Managing risk in community practice: nursing, risk and decision-making

The development of modern nursing practice was closely linked to the development of health care institutions such as hospitals and asylums in the nineteenth century and its development outside such settings occurred more recently, mainly in the second half of the twentieth century. Since these two settings differ both in the type of risk which nurses are likely to experience and in the ways in which nurses assess and manage risk, I will compare and contrast these two settings before considering in more detail risk in community nursing practice

Empowering older people through technology: Academic Review of the iContact Project conducted by Acting Up

It starts with a short discussion of the nature of multimedia profiling, then discusses the development of multimedia profiling within Kingsgate Resource Centre and with KOVE and considers why Acting Up successfully developed in these contexts and not in others. It concludes with a discussion of the outputs of profiling and their impacts

Empowerment and protection

This paper provides a summary of a piece of research that looks at the development of policies and practices in risk assessment and management in community services for adults with learning disabilities. The research was funded through the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities and was carried out by Andy Alaszewski, Helen Alaszewski and Alison Parker

Risk, Uncertainty and Life Threatening Trauma: Analysing Stroke Survivor's Accounts of Life after Stroke

This paper examines the ways in which stroke survivors identify and manage the risks and uncertainties of their situation. It draws on interview data from a UK study in East Kent of 31 stroke survivors (aged between 38 and 89 years). The interviews created accounts based on the experience of stroke and post stroke recovery. Stroke survivors experienced their stroke as an unanticipated event in which there was a failure of foresight. The stroke undermined their ontological security and increased their awareness of and anxiety about everyday activities both in and outside the home, created awareness of a new danger, that of having another potentially fatal stroke, and could damage their social standing. Survivors used a variety of strategies to manage such uncertainties. They shortened their time horizons, either abandoning longer-term plans or discussing them in very vague and general terms. They concentrated either on the present, "taking each day as it comes" or developed goals to structure the short-term future. These short-term goals involved challenges and there was in some cases the possibility of a harmful outcome. Such voluntary risk-taking provided an opportunity for "centre work" which could re-establish the stroke survivors social standing

Piloting Telecare in Kent County Council: The Key lessons, Final Report - 2006

This report describes a project funded by KCC. The Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent monitored and reviewed the development of three pilot Telecare projects in Kent on behalf of Kent Social Services. Specifically the project aimed to: Examine how the service developed and the factors which shaped its development; Analyse the nature, application and impact of the technology on users, carers and providers especially in terms of the experiences of service users and the outcomes of specific interventions; Indentify the type of infrastructure that was needed to support Telecare and make recommendations for the development of a full service from the pilot

An evaluation of informal carers' experiences of hospital support

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the support that informal carers receive from the East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (The Conquest Hospital site). The aims of the research were to: · Examine carers' experience of the care and support provided by the NHS Trust. · Advise on ways in which services for carers can be improved and developed. The objectives of the research were to examine: · Carers' expectations of the types of support and information which they should receive when the person they are caring for is admitted to hospital. · The extent to which the East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust Code of Practice for involving carers is being implemented. · The extent to which carers feel that their expectations have been met, their needs and interests have been taken into account and they have been involved as active partners in the care provided in hospital

Communicating Information to Stroke Survivors. A pilot study

This study explored current approaches to communicating information to stroke survivors and their relatives. The aim of this pilot project was to gain better understanding of information provision about stroke from health professionals by exploring the perspectives of the stroke survivors, their carers and professionals themselves. The study aimed to explore, through qualitative interviews, how such information is provided, what works well in information giving, what the barriers to good information provision are and how these arise. The research provided a step towards developing an information toolkit for service providers, stroke survivors and relatives to engage in effective person-centred communication. The study is based on interviews conducted with health professionals in acute, community and primary care settings in East Kent and with a small sample of stroke survivors and carers. We interviewed 19 stroke survivors, 6 relatives and 23 health professionals (11 individually and 12 in 2 focus groups) involved in their care and support. To protect individual identities, we have changed all names in our report

Supporting Informal Carers: Final Report of the Informal Carers Project

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the support that informal carers receive from the East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (The Conquest Hospital site). Aims and Objectives The aims of the research were to: Examine carers' experience of the care and support provided by the NHS Trust. Advise on ways in which services for carers can be improved and developed. The objectives of the research were to examine: Carers' expectations of the types of support and information which they should receive when the person they are caring for is admitted to hospital. The extent to which the East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust Code of Practice for involving carers is being implemented. The extent to which carers feel that their expectations have been met, their needs and interests have been taken into account and they have been involved as active partners in the care provided in hospital