Global Aviation Monitor (GAM) - December 2017

Objective The development, delivery and evaluation of a training programme for medical and nursing professionals on best practice for informing families of their child’s disability. Design A 2 h training course on ‘Best practice guidelines for informing families of their child’s disability’ was designed based on the findings of a nationally representative study of parents and professionals. The classroom-based course comprised a presentation of the research and recommendations of the best practice guidelines; a DVD film of parent stories and professional advice; group discussion; and a half-hour input from a parent of two children with disabilities. An anonymous, pretraining and post-training questionnaire was administered to measure knowledge and confidence levels, using scales adapted from a study by Ferguson et al (2006). Participants 235 participants, including medical students, nursing students, and junior hospital doctors (JHDs). Outcome measures Knowledge of best practice and confidence in communicating diagnosis of disability. Results Significant improvements in knowledge (time 1 mean (M)=14.31, SD=2.961; time 2 M=18.17, SD=3.068) and confidence (time 1 M=20.87, SD=5.333; time 2 M=12.43, SD=3.803) following training were found. In addition, a significant interaction between time and cohort (medical students, nurses and JHDs) was found for knowledge. Further examination suggested medical students’ knowledge was developing to the extent that post-training, their scores were higher than nurses, but not significantly different to JHDs. Conclusions The increase in reported levels of knowledge and confidence following training in best practice for informing families of their child’s disability indicates the potential for providing communication skills training in this area.Participation of EM Bettendorf in this project was funded by the Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Grant (NIMH/NIH R25 MH071286) at Children’s Hospital Boston (Dr K Munir, PI). Funding for the wider pilot project of which the current study forms a part, was provided by the Health Services National Partnership Forum and the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies Providing Services to People with Intellectual Disabilities.peer-reviewe

Community participation in action: involving communities in primary care teams

Background: The concept of involving communities in healthcare planning is enshrined in health policy across international settings. There is evidence of community participation impacting positively on health services. However, despite this policy context, there are major gaps in our knowledge. It is not routine across all primary health care settings and there is a lack of theoretically informed studies about implementation of community participation on interdisciplinary teams. This theoretically informed study draws on three inter-related projects to explore the perspectives of various stakeholders implementing community participation on primary care teams (PCTs) in Ireland. Method: Based on the pragmatic paradigm and principles of participatory qualitative health research, a case study approach was adopted using a sequential exploratory mixed methods design underpinned by Normalisation Process Theory (NPT). Participants represented health care professionals, GPs, community representatives, patients from marginalised groups and health service planners and policy makers from across a variety of primary health care settings. Data analysis took place at two levels– individual study level and data integration level and was informed by NPT constructs. Findings: Levers to implementation of community participation on PCTs included a shared understanding among stakeholders of the value of the work and good relationships and champions who support community initiatives. Barriers included a lack of resources for PCTs, complex health care structures, mistrust among team members and lack of formal appraisal of outcomes. Conclusion: It is a challenge to sustain community participation on PCTs in an environment where PCTs are struggling to be established. Overall, the lack of universal coherence about the work and poor implementation of PCTs impacts buy in, enactment and appraisals of the work thereby making implementation challenging and sustainability unlikely. The data about levers and barriers reported are important because they provide clear information about activities, processes and relationships that can support implementation

The participation of children and young people in care: insights from an analysis of national inspection reports in the Republic of Ireland

The term participation is widely used to refer to the involvement of children and young people in decision-making on issues that affect their lives. The Health and Information Quality Authority (HIQA) is the national inspectorate for social care in Ireland. HIQA monitors Tusla, Ireland s child and family agency, for compliance with national children s standards, including standards on children and young people s participation rights. This paper outlines findings of a secondary analysis of data in relation to participation standards in HIQA foster care, residential care and special care inspection reports over a two-year period from 2013 2015 (n=40). The thematic analysis explores the degree to which the reports found that children in care are provided with the opportunity to influence decisions in relation to their everyday lives, to participate in child in care reviews, receive information, avail of advocacy services and have access to a complaints mechanism. While there is much evidence of good practice across all sectors, some notable differences between the realisation of participation standards in residential care and foster care were found. This baseline analysis was undertaken prior to the implementation of a comprehensive participation strategy by Tusla across the organisation and highlights areas in which practice can be improved or mainstreamed in this work programme.peer-reviewed2019-11-2

\u27Speak Up\u27: Participation of children and young people in decisions about their lives in Tusla Services

The UNESCO Child & Family Research Centre at NUI Galway carried out a study to find out to what extent the voice of children and young people are being heard in decisions made about their lives by Tusla. This study forms part of the larger study. It aims to explore the experiences of children and young people involved with Tusla of participating in decisions made about their lives

Addressing the long term impacts of aphasia: How far does the Conversation Partner Programme go?

Approximately 176,000 new individuals in the United Kingdom and Ireland are diagnosed with stroke annually with up to one third experiencing aphasia. Qualitative research methods are increasingly used to capture the complexity of service users’ experiences of health and illness; however, the voice of service users with aphasia continues to be limited in published healthcare literature. This participatory research study included people with aphasia as co-researchers in the exploration of aphasia and a Conversation Partner Programme (CPP)We are grateful to the following organisations for their collaboration and support: The Department of Speech and Language Therapy, PCCC, HSE West, Galway, Ireland, http://hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/LHO/Galway/Therapy/ and Connect (the communication disability network) www.ukconnect.org