Putting the self in self-tracking: the value of a co-designed ‘how might you’ self-tracking guide for teenagers

Although teenagers engage with Personal Informatics tools to track their health and fitness, many do so without adequate guidance, and they express concerns regarding the potential for these practices to bring harm. Further research is needed to understand how we might leverage resources beyond these tools to support young self-trackers. We worked with 44 teenagers (aged 13-18 years) in the United Kingdom in two series of online workshops to co-design a reimagined 'how might you' guide to promote lifelong, healthy behaviors with self-tracking tools. Our findings emphasize the importance of flexible resources that can support teens' self-tracking practices. For example, guidance on asking critical questions can be particularly valuable in the preparation and reflection stages of self-tracking. To better design teens' interactions with health technologies, particularly Personal Informatics tools, we must think critically about how we design the broader information ecosystems within which these tools reside

Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2016

This is the latest updated volume in a well-established series bringing together information from a variety of sources to estimate national unit costs for a wide range of health and social care services. This report consists of tables for approaching 100 types of service which, as well as providing the most detailed and comprehensive information possible, also quotes sources and assumptions so users can adapt the information for their own purposes. This year we have included a guest editorial: Agency staff in the NHS; and two articles: Costs of the Well London programme and PUCC: The Preventonomics Unit Cost Calculator. There is also a new schema providing the costs of the Geriatric Care Management Model (GRACE) and new information has been added to the Adoption and GP schemas. Changes have also been made to further improve the costs of NHS overheads and environmental costs have been extended to appear in the mental health hospital services schema

Screening with young offenders with an intellectual disability

The research suggests that young offenders with an intellectual disability (ID) may not always be identified within youth justice services. This pilot study assessed some aspects of the validity of a screening tool, the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q), in UK forensic settings, using data from 23 individuals. The CAIDS-Q had positive and negative predictive power of 100%. In addition, a significant difference was found in CAIDS-Q scores between those with and without an ID, with the latter group scoring significantly higher, indicating discriminative validity. A significant positive relationship was found between full-scale IQ and CAIDS-Q scores, indicating convergent validity. The pilot study suggested that the CAIDS-Q may represent a valid screening tool to identify those young offenders who are likely to have an ID. Limitations and implications of the pilot are discussed

A sort of homecoming : incarceration and the housing security of urban men

While individuals returning from prison face many barriers to successful re-entry, among the most serious are the challenges they face in securing housing. Housing has long been recognized as a prerequisite for stable employment, access to social services, and other aspects of individual and family functioning. The formerly incarcerated face several administrative and de facto restrictions on their housing options; however, little is known about the unique instabilities that they face. We use a longitudinal survey of urban families to examine housing insecurity among nearly 3,000 urban men, including over 1,000 with incarceration histories. We find that men recently incarcerated face greater housing insecurity, including both serious hardships such as homelessness, and precursors to homelessness such as residential turnover and relying on others for housing expenses. Their increased risk is tied both to diminished annual earnings and other factors, including, potentially, evictions from public housing supported by Federal "one-strike" policies

Housing insecurity among urban fathers

This article examines housing insecurity among an understudied population: urban fathers of young children. Housing security is of particular importance for vulnerable populations, and urban fathers, many of whom face unemployment and monitoring from the child support and criminal justice systems, often rely on this security to mitigate the socioeconomic challenges they face. By assessing the extent and type of housing insecurity affecting urban fathers, we identify a potentially serious source of disadvantage facing families more broadly. A year after the birth of a new child, fully a quarter of fathers reported significant housing insecurities with 3% experiencing homelessness. Results suggest that from 9-12% of fathers are doubling up, relying on others for living expenses, and moving more than once every year. Finally, only half of fathers had been able to maintain housing security over the three to four years since the focal child's birth

A Preliminary Report on the Frequency of Scrapie Susceptibility Alleles in Hampshire Sheep

Blood samples were collected from a total of 201 animals in five purebred Hampshire sheep flocks. DNA was isolated from the samples, and the protein-coding region of the prion protein gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction. The allelic frequencies of the prion protein codons 171 and 136 were determined. Results revealed that the codon 171 alleles Q, R, and H were present at frequencies of 72%, 27% and 1%, respectively. A subset of samples (n=48) was randomly selected for codon 136 genotyping. The codon 136 V allele, an allele not frequently observed in Suffolk sheep, was present in animals from three of five flocks at a frequency ranging from 7 to 33% of the animals tested within each flock. These data comprise the first report on the prevalence of scrapie susceptibility alleles in Hampshire sheep

Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2017

This is the latest updated volume in a well-established series bringing together information from a variety of sources to estimate national unit costs for a wide range of health and social care services. This report consists of tables for approaching 100 types of service which, as well as providing the most detailed and comprehensive information possible, also quotes sources and assumptions so users can adapt the information for their own purposes. This year we have included a guest editorial: Estimating medication costs for economic evaluation; and two articles: Health care costs in the English NHS: reference tables for average annual NHS spend by age, sex and deprivation group, and a survey of English dental practices with costs in mind. There are new schemas for sexual health services, self-management programmes, advocacy and counselling for children, positive behavioural support for adults, the costs of perinatal anxiety and depression and supported living homes for adults with autism and complex needs. Please note that until the 2017 UC Report is printed (expected early February 2018), the online version is subject to change. Any revisions made after the print run will be listed on this page