Competitive outreach in the 21st century: Why we need conservation marketing

AbstractAddressing impacts from human activities requires the change of current practices. However, reaching a target audience about conservation issues and influencing their behaviour is not easy in a world where people are continually bombarded with information, and distractions are permanently available. Although not typically considered to be part of the conservation science toolbox, marketing techniques were designed in the commercial sector to identify and influence human preferences and behaviour by placing target audiences at the core of the marketing process. It thus seems reasonable that the same marketing principles and tools could and should be used to address pressing conservation issues. In this manuscript, we provide an introduction to the main objectives of marketing and illustrate how these can be applied to conservation and animal welfare issues. To that end we offer two examples: Project Ocean, where a major UK retailer joined forces with the Zoological Society of London to influence consumer behaviour around seafood; and Blackfish, which coupled social media with an award-winning documentary to create a discussion around the welfare of large cetaceans in captivity. Without the ability to influence human behaviour, a conservationists' role will likely be limited to that of describing the loss of biodiversity and the decline of the environment. We thus hope that conservation practitioners can embrace marketing as a fundamental component of the conservation toolbox

Evaluation of a motivation and psycho-educational guided self help intervention for people with eating disorders (MOPED)

High dropout rates and poor levels of engagement are well documented for patients with eating disorders. Utilising motivational techniques and providing psycho-education have been suggested as ways to reduce treatment disengagement. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a newly developed motivational and psycho-educational guided self-help intervention (MOPED) for people with eating disorders on engagement and retention in therapy. Patients who received MOPED pre-treatment (n = 79) were compared to a diagnosis matched group of patients receiving treatment as usual (TAU; n = 79). The study found that patients receiving MOPED had a higher engagement rate than those within the TAU group. Specifically, patients in the anorexic spectrum were found to present with both higher rates of engagement and completion of therapy when issued with MOPED in comparison to TAU. Self-help packages using motivational style could be a valuable and cost effective intervention for patients with eating disorders

The Past, Present and Future of Sleep Measurement in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Dementia – Towards a Core Outcome Set:A Scoping Review

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Sleep abnormalities emerge early in dementia and may accelerate cognitive decline. Their accurate characterization may facilitate earlier clinical identification of dementia and allow for assessment of sleep intervention efficacy. This scoping review determines how sleep is currently measured and reported in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and early dementia, as a basis for future core outcome alignment. METHODS: This review follows the PRISMA Guidelines for Scoping Reviews. CINAHL, Embase, Medline, Psychinfo, and British Nursing Index databases were searched from inception—March 12, 2021. Included studies had participants diagnosed with MCI and early dementia and reported on sleep as a key objective/ outcome measure. RESULTS: Nineteen thousand five hundred and ninety-six titles were returned following duplicate removal with 188 studies [N] included in final analysis. Sleep data was reported on 17 139 unique, diagnostically diverse participants (n). “Unspecified MCI” was the most common diagnosis amongst patients with MCI (n = 5003, 60.6%). Despite technological advances, sleep was measured most commonly by validated questionnaires (n = 12 586, N = 131). Fewer participants underwent polysomnography (PSG) (n = 3492, N = 88) and actigraphy (n = 3359, N = 38) with little adoption of non-PSG electroencephalograms (EEG) (n = 74, N = 3). Sleep outcome parameters were reported heterogeneously. 62/165 (37.6%) were described only once in the literature (33/60 (60%) in interventional studies). There was underrepresentation of circadian (n = 725, N = 25) and micro-architectural (n = 360, N = 12) sleep parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Alongside under-researched areas, there is a need for more detailed diagnostic characterization. Due to outcome heterogeneity, we advocate for international consensus on core sleep outcome parameters to support causal inference and comparison of therapeutic sleep interventions

The lived experience of dysphagia following non-surgical treatment for head and neck cancer

The prevalence and severity of dysphagia in people treated non-surgically for primary head and neck cancer (HNC) is well documented. However, few studies have looked beyond the physiological impairment to explore the lived experience of dysphagia in the post-treatment period of HNC. The current study adopted a person-centred, qualitative approach to describe the experiences of people living with dysphagia in the months and years following non-surgical treatment for HNC. Using maximum variation sampling, 24 participants who had undergone radiotherapy treatment for HNC were recruited. Individual interviews were conducted to explore the impact of dysphagia on participants' everyday lives. The themes identified included: (1) physical changes related to swallowing; (2) emotions evoked by living with dysphagia; (3) altered perceptions and changes in appreciation of food; and (4) personal and lifestyle impacts. The data revealed the breadth and significance of the impact of dysphagia on the lives of people treated curatively for HNC. Assessment and management in the post-treatment period must be sufficiently holistic to address both the changing physical states and the psychosocial needs of people with dysphagia following HNC. Rehabilitation services which focus only on impairment-based management will fail to fully meet the support needs of this clinical population