Expanding Employment Horizons for Young People in Care : An evaluation of York Cares' Bright Futures Project

The Bright Futures Project aims to support care-experienced young people across York to increase and improve their employment related skills, knowledge and opportunities. The project brings together York Cares (an employee volunteering charity), The City of York Council and leading local employers to deliver work experience and skills opportunities. The project offers a menu of options for young people. A small independent evaluation was carried out by researchers from the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of York. Data was gathered from young people participating in the Bright Futures Project (n= 33) as well as from foster carers (n=5) and Employers (n=8) via evaluation interviews and surveys and a review of anonymised Bright Futures data. In addition, interviews and surveys were completed by staff from City of York Children’s Rights and Advocacy Service and the York Cares team (n= 5). In all, 51 stakeholders contributed data to the evaluation

Reading and Writing Index Cixous: Reflections on Creative Writing Research in the Academy

This article presents a creative-critical discussion of creative writing research in the academy. It describes a multimodal research practice that employs a range of materials, technologies, and modes of reading and writing – creative, critical, and creative-critical. In addition, it reflects on being a scholar-practitioner and on the relationship between rigour and research. The nexus of the article is a creative-critical multimodal reading and writing of Index Cixous: Cix Pax (2005), a wordless book of photographs taken by Roni Horn of French writer Hélène Cixous. Through encounters with Horn’s book, creative writing research is presented as an example of Nicholas Royle’s concept of veering (2011), while also exploring its intersection with the writings of Cixous, particularly those texts concerned with seeing, not-seeing and myopia – the focus of an emerging post-doctoral research project. The poetry film presented here is a manifestation of how creative writing research might veer between different modes and media and foster ‘besideness’ to offer new insights into lived experiences of myopia

Is pesticide exposure a cause of obstructive airways disease?

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Starting out right : early education and looked after children

Looked after children (LAC) are those for whom the state assumes parental responsibility because the adults caring for them – usually the birth parent/s – are no longer able to. In England, 60 per cent of LAC enter care following abuse or neglect. The majority of LAC are placed with a foster carer, either a registered foster parent or ‘kinship care’ with a relative or friend. The number of LAC in England has been rising steadily in recent years, reaching 70,440 in 2016. Just under one fifth of these children (12,860) were under the age of compulsory schooling. The research evidence is conclusive on the link between early adversity and poorer outcomes. Looked after children are at risk of poorer cognitive, socio-emotional and academic outcomes and are almost ten times more likely than their peers to have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan. In England, the starkest differences are seen towards the end of schooling, with only 18 per cent of LAC achieving five GSCEs at grade C or above, compared to 64 per cent of children not in care. However, research suggests that the gap between LAC and their non-looked-after peers emerges well before school-age. There is also strong evidence that attending early years provision can help disadvantaged children catch up with their peers, with the benefits both more significant and more sustained if provision is of good quality. Given that many LAC are from disadvantaged homes, there is a good reason to believe that the same applies for this vulnerable group. In England, all three and four-year-old children are entitled to a free part-time ‘early education’ place within an early years setting, with take-up rates of more than 90 per cent within the general population. Recent policy initiatives such as free early education for disadvantaged two-year-olds (for which all LAC are eligible) and the early years ‘pupil premium’ for disadvantaged children offer huge potential to improve access to - and the quality of – early education for LAC. However at present not enough is known to ensure that these benefits translate into improved outcomes. This exploratory study aimed to address this gap, and explore the current situation in England

Making a House a Home : The House Project Evaluation

The Stoke-on-Trent House Project (HP) represents a new way of supporting care leavers to take control of their transitions to independent living, offering them greater involvement and choice in creating a long-term home after care. It created a housing company based on co-operative principles to enable young people to take a major role in finding, refurbishing and establishing their own home, alongside a tailored package of support. In doing so, it aimed to improve young people’s housing stability and satisfaction and, from that base, their wider post-care outcomes including participation in education, employment and training (EET), general wellbeing and integration through opportunities to develop greater autonomy and transferable skills. The evaluation included an exploration of the processes involved in setting up and operationalising the housing company and its early impact on the experiences and outcomes of young people within the co-operative as they transitioned from care

Step Change : an evaluation

Action For Children and three local authorities delivered a one year programme for adolescents on the edge of care or custody. The partnership aimed to improve long-term outcomes for young people and reduce the need for care or custody by: decreasing risk-taking behaviours increasing engagement in education, employment and training (EET) improving relationships between young people and their families to avoid family breakdow

Qualitative Olfactory Disorders: Patient Experiences and Self-Management

Background Qualitative olfactory disorders in the form of parosmia and phantosmia are very subjective and cannot be measured at present. They pose an unpleasant experience for patients and a therapeutic challenge for clinicians. Objective This study aimed to characterise the specific experiences of patients affected by the qualitative symptoms of parosmia and phantosmia including both triggers for symptoms and self-help measures they have tried. Methods A cross-sectional survey questionnaire was developed with the input of patient experts within the charity Fifth Sense. The survey was then open online for 3 months to charity members complaining of qualitative symptoms. The survey captured the frequency and impact of symptoms and self-management undertaken. Reflective feedback was also captured from a patient workshop. Results There were 100 participants; 61% female, age range 13-88. Common self-reported aetiology included sinonasal disease (17%), idiopathic (33%) and post-viral olfactory loss (26%) and post-traumatic olfactory loss (23%). Parosmia was reported as a daily symptom in 67% compared to 31% for phantosmia; 36% complained of suffering with both symptoms. Only 4% of respondents reported having received any successful treatment for their qualitative symptoms and 58% reported having received no treatment whatsoever. Olfactory training was the most common self-management method reported. Conclusion This study illustrates that qualitative disturbances remain problematic for those who experience them due to the duration of symptoms, the relative lack of experience or knowledge amongst medical professionals and the lack of therapeutic options. In future, consideration needs to be given to adaptation and coping strategies to help patients deal with these symptoms

Long-term culture of human breast cancer specimens and their analysis using optical projection tomography

Breast cancer is a leading cause of mortality in the Western world. It is well established that the spread of breast cancer, first locally and later distally, is a major factor in patient prognosis. Experimental systems of breast cancer rely on cell lines usually derived from primary tumours or pleural effusions. Two major obstacles hinder this research: (i) some known sub-types of breast cancers (notably poor prognosis luminal B tumours) are not represented within current line collections; (ii) the influence of the tumour microenvironment is not usually taken into account. We demonstrate a technique to culture primary breast cancer specimens of all sub-types. This is achieved by using three-dimensional (3D) culture system in which small pieces of tumour are embedded in soft rat collagen I cushions. Within 2-3 weeks, the tumour cells spread into the collagen and form various structures similar to those observed in human tumours1. Viable adipocytes, epithelial cells and fibroblasts within the original core were evident on histology. Malignant epithelial cells with squamoid morphology were demonstrated invading into the surrounding collagen. Nuclear pleomorphism was evident within these cells, along with mitotic figures and apoptotic bodies. We have employed Optical Projection Tomography (OPT), a 3D imaging technology, in order to quantify the extent of tumour spread in culture. We have used OPT to measure the bulk volume of the tumour culture, a parameter routinely measured during the neo-adjuvant treatment of breast cancer patients to assess response to drug therapy. Here, we present an opportunity to culture human breast tumours without sub-type bias and quantify the spread of those ex vivo. This method could be used in the future to quantify drug sensitivity in original tumour. This may provide a more predictive model than currently used cell lines.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe