The design of mixed-use virtual auditory displays: Recent findings with a dual-task paradigm

Presented at the 10th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2004)In the third of an ongoing series of exploratory sound information display studies, we augmented a dual task with a mixed-use auditory display designed to provide relevant alert information for each task. The tasks entail a continuous tracking activity and a series of intermittent classification decisions that, in the present study, were presented on separate monitors that were roughly 90\,^{\circ} apart. Using a 2-by-3 design that manipulated both the use of sound in each task and where sounds for the decision task were positioned, the following principal questions were addressed: Can tracking performance be improved with a varying auditory alert tied to error? To what degree do listeners use virtual auditory deixis as a cue for improving decision reaction times? Can a previous finding involving participants' use of sound offsets (cessations) be repeated? And, last, are there performance consequences when auditory displays for separate tasks are combined? Respectively, we found that: Tracking performance as measured by RMS error was not improved and was apparently negatively affected by the use of our auditory design. Listener's use of even limited virtual auditory deixis is robust, but it is probably also sensitive to the degree it is coincident with the location of corresponding visual stimuli in the task environment. On the basis of manually collected head movement data, listeners do make opportunistic use of sound offsets. And, finally, a significant interaction, as measured by average participant reaction time, was observed between the auditory display used for one task and the manipulation of the degree of auditory deixis encoded in the auditory display used for the other task in our paradigm

The changing of the guard: groupwork with people who have intellectual disabilities

This paper considers the impact of service systems on group activities. It describes an inter-professional groupwork project facilitated by a social worker and a community nurse. The project provided an emancipatory experience for a group of adults who had intellectual disabilities. The group was charged with the task of reviewing and updating the recruitment and interview processes used by a 'Learning Disability Partnership Board', when employing new support workers. The paper begins with a brief history of intellectual disability and provides a context to the underpinning philosophical belief that people should be encouraged and supported to inhabit valued social roles no matter what disability they may have. It then identifies the ways in which the sponsoring health, education and social care services impacted on the creation and development of a groupwork project. It might have been expected that the nature of the intellectual disability would have been the major influence on group process. However the paper reveals that organisational constraints had a significant impact on group functioning. Issues including, staffing budgets and transport contracts impacted on group process and function. The results of the project show how, with adequate support, people with intellectual disability can make important decisions that have long-reaching impacts on the services

A programme theory for liaison mental health services in England

Background: Mechanisms by which liaison mental health services (LMHS) may bring about improved patient and organisational outcomes are poorly understood. A small number of logic models have been developed, but they fail to capture the complexity of clinical practice. Method: We synthesised data from a variety of sources including a large national survey, 73 in-depth interviews with acute and liaison staff working in hospitals with different types of liaison mental health services, and relevant local, national and international literature. We generated logic models for two common performance indicators used to assess organisational outcomes for LMHS: response times in the emergency department and hospital length of stay for people with mental health problems. Results: We identified 8 areas of complexity that influence performance, and 6 trade-offs which drove the models in different directions depending upon the balance of the trade-off. The logic models we developed could only be captured by consideration of more than one pass through the system, the complexity in which they operated, and the trade-offs that occurred. Conclusions: Our findings are important for commissioners of liaison services. Reliance on simple target setting may result in services that are unbalanced and not patient-centred. Targets need to be reviewed on a regular basis, together with other data that reflect the wider impact of the service, and any external changes in the system that affect the performance of LMHS, which are beyond their control

Tales from the pub: narrative, fiction and the construction of difference

A methodological departure from the norm in its blend of scientific reporting within a narrative framework. The voices of research participants appear as characters in the story.</p

The organization of difference: people with intellectual disabilities and the social model of disability

In this article I propose that the experience of people categorized as having intellectual disabilities is inadequately represented by current disability theory, premised, as much of it is, on the socially constructed duality between disability and impairment. I argue that representation of intellectual disability within the wider world of disability in general will only be achieved by thinking of disability on a continuum. This should preserve individual identities while reducing categorization and the attendant essentialist versus constructionist conflict. Debate can then move to a consideration of what methodologies are appropriate to the inquiry.</p

'Riding the bumpy seas': or the impact of the Knowledge Skills Framework component of the Agenda for Change initiative on staff in intermediate care settings

This paper explores the compatibility of the recently modernized NHS pay structure, ‘‘Agenda for Change’’ (AfC) with the workforce flexibilities arising within intermediate care services in the NHS in England. The findings reported here were an unanticipated outcome of a larger, Department of Health (England) study which explored the impact of workforce flexibility on the costs and outcomes of older peoples’ community-based services. The research coincided with the introduction of AfC, and, as such pay modernization was a strongly emergent theme from focus groups that involved 11 teams as part of the larger study. In principle, it appears that both intermediate care and AfC should support the concepts of interprofessional working, blurring of role boundaries and role substitution, however the findings from this study suggest otherwise. In particular, intermediate care was described as a largely non-hierarchical service structure where staff roles expand horizontally to take on a broad plethora of generic tasks. In contrast, AfC promotes a hierarchical framework for career progression that recognizes and rewards defined skills, expertise and responsibility. From this perspective, AfC was seen to reward specialization rather than skill sharing, and had difficulty differentiating between and rewarding staff with broad generalist roles

Reflections on conducting focus groups with people with learning disabilities: Theoretical and Practical Issues

The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Journal of Research in Nursing, Vol.12 Issue 2, 2007, copyright SAGE Publications Ltd on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/This paper examines the use of focus groups as a methodological approach when undertaking research with people with learning disabilities. This is presented within the context of an ongoing research project that has principally adopted a participatory research approach and that is seeking to understand how people with learning disabilities conceptualise and understand their mental health. As such, this paper may be seen as a critical case study of the ongoing methodological challenges of using focus groups, as well as exploring some of the thornier practical issues such as recruitment, attendance, data collection, ethical issues and matters of consent, facilitation, venue and payment in adopting this approach when undertaking research with people with learning disabilities. The paper concludes that the focus group approach is a legitimate methodological approach within the research process in the field of learning disabilities.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

The effect of pitch shifts on the identification of environmental sounds: Design considerations for the modification of sounds in auditory displays

Presented at the 11th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2005)To examine the plausibility of dynamically adjusting the sounds presented by an auditory display, a study addressing the effects of pitch shifting on the identifiability of a set of forty-one environmental sounds was carried out. The sounds were shifted both up and down in pitch and presented to listeners who were asked to identify them. Results show that pitch shifting is detrimental to the identification of environmental sounds, suggesting that benefits gained from dynamically manipulating sounds in an auditory display must be carefully weighed against perceptual effects on their identifiability. Results also indicated that the sounds in our study better retained their identity when shifted down in pitch than when shifted up. This result however is believed to arise from confounds in the study