Out-of-school lives of physically disabled children and young people in the United Kingdom: A qualitative literature review

Currently there appears to be few opportunities and little evidence of physically disabled children and young people (C&YP) participating in mainstream social activities. A qualitative review was undertaken to examine the factors affecting physically disabled C&YP (8–15 years) in the United Kingdom participating in out-of-school activities. Views and experiences were explored from the perspective of the service users and providers to assess current provision and to determine the need for future research into factors that may affect participation. Searches were conducted across eight databases, the references of the included studies were checked and the websites were searched. Studies that used a qualitative design that examined the views relating to out-of-school activities were included. Nine papers were identified, which included three peer-reviewed papers and six pieces of grey literature and pertinent government documents to include views and experiences of out-of-school activity provision. The main themes emerging from the review were the need for social inclusion, out-of-school activities run by volunteers and accessibility, with threads throughout, which require further research including parental influence, provision, training and attitudes. This review highlights the absence of the service user’s voice and sheds light on the limited provision and barriers affecting participation in out-of-school activities

Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assault Nurse Examinations in Anchorage: 1996-2004

This project examined the characteristics of 1,383 sexual assault victimizations recorded by sexual assault nurse examiners in Anchorage, Alaska from 1996 to 2004. The report documents the demographic characteristics of patients, pre-assault characteristics, assault characteristics, post-assault characteristics, exam characteristics and findings, suspect characteristics, and legal resolutions.National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Grant No. 2004-WB-GX-0003Index of Tables and Figures / Acknowledgments \ Executive Summary Descriptive Analysis / Sexual Assaults in Anchorage: 1996-2004 / Sexual Assault Nurse Examinations / Purpose of this Study / Methodology / Sample and Data Limitations / Demographic Characteristics of Patients / Pre-Assault Characteristics / Assault Characteristics / Post-Assault Characteristics / Exam Characteristics and Findings / Suspect Characteristics / Legal Resolutions / Appendix A – Data Collection Instrumen

What next for Shared Lives? Family-based support as a potential option for older people

With an ageing population and limited resources the challenge for policy makers and practitioners is how best to provide for the care and support needs of older people. This article draws on findings from two studies, a scoping study of the personalisation of care services and another which aimed to generate evidence about the potential use of family-based support schemes (Shared Lives, SL) for certain groups of older people. Forty-three schemes participated in a survey to gather information about services provided and the extent to which this included older people and their carers, and six staffs were interviewed across two schemes about issues for expanding provision for older people in their local areas. It was evident that SL schemes were already supporting a number of older people and there was support for expansion from both schemes and local authorities. Adequate resources, awareness raising, management commitment, and a pool of suitable carers would be needed to support any expansion effort. There is also still a need for SL to be more widely known and understood by care managers if it is to be considered part of mainstream provision for older people

Child development and the aims of road safety education

Pedestrian accidents are one of the most prominent causes of premature injury, handicap and death in the modern world. In children, the problem is so severe that pedestrian accidents are widely regarded as the most serious of all health risks facing children in developed countries. Not surprisingly, educational measures have long been advocated as a means of teaching children how to cope with traffic and substantial resources have been devoted to their development and provision. Unfortunately, there seems to be a widespread view at the present time that education has not achieved as much as had been hoped and that there may even be quite strict limits to what can be achieved through education. This would, of course, shift the emphasis away from education altogether towards engineering or urban planning measures aimed at creating an intrinsically safer environment in which the need for education might be reduced or even eliminated. However, whilst engineering measures undoubtedly have a major role to play in the effort to reduce accidents, this outlook is both overly optimistic about the benefits of engineering and overly pessimistic about the limitations of education. At the same time, a fresh analysis is clearly required both of the aims and methods of contemporary road safety education. The present report is designed to provide such an analysis and to establish a framework within which further debate and research can take place

Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assault Nurse Examinations in Fairbanks: 2005-2006

This project examined the characteristics of 144 sexual assault victimizations recorded by sexual assault nurse examiners in Fairbanks, Alaska in 2005 and 2006. The report documents the demographic characteristics of patients, pre-assault characteristics, assault characteristics, post-assault characteristics, exam characteristics and findings, suspect characteristics, and legal resolutions.National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Grant No. 2004-WB-GX-0003Index of Tables and Figures / Acknowledgments \ Executive Summary Descriptive Analysis / Sexual Assaults in Anchorage: 1996-2004 / Sexual Assault Nurse Examinations / Purpose of this Study / Methodology / Sample and Data Limitations / Demographic Characteristics of Patients / Pre-Assault Characteristics / Assault Characteristics / Post-Assault Characteristics / Exam Characteristics and Findings / Suspect Characteristics / Legal Resolutions / Appendix A – Data Collection Instrumen

Key worker services for disabled children: what characteristics of services lead to better outcomes for children and families?

Background: Research has shown that families of disabled children who have a key worker benefit from this service and recent policy initiatives emphasize the importance of such services. However, research is lacking on which characteristics of key worker schemes for disabled children are related to better outcomes for families. Methods: A postal questionnaire was completed by 189 parents with disabled children who were receiving a service in seven key worker schemes in England and Wales. Path analysis was used to investigate associations between characteristics of the services and outcomes for families (satisfaction with the service, impact of key worker on quality of life, parent unmet need, child unmet need). Results: The four path models showed that key workers carrying out more aspects of the key worker role, appropriate amounts of contact with key workers, regular training, supervision and peer support for key workers, and having a dedicated service manager and a clear job description for key workers were associated with better outcomes for families. Characteristics of services had only a small impact on child unmet need, suggesting that other aspects of services were affecting child unmet need. Conclusions: Implications for policy and practice are discussed, including the need for regular training, supervision and peer support for key workers and negotiated time and resources for them to carry out the role. These influence the extent to which key workers carry out all aspects of the key worker's role and their amount of contact with families, which in turn impact on outcomes

Descriptive Analysis of Sexual Assault Nurse Examinations in Bethel: 2005-2006

This project examined the characteristics of 105 sexual assault victimizations recorded by sexual assault nurse examiners in Bethel, Alaska in 2005 and 2006. The report documents the demographic characteristics of patients, pre-assault characteristics, assault characteristics, post-assault characteristics, exam characteristics and findings, suspect characteristics, and legal resolutions.National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Grant No. 2004-WB-GX-0003Index of Tables and Figures / Acknowledgments \ Executive Summary Descriptive Analysis / Sexual Assaults in Anchorage: 1996-2004 / Sexual Assault Nurse Examinations / Purpose of this Study / Methodology / Sample and Data Limitations / Demographic Characteristics of Patients / Pre-Assault Characteristics / Assault Characteristics / Post-Assault Characteristics / Exam Characteristics and Findings / Suspect Characteristics / Legal Resolutions / Appendix A – Data Collection Instrumen

Toward 'socially constructive' social constructions of leadership

In their introductory editorial essay for this special issue, David Grant and Gail Fairhurst have done us a great service by valiantly producing a "Sailing Guide" to the Social Construction of Leadership (Fairhurst & Grant, 2010). As with rounding the Capes, this is not a task for the faint of heart. A sailing guide is designed to provide vital knowledge about a particular sea or coast, providing us with charts, warnings about potential hazards and an indication where we might find safe havens in a storm. Their sailing guide does this to great effect as it skilfully "boxes the compass" by revealing all of the potential directions that one might set one‟s sail by if one was sufficiently foolhardy to embark on a cruise of the social construction of leadership

Provider diversity in the English NHS: a study of recent developments in four local health economies

Objectives: The overall objective of the research was to assess the impact of provider diversity on quality and innovation in the English NHS. The aims were to map the extent of diverse provider activity, identify the differences in performance between Third Sector Organisations (TSOs), for-profit private enterprises, and incumbent organisations within the NHS, and the factors that affect the entry and growth of new private and TSOs. Methods: Case studies of four Local Health Economies (LHEs). Data included: semi-structured interviews with 48 managerial and clinical staff from NHS organizations and providers from the private and Third Sector; some documentary evidence; a focus group with service users; and routine data from the Care Quality Commission and Companies House. Data collection was mainly between November 2008 and November 2009. Results: Involvement of diverse providers in the NHS is limited. Commissioners’ local strategies influence degrees of diversity. Barriers to the entry for TSOs include lack of economies of scale in the bidding process. Private providers have greater concern to improve patient pathways and patient experience, whereas TSOs deliver quality improvements by using a more holistic approach and a greater degree of community involvement. Entry of new providers drives NHS Trusts to respond by making improvements. Information sharing diminishes as competition intensifies. Conclusions: There is scope to increase the participation of diverse providers in the NHS, but care must be taken not to damage public accountability, overall productivity, equity and NHS providers (especially acute hospitals, which are likely to remain in the NHS) in the process

Supertwistors as Quarks of SU(2,2|4)

The GS superstring on AdS_5 x S^5 has a nonlinearly realized, spontaneously broken SU(2,2|4) symmetry. Here we introduce a two-dimensional model in which the unbroken SU(2,2|4) symmetry is linearly realized. The basic variables are supertwistors, which transform in the fundamental representation of this supergroup. The quantization of this supertwistor model leads to the complete oscillator construction of the unitary irreducible representations of the centrally extended SU(2,2|4). They include the states of d=4 SYM theory, massless and KK states of AdS_5 supergravity, and the descendants on AdS_5 of the standard massive string states, which form intermediate and long supermultiplets. We present examples of such multiplets and discuss possible states of solitonic and (p,q) strings.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, 1 EPS figur