Delivering hot food on motorcycles: A mixed method study of the impact of business model on rider behaviour and safety

In Great Britain, motorcyclists have the highest fatality rate per billion passenger miles of all road users, and people who work on motorcyclists have a much greater risk of injury compared to other motorcyclists. Many hot meal delivery services are provided by people using motorcycles. Work can be accessed by an app or by being employed by a restaurant. There is a need to understand whether the business model under which riders work influences their experience of risk or whether this is just related to the risks of delivering food by motorbike per se. Interviews were conducted with six gig riders and 14 employed riders and an online survey was completed by 164 riders working via apps and 155 employed by restaurants. Gig workers were significantly more likely to agree that that their phone was a distraction and that they violated traffic laws related to speeding, red light running and, unsurprisingly, they had more points on their licence compared to employed riders. Gig riders were also more likely to be incentivised to ride in dangerous conditions and carry unstable loads. Gig workers were more likely to report being involved in collisions where their vehicle was damaged and where someone was injured. These findings were also evident in interview narratives. More needs to be done to make gig companies embed practices that do not increase risks for delivery riders

The role of health impact assessment in Phase V of the Healthy Cities European Network

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a prospective decision-making aid tool that aims to improve the quality of policies, programmes or projects through recommendations that promote health. It identifies how and through which pathways a decision can impact a wide range of health determinants and seeks to define the distribution of effects within populations, thereby raising the issue of equity. HIA was introduced to the WHO European Healthy Cities Network as one of its four core themes during the Phase IV (2004-08). Here we present an evaluation of the use of HIA during Phase V (2009-13), where HIA was linked with the overarching theme of health and health equity in all local policies and a requirement regarding capacity building. The evaluation was based on 10 case studies contributed by 9 Healthy Cities in five countries (France, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the UK). A Realist Evaluation framework was used to collect and aggregate data obtained through three methods: an HIA factors analysis, a case-study template analysis using Nvivo software and a detailed questionnaire. The main conclusion is that HIA significantly helps promote Health in All Policies (HiAP) and sustainability in Healthy Cities. It is recommended that all Healthy City candidates to Phase VI (2014-18) of the WHO Healthy Cities European Network effectively adopt HIA and HiA

Promoting the independent mobility of young people with SEND: The lived experience of young people with autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities

Introduction: Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are at heightened risk of road traffic injury and their caregivers are often concerned about independent mobility and the safety risks it poses. This qualitative research aimed to increase understanding of the facilitators and barriers to independent mobility for 7–10 and 11-13 year-olds with SEND. / Method: Thirteen young people (11 male and two female, six children 7-10 years-old and seven children 11-13 years-old) diagnosed with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or learning disabilities video recorded three journeys they regularly undertook and then participated in a semi-structured interview with their caregiver. A thematic analysis of travel films and interview transcripts was conducted. / Results: Younger children were typically not travelling independently, but both older and younger children were anxious about independent mobility. Younger and older children with SEND demonstrated unsafe behaviours in the road, had limited awareness at times of road safety, could become overwhelmed, and required longer to process information. / Conclusions: The findings informed recommendations for how to effectively support the independent mobility of young people with SEND. Children are often diagnosed with multiple conditions, and it is the profile rather than the specific diagnosis that impacts their road safety. Targeting specific behaviours rather than specific disorders may therefore be a more effective approach. Road safety was a central concern for caregivers, but it was one aspect of independent mobility and a broad focus on teaching independent mobility was preferable. Support with independent mobility and road safety should be provided by a range of people who come into contact with the young person and education may need repeating at key transition points

Airborne biological hazards and urban transport infrastructure: current challenges and future directions

Exposure to airborne biological hazards in an ever expanding urban transport infrastructure and highly diverse mobile population is of growing concern, in terms of both public health and biosecurity. The existing policies and practices on design, construction and operation of these infrastructures may have severe implications for airborne disease transmission, particularly, in the event of a pandemic or intentional release of biological of agents. This paper reviews existing knowledge on airborne disease transmission in different modes of transport, highlights the factors enhancing the vulnerability of transport infrastructures to airborne disease transmission, discusses the potential protection measures and identifies the research gaps in order to build a bioresilient transport infrastructure. The unification of security and public health research, inclusion of public health security concepts at the design and planning phase, and a holistic system approach involving all the stakeholders over the life cycle of transport infrastructure hold the key to mitigate the challenges posed by biological hazards in the twenty-first century transport infrastructure

Pathways linking car transport for young adults and the public health in Northern Ireland: a qualitative study to inform the evaluation of graduated driver licensing.

BACKGROUND: Novice drivers are at relatively high risk of road traffic injury. There is good evidence that Graduated Driving Licensing (GDL) schemes reduce collisions rates, by reducing exposure to risk and by extending learning periods. Legislation for a proposed scheme in Northern Ireland was passed in 2016, providing an opportunity for future evaluation of the full public health impacts of a scheme in a European context within a natural experiment. This qualitative study was designed to inform the logic model for such an evaluation, and provide baseline qualitative data on the role of private cars in health and wellbeing. METHODS: Nine group interviews with young people aged 16-23 (N = 43) and two group interviews with parents of young people (N = 8) were conducted in a range of settings in Northern Ireland in 2015. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Informal car-pooling within and beyond households led to routine expectations of lift provision and uptake. Experiences of risky driving situations were widespread. In rural areas, extensive use of farm vehicles for transport needs meant many learner drivers had both early driving experience and expectations that legislation may have to be locally adapted to meet social needs. Cars were used as a site for socialising, as well as essential means of transport. Alternative modes (public transport, walking and cycling) were held in low esteem, even where available. Recall of other transport-related public health messages and parents' existing use of GDL-type restrictions suggested GDL schemes were acceptable in principle. There was growing awareness and use of in-car technologies (telematics) used by insurance companies to reward good driving. CONCLUSIONS: Key issues to consider in evaluating the broader public health impact of GDL will include: changes in injury rates for licensed car occupants and other populations and modes; changes in exposure to risk in the licensed and general population; and impact on transport exclusion. We suggest an important pathway will be change in social norms around offering and accepting lifts and to risk-taking. The growing adoption of in-car telematics will have implications for future GDL programmes and for evaluation

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Contributions from the Humanities

It is widely agreed that achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals requires the insights, knowledge and comparative perspectives of Humanities disciplines. The UNESCO Hangzhou Declaration of 2013 highlighted the importance of culture as ‘an enabler and driver of sustainable development’. Yet the Humanities have so far featured relatively little in work on the SDGs

Exploring views on satisfaction with life in young children with chronic illness: an innovative approach to the collection of self-report data from children under 11

The objective of this study was to explore young children’s views on the impact of chronic illness on their life in order to inform future development of a patient-based self-report health outcome measure. We describe an approach to facilitating self-report views from young children with chronic illness. A board game was designed in order to obtain qualitative data from 39 children with a range of chronic illness conditions and 38 healthy controls ranging in age from 3 to 11 years. The format was effective in engaging young children in a self-report process of determining satisfaction with life and identified nine domains. The board game enabled children aged 5–11 years with chronic illness to describe the effects of living with illness on home, family, friends, school and life in general. It generated direct, non-interpreted material from children who, because of their age, may have been considered unable or limited their ability to discuss and describe how they feel. Obtaining this information for children aged 4 and under continues to be a challenge

Competitive interactions moderate the effects of elevated temperature and atmospheric CO2 on the health and functioning of oysters

Global increases in sea temperatures and atmospheric concentrations of CO2 may affect the health of calcifying shellfish. Little is known, however, about how competitive inter actions within and between species may influence how species respond to multiple stressors. We experimentally assessed separate and combined effects of temperature (12 or 16°C) and atmospheric CO2 concentrations (400 and 1000 ppm) on the health and biological functioning of native (Ostrea edulis) and invasive (Crassostrea gigas) oysters held alone and in intraspecific or inter specific mixtures. We found evidence of reduced phagocytosis under elevated CO2 and, when combined with increased temperature, a reduction in the number of circulating haemocytes. Generally, C. gigas showed lower respiration rates relative to O. edulis when the species were in intraspecific or interspecific mixtures. In contrast, O. edulis showed a higher respiration rate relative to C. gigas when held in an interspecific mixture and exhibited lower clearance rates when held in intraspecific or interspecific mixtures. Overall, clearance rates of C. gigas were consistently greater than those of O. edulis. Collectively, our findings indicate that a species’ ability to adapt metabolic processes to environmental conditions can be modified by biotic context and may make some species (here, C. gigas) competitively superior and less vulnerable to future climatic scenarios at local scales. If these conclusions are generic, the relative role of species interactions, and other biotic parameters, in altering the outcomes of climate change will require much greater research emphasis

Cyclist deaths in London: implications from a safe systems perspective

Cyclist deaths in London: implications from a safe systems perspectiv