Listening for commissioning: A participatory study exploring young people's experiences, views and preferences of school-based sexual health and school nursing

Aims and objectives: To explore the experiences, views and preferences of youngpeople aged 11-19 years regarding school-based sexual health and school nursing toinform commissioning and delivery for one local authority area in England during 2015.Background: Promoting sexual health for young people remains a challenging, evencontroversial, but important public health issue. Concerns regarding accessibility,acceptability and efficacy in school-based sexual health and school nursing are evidentin the literature. Additionally, a complex public health policy context now governsthe funding, provision and delivery of sexual health and school nursing, whichpotentially presents further challenges.Design: A qualitative, participatory design was used to explore sexual health andschool nursing. Data were generated from 15 focus groups (n = 74), with young peopleaged 11-19 years, in educational-based settings in one local authority area in England.Results: The resultant themes of visibility in relation to sexual health education andschool nursing revealed both the complex tensions in designing and deliveringacceptable and appropriate sexual health services for young people and the significanceof participatory approaches.Conclusion: Our study shows the importance of participatory approaches in workingwith young people to clearly identify what they want and need in relation tosexual health. The findings also confirm the ways in which school-based sexualhealth remains challenging but requires a theoretical and conceptual shift. This weargue must be underpinned by participatory approaches.Relevance to clinical practice: School nurses have always had a significant role toplay in promoting positive sexual health for young people and they are exceptionallywell placed to challenge the risk-based cultures that frequently dominate schoolbasedsexual health. A shift of debates and practices towards the promotion of positivesexual health cultures though previously argued for now requires the activeengagement and involvement of young people

Urocortin-1 within the Centrally-Projecting Edinger-Westphal Nucleus Is Critical for Ethanol Preference

Converging lines of evidence point to the involvement of neurons of the centrally projecting Edinger-Westphal nucleus (EWcp) containing the neuropeptide Urocortin-1 (Ucn1) in excessive ethanol (EtOH) intake and EtOH sensitivity. Here, we expanded these previous findings by using a continuous-access, two-bottle choice drinking paradigm (3%, 6%, and 10% EtOH vs. tap water) to compare EtOH intake and EtOH preference in Ucn1 genetic knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice. Based on previous studies demonstrating that electrolytic lesion of the EWcp attenuated EtOH intake and preference in high-drinking C57BL/6J mice, we also set out to determine whether EWcp lesion would differentially alter EtOH consumption in Ucn1 KO and WT mice. Finally, we implemented well-established place conditioning procedures in KO and WT mice to determine whether Ucn1 and the corticotropin-releasing factor type-2 receptor (CRF-R2) were involved in the rewarding and aversive effects of EtOH (2 g/kg, i.p.). Results from these studies revealed that (1) genetic deletion of Ucn1 dampened EtOH preference only in mice with an intact EWcp, but not in mice that received lesion of the EWcp, (2) lesion of the EWcp dampened EtOH intake in Ucn1 KO and WT mice, but dampened EtOH preference only in WT mice expressing Ucn1, and (3) genetic deletion of Ucn1 or CRF-R2 abolished the conditioned rewarding effects of EtOH, but deletion of Ucn1 had no effect on the conditioned aversive effects of EtOH. The current findings provide strong support for the hypothesis that EWcp-Ucn1 neurons play an important role in EtOH intake, preference, and reward

The phenomenology of empowerment in collective action

Recent research has hypothesized that empowerment can arise from collective action through collective self-objectification (CSO), defined as action that actualizes participants' social identity against the power of dominant groups. Activists (N=37) described several experiences that made them feel empowered (and disempowered). Among the various explanations they offered for these feelings, the most prominent were CSO, unity, and support (or their absence). CSO was also predictive of reports of positive emotion, although unity was the best predictor of reports of further involvement. Overall, the study suggests that actualizing one's social identity through collective action has personal as well as political significance

Raising Awareness of Global Environmental Change: A Comparison of Perceived Efficacy of Involvement in Direct and Indirect Environmental Collective Action.

This thesis was concerned with the study of socio-psychological processes associated with Global Environmental Change (GEC), and how to encourage effective action against it. Problems associated with GEC were discussed, mainly the potential physical and psychological effects on individuals and groups, and potential conflicts arising from its onset. Such conflicts were considered to be a social dilemma, where low individual efficacy can prevent action. However, such action is necessary to combat GEC, as well as a shift in values away from the political and socio-economic status quo. Theories of personal agency and ways to enhance such agency were examined. It was argued that belief in one's ability to act effectively encourages action. Such action arises in a social context, and so social influences on efficacy were examined. Pro-environmental theories were examined, and most of them appeared to favour a fundamental shift in values if GEC was to be abated. However, there are different pro-environmental perspectives, and so this study concentrated on examining two different pro-environmental behaviours; anti-roads protests, and Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS). Respondents' motivations, perceptions of the political and socio-economic status quo, and perceived efficacy were examined. It was expected that given the different nature of each behaviour, there would be differences in the perceptions of respondents. This was indeed the case, and while both groups experienced efficacy from their actions, the antiroads protestors had a more radical environmental perspective and experienced greater efficacy and positive in-group bias. This efficacy was dynamic and context dependent, with respondents feeling that they were more efficacious in raising awareness of GEC than in directly confronting its immediate effects. However, both groups questioned the values of the status quo, instead preferring more autonomous, decentralised action to combat GEC, and sometimes sought wider in-group inclusion. It was concluded that it was possible to encourage belief in the individual's ability to act against GEC, and that this could be done without relying on action through the dominant traditional political and social structures