Door locks, wall stickers, fireplaces: Assemblage Theory and home (un)making in Lewisham’s temporary accommodation

This paper explores resident experiences of life in PLACE/Ladywell, a “pop‐up” social housing scheme in London providing temporary accommodation for homeless families. Specifically, we consider barriers to, and assertions of, homemaking in this temporary setting through fixtures and fittings—a door lock, wall stickers, and a fireplace. The paper utilises assemblage thinking to understand homemaking within these time‐limited and constrained circumstances. Despite their seeming banality, fixtures and fittings offer a material, politicised, and lively means of studying the attempted and thwarted production of home by residents living in PLACE/Ladywell. The absence of door locks reduces parents’ ability to maintain privacy and intimate relations; restrictions on hanging pictures and other decorative measures are circumvented by the use of wall stickers; and a defiant decorative fireplace establishes a sense of home in a temporary setting. Together, these objects constitute vital elements in negotiations between fixity and impermanence in temporary accommodation

Empowering features and outcomes of homeless interventions: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

The purpose of this systematic review and narrative synthesis was to identify homeless interventions with empowering features, and evaluate their effectiveness for developing the psychological empowerment of services users. To identify and evaluate intervention studies we combined the theoretical frameworks of empowering settings and psychological empowerment (PE). Our conceptualization of psychological empowerment included intrapersonal, interactional, and behavioral components. After systematic searching and screening, 38 studies were included for review. Interventions with empowering features included supported housing, case management, skills and knowledge acquisition, and mutual support. Interventions that were competency-building and that provided and developed support were effective for the intrapersonal PE component. Interventions that were collaborative and competency-building were effective for the behavioral PE component. Weak evidence suggested that interventions with empowering features may be effective for the interactional PE component. Findings of this review align the empirical evidence for homeless interventions with theoretical conceptions of empowering features and outcomes. Findings may be applied to the design and implementation of homeless interventions to incorporate empowering features and to improve services users’ outcomes in psychological empowerment

Gene expression profiling reveals potential prognostic biomarkers associated with the progression of heart failure

Abstract BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Here, we identify biologically relevant transcripts that are significantly altered in the early phase of myocardial infarction and are associated with the development of post-myocardial infarction HF. METHODS: We collected peripheral blood samples from patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI): n = 111 and n = 41 patients from the study and validation groups, respectively. Control groups comprised patients with a stable coronary artery disease and without a history of myocardial infarction. Based on plasma NT-proBNP level and left ventricular ejection fraction parameters the STEMI patients were divided into HF and non-HF groups. Microarrays were used to analyze mRNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from the study group at four time points and control group. Microarray results were validated by RT-qPCR using whole blood RNA from the validation group. RESULTS: Samples from the first three time points (admission, discharge, and 1 month after AMI) were compared with the samples from the same patients collected 6 months after AMI (stable phase) and with the control group. The greatest differences in transcriptional profiles were observed on admission and they gradually stabilized during the follow-up. We have also identified a set of genes the expression of which on the first day of STEMI differed significantly between patients who developed HF after 6 months of observation and those who did not. RNASE1, FMN1, and JDP2 were selected for further analysis and their early up-regulation was confirmed in HF patients from both the study and validation groups. Significant correlations were found between expression levels of these biomarkers and clinical parameters. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves indicated a good prognostic value of the genes chosen. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates an altered gene expression profile in PBMCs during acute myocardial infarction and through the follow-up. The identified gene expression changes at the early phase of STEMI that differentiated the patients who developed HF from those who did not could serve as a convenient tool contributing to the prognosis of heart failure

Working with Homeless Populations to Increase Access to Services: A Social Service Providers’ Perspective Through the Lens of Stereotyping and Stigma

Through the lens of stereotyping and stigma, this article examines discrimination and prejudice toward homeless families from the perspective of social service providers. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with practitioners. A critical social work practice perspective is used to provide a framework for understanding how social worker knowledge about discrimination and prejudice informs the ways in which the workers engage with clients, build capacities, and advocate for clients in an anti-oppressive manner. The themes found in this study include: a) providers’ awareness of bias, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination; b) providers’ use of a range of strategies to work with people experiencing homelessness; c) providers’ ideas about strategies that organizations can implement for service provision; and) providers’ belief that additional advocacy and policy are needed in relationship to people experiencing homelessness