such as the year, location, duration of the study, selection criteria of subjects, and setting of the treatment (home or local health center) may be different in another cities in United Kingdom. Other health centers may not have as many willing participants as compared to the research study being criticized. The severity of depression also play a significant role to its treatment and how effectiveness of treatment given to the patient. Furthermore, some local health centers may not have adequate number of trained nurses who can render psychological interventions.
The limitations section is not found in the research paper. An implication of limitations of the study was integrated in the conclusion section. The researchers proposed that future studies should be made on evaluation of problem solving techniques used by general practitioners in their regular consultations as well as to provide training for interested practice nurses in delivering treatment for depression. While these points can be further researched in the future, the study failed to specify limitations such as a lack of homogenous sample groups such as severity of depression, consistent number of participants who completed the 52 weeks duration of the study, and the qualifications and experiences of the general practitioners and trained nurses.
Conclusion
The research paper provides an affirmation that primary care of nurse can be geared to the administration of psychological interventions. One of the outcomes of the study is that nurses can effectively render an active and positive role in a collaborative goal with patients towards recovery. Furthermore, the evidences from the research paper showed that depression could be effectively given through a combination of problem solving treatment and anti depressant medications. It further proved that the treatment of depression is unsuccessful when anti depressant medication is given without any problem solving treatment.
References
- Ginsberg, M. & Waters, H. (1984) Cost-benefit analysis of a controlled trial of nurse therapy for neuroses in primary care. Psychology Medicine Journal. 14:683-690.
- Grove, S. (2005) The Practice of Nursing Research: Conduct, Critique, and Utilization. Missourri: Elsevier Saunders.
- Hawton K, Kirk J. (1989) Problem-solving. In: Hawton K, Salkovskis PM, Kirk J, Clark DM (eds.) Cognitive Therapy for Psychiatric Problems: A Practical Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 406-426.
- Hek, G. (1996) Guidelines on conducting a critical research report. Nursing Standard. 11, 6, p40-43.
- Miller, J. (2007) Using Research and Data: Critiquing a Research
- Mynors-Wallis, L., Gath, D., Day, A., & Baker, F., (2000) Randomised controlled trial of problem solving treatment, antidepressant medication, and combined treatment for major depression in primary care. British Medical Journal. 320: 26-30.
- Osman, A., Kopper, B., & Barrios, F. (2004) Reliability and Validity of the Beck Depression Inventory-II with Adolescents Psychiatric Inpatients. Psychological Assessment. 16-2.
- Reynolds, W. & Kobak, k. (1995) Reliability and Validity of the Hamilton Depression Inventory: A Paper-and-Pen Version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale Clinical Interview. Psychological Assessment. 7-4.
- Salkovskis, P. M., Atha, C. & Storer, D. (1990) Cognitive–behavioral problem solving in the treatment of patients who repeatedly attempt suicide: A controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 871–876.
- Wilkinson, G., Allen, P., Marshall, E. et al. (1993) The role of the practice nurse i the management of depression in general practice: treatment adherence to antidepressant medication. Psychological Medicine, 23 229-37.
Descriptive And Correlational Research
Descriptive and correlational research methods are the major types of quantitative research used to collect data and if need be, determine its relationship to a certain phenomenon. Research, interestingly, encompasses surfing the internet, watching the news and reading a factual magazine, newspaper or book as opposed to popular belief that research and experimental processes must be connected. This paper looks at the purpose of descriptive and correlational research and their importance in examining variable of interest.
Quantitative research is an objective research method whose basic element of analysis is numbers. Qualitative research, on the other hand, is a subjective research method whose basic media element of analysis is ideas and words. Whereas quantitative research refers to measures of things and statistical count, qualitative research refers to the definitions and the reasons regarding the variables of interest. Descriptive research, the most commonly used type of quantitative research, basically involves clarifying data whereas correlational research determines the relationship between two or more variables.
There are four basic types of quantitative researches: descriptive, correlational, causal-comparative and experimental. Descriptive research is mainly used because it provides solutions to the “what” question, by providing raw statistical data about certain phenomena. Although this type of research does not get to the details such as causes or reasons for certain behavior, it has been credited for providing solid, scientific data when correctly executed and interpreted by researchers.
Some critics argue that descriptive research is not effective enough since it does not give information on why things happen and how they do so. Such types of explanations, generally called “causal explanations” have raised concern among researchers. However, descriptive research has been found important in certain conditions such as for instance, there are certain cases whereby you cannot manipulate the predictor variable, for example variable such as gender, race or age. This method is also useful when you cannot ethically do an experiment because you can’t ethically manipulate the predictor variable, such as illness, poverty. Lastly, this method is useful when you want to describe or predict behavior. (Research Methods in Psychology)
These are the reasons why these methods are used to conduct many studies. Correlation methods are used for many reasons as well.
There are various classifications of correlation methods: Observations, Surveys and Tests; and Case study. Correlation methods are used in a limited way since as much as they show the relationship between two or more variable, they can never be used as proof that for instance, a variable influences another. Observation, a correlation method, is used to describe behavior and suggest a theory that could be tested in an experiment. There are certain instances where observation alone is not enough. For instance, it can be impossible to implement it in observing thoughts. Observation can also be impractical; you cannot wait to observe an accident or a robbery. It is through these challenges that surveys, tests and case studies are used. (Research Methods in Psychology)
Descriptive and correlational research methods are preferred due to their context free state and also the fact that they have a highly controlled experimental setting, as opposed to qualitative methods which have a process oriented, flexible approach. The statistical data obtained is another reason many people go for these two methods because the data assists in obtaining more valid information in an easier and faster method.
Reference:
Research Methods in Psychology, Retrieved on 11 November 2008 from:
http://psy1.clarion.edu/mm/General/Methods/Methods.html