A review of practice education models

Duncan Pentland - ORCID 0000-0003-1472-0060 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1472-0060Practice education is fundamental to pre-registration learning for many health and social care professions, yet finding sufficient opportunities for students is challenging. One-to-one student-educator pairings are common, and while different models could increase placement opportunities, associated terminology is inconsistent and an overview of advantages, challenges and available evidence is missing. This mapping review identifies, categorises, and critically considers the evidence for different models of practice education used by health and social care professions. Papers from 2008 onwards reporting on practice education approaches in allied health or social care profession courses were identified in three databases. Data was extracted, methodological quality categorised and a typology of practice education models developed. 53 papers were reviewed and developed into a typology of fourteen models. Mapping indicated issues with a lack of high quality research and limitations in available outcome indicators. Pre-requisites for the effective operation of different models include preparation, communication, and allowing sufficient time for new ways of working. Practice education discourse is characterised by varied terminology and practices. Various models for structuring practice education exist though the evidence for their effectiveness and impact on capacity is limited. Using consistent language and considering wider impacts and outcomes is recommended in future study.Funding for this review was provided by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists as part of a contract awarded to Queen Margaret University to complete the project “Reviewing the Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ role in supporting practice education”.https://doi.org/10.1177/030802262090432583pubpub

Realising evidence based practice: a systemic investigation of core knowledge processes in mental health

Aims To investigate the systemic circumstances required for mental health professionals to engage in the core processes of evidence based practice. Background Successful evidence based practice is the function of inter-related processes including knowledge acquisition, generation, and application, which occur in complex and dynamic circumstances. Dominant models and approaches to facilitating the use of knowledge in practice by health professionals remain based on linear, technical processes which aim to instigate behavioural changes at the individual level. Emergent conceptualisations argue the need for strategies that consider systemic factors which can impede or facilitate the processes underpinning the operation of evidence based practices in mental health. As yet no efforts have been made to actively apply systems thinking in efforts to improve evidence based practice in mental health. Method A collective case-study research design was developed by adapting Soft Systems Methodology. Three cases were examined, each selected due to their ability to provide information about one of the core processes under investigation; knowledge acquisition, knowledge generation and knowledge application. Data was collected iteratively from thirteen participants through focus groups and semi-structured interviews. Analysis was undertaken through the inductive open coding of data into sub-categories, following which key categories were identified and considered against individual, group and organisational systems levels. Findings This study identified twenty-four key categories across the cases and located these against the three systems levels. As anticipated, complex dynamic interactions between different elements at the different levels were identified including, the role of motivation, perception and skill at the individual level, the importance of team wisdom, support and decision making, and the need for organisations to provide adequate infrastructures, ensure access to specialist expertise and a number of elements contributing to a culture of space and support for evidence based practice.awd_pdtunpub1284_ethesesunpu

Is anything in life simple? Why we should think about complexity [Editorial]

Duncan Pentland - ORCID: 0000-0003-1472-0060 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1472-0060https://doi.org/10.1177/0308022621101738184pubpub

Environmental Qualities That Enhance Outdoor Play in Community Playgrounds from the Perspective of Children with and without Disabilities: A Scoping Review

Special issue: Children’s Play: Contributions to Health and DevelopmentDuncan Pentland - ORCID: 0000-0003-1472-0060 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1472-0060Thomas Morgenthaler - ORCID: 0000-0002-2511-0092 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2511-0092For children, playgrounds are important environments. However, children’s perspectives are often not acknowledged in playground provision, design, and evaluation. This scoping review aimed to summarize the users’ (children with and without disabilities) perspectives on environmental qualities that enhance their play experiences in community playgrounds. Published peer-reviewed studies were systematically searched in seven databases from disciplines of architecture, education, health, and social sciences; 2905 studies were screened, and the last search was performed in January 2023. Included studies (N = 51) were charted, and a qualitative content analysis was conducted. Five themes were formed which provided insights into how both physical and social environmental qualities combined provide for maximum play value in outdoor play experiences. These multifaceted play experiences included the desire for fun, challenge, and intense play, the wish to self-direct play, and the value of playing alone as well as with known people and animals. Fundamentally, children wished for playgrounds to be children’s places that were welcoming, safe, and aesthetically pleasing. The results are discussed in respect to social, physical, and atmospheric environmental affordances and the adult’s role in playground provision. This scoping review represents the valuable insights of children regardless of abilities and informs about how to maximise outdoor play experiences for all children.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph2003176320pubpub

A nearly complete skull of the sauropod dinosaur Diamantinasaurus matildae from the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Australia and implications for the early evolution of titanosaurs

Titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs were diverse and abundant throughout the Cretaceous, with a global distribution. However, few titanosaurian taxa are represented by multiple skeletons, let alone skulls. Diamantinasaurus matildae, from the lower Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia, was heretofore represented by three specimens, including one that preserves a braincase and several other cranial elements. Herein, we describe a fourth specimen of Diamantinasaurus matildae that preserves a more complete skull—including numerous cranial elements not previously known for this taxon—as well as a partial postcranial skeleton. The skull of Diamantinasaurus matildae shows many similarities to that of the coeval Sarmientosaurus musacchioi from Argentina (e.g. quadratojugal with posterior tongue-like process; braincase with more than one ossified exit for cranial nerve V; compressed-cone–chisel-like teeth), providing further support for the inclusion of both taxa within the clade Diamantinasauria. The replacement teeth within the premaxilla of the new specimen are morphologically congruent with teeth previously attributed to Diamantinasaurus matildae, and Diamantinasauria more broadly, corroborating those referrals. Plesiomorphic characters of the new specimen include a sacrum comprising five vertebrae (also newly demonstrated in the holotype of Diamantinasaurus matildae), rather than the six or more that typify other titanosaurs. However, we demonstrate that there have been a number of independent acquisitions of a six-vertebrae sacrum among Somphospondyli and/or that there have been numerous reversals to a five-vertebrae sacrum, suggesting that sacral count is relatively plastic. Other newly identified plesiomorphic features include: the overall skull shape, which is more similar to brachiosaurids than ‘derived' titanosaurs; anterior caudal centra that are amphicoelous, rather than procoelous; and a pedal phalangeal formula estimated as 2-2-3-2-0. These features are consistent with either an early-branching position within Titanosauria, or a position just outside the titanosaurian radiation, for Diamantinasauria, as indicated by alternative character weighting approaches applied in our phylogenetic analyses, and help to shed light on the early assembly of titanosaurian anatomy that has until now been obscured by a poor fossil record

Access to Psychological Therapies - DCAQ in NHS Lothian: Phase 2 Report

EdinburghThe purpose of this document is to report on phase two of the Demand, Capacity, Activity & Queue (DCAQ) work carried out with Midlothian Psychological Therapies Service and East Lothian Psychological Therapies Service between April 2011 and March 2012. The overall project was broken down into two phases and this report is a summary of the work completed in phase two. The phase one report can be accessed at the following web address; http://www.qihub.scot.nhs.uk/media/220541/nhs%20lothian%20dcaq%20phase%201%20report%20vfinal2.doc The phase two report has two main purposes: To provide feedback on the work completed in phase two and to outline the additional service improvement opportunities that might be explored for each service participating; To provide a learning resource for other services interested in applying DCAQ.sch_occpub3131pu

A diverse Late Cretaceous vertebrate tracksite from the Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia

The Upper Cretaceous ‘upper’ Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia is world famous for hosting Dinosaur Stampede National Monument at Lark Quarry Conservation Park, a somewhat controversial tracksite that preserves thousands of tridactyl dinosaur tracks attributed to ornithopods and theropods. Herein, we describe the Snake Creek Tracksite, a new vertebrate ichnoassemblage from the ‘upper’ Winton Formation, originally situated on Karoola Station but now relocated to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History. This site preserves the first sauropod tracks reported from eastern Australia, a small number of theropod and ornithopod tracks, the first fossilised crocodyliform and ?turtle tracks reported from Australia, and possible lungfish and actinopterygian feeding traces. The sauropod trackways are wide-gauge, with manus tracks bearing an ungual impression on digit I, and anteriorly tapered pes tracks with straight or concave forward posterior margins. These tracks support the hypothesis that at least one sauropod taxon from the ‘upper’ Winton Formation retained a pollex claw (previously hypothesised for Diamantinasaurus matildae based on body fossils). Many of the crocodyliform trackways indicate underwater walking. The Snake Creek Tracksite reconciles the sauropod-, crocodyliform-, turtle-, and lungfish-dominated body fossil record of the ‘upper’ Winton Formation with its heretofore ornithopod- and theropod-dominated ichnofossil record

Measuring the predictability of life outcomes with a scientific mass collaboration.

How predictable are life trajectories? We investigated this question with a scientific mass collaboration using the common task method; 160 teams built predictive models for six life outcomes using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a high-quality birth cohort study. Despite using a rich dataset and applying machine-learning methods optimized for prediction, the best predictions were not very accurate and were only slightly better than those from a simple benchmark model. Within each outcome, prediction error was strongly associated with the family being predicted and weakly associated with the technique used to generate the prediction. Overall, these results suggest practical limits to the predictability of life outcomes in some settings and illustrate the value of mass collaborations in the social sciences

Sir David K Henderson and the origins of British occupational therapy

Sir David K Henderson made several major contributions in the field of psychiatry, gaining an international reputation but, perhaps lesser known is his role in the introduction of occupational therapy in the United Kingdom. The part Henderson played in establishing occupational therapy as an aspect of his evolving approach to treating mental illness in Scotland is discussed, as is the influence he had in stimulating and supporting the early pioneers of the profession elsewhere in the UK.sch_occ60pub4330pub