Arsenic Concentrations in Private Bedrock Wells in Southeastern New Hampshire

The quality of drinking water obtained from private wells in New Hampshire is not regulated; consequently, private wells are often not sampled for arsenic unless individual well owners choose to do so. To provide private well owners and Federal and State environmental and health officials with accurate information on arsenic concentrations from private wells in this region, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted an arsenic occurrence and distribution study, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA New England), New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES), New Hampshire Estuaries Project, and with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NHDHHS). This report describes the results of this study to determine the range of arsenic concentrations from ground water in the three counties of southeastern New Hampshire by analyzing water samples collected by a randomly selected group of well owners from this area

MS4 Resource: Opti-Tool Training

UNHSC has been assisting the New England Environmental Finance Center in the development and delivery of training sessions to promote the new BMP Performance Curves and the EPA Region 1 Opti-Tool

Between a rock and a hard place: ethical dilemmas of local community facilitators doing participatory research projects

Participatory research is supposed to involve participants in a collective definition of goals, and the co-production and sharing of research outputs. However, when articulated through an extended period of time involving a range of local, national and international actors, the practicalities of participatory research means that certain groups and individuals become responsible for taking leading roles, with subsequent ethical dilemmas. In the ‘Community-owned solutions for future environmental challenges in the Guiana Shield, South America’ (COBRA) project, the participatory research process involves a group of five Indigenous researchers – “the local team” – in charge of carrying out the research on the ground e.g. defining procedures, carrying out community engagement and supporting the communities in analyzing and disseminating the material. This local team is, in turn, supported by researchers from a national NGO and foreign academics. Considerable responsibility has been given to the local team for achieving project outcomes, and freedom in defining project tasks and activities. This paper analyses the multiple ethical dilemmas arising out of this situation, particularly the role of the local team as intermediaries between the wider community and project partners. We highlight the existence of significant mismatches between research expectations, and the ethical processes in operation at community level which are usually established on long-term, tacit and reciprocal relationships. We discuss how local community researchers are challenged with balancing the tensions between these two ethical polarities, while at the same time producing participatory research outcomes that are acceptable by everyone involved

Integrated care to address the physical health needs of people with severe mental illness : a rapid review

Background People with mental health conditions have a lower life expectancy and poorer physical health outcomes than the general population. Evidence suggests that this discrepancy is driven by a combination of clinical risk factors, socioeconomic factors and health system factors. Objective(s) To explore current service provision and map the recent evidence on models of integrated care addressing the physical health needs of people with severe mental illness (SMI) primarily within the mental health service setting. The research was designed as a rapid review of published evidence from 2013–15, including an update of a comprehensive 2013 review, together with further grey literature and insights from an expert advisory group. Synthesis We conducted a narrative synthesis, using a guiding framework based on nine previously identified factors considered to be facilitators of good integrated care for people with mental health problems, supplemented by additional issues emerging from the evidence. Descriptive data were used to identify existing models, perceived facilitators and barriers to their implementation, and any areas for further research. Findings and discussion The synthesis incorporated 45 publications describing 36 separate approaches to integrated care, along with further information from the advisory group. Most service models were multicomponent programmes incorporating two or more of the nine factors: (1) information sharing systems; (2) shared protocols; (3) joint funding/commissioning; (4) colocated services; (5) multidisciplinary teams; (6) liaison services; (7) navigators; (8) research; and (9) reduction of stigma. Few of the identified examples were described in detail and fewer still were evaluated, raising questions about the replicability and generalisability of much of the existing evidence. However, some common themes did emerge from the evidence. Efforts to improve the physical health care of people with SMI should empower people (staff and service users) and help remove everyday barriers to delivering and accessing integrated care. In particular, there is a need for improved communication between professionals and better information technology to support them, greater clarity about who is responsible and accountable for physical health care, and awareness of the effects of stigmatisation on the wider culture and environment in which services are delivered. Limitations and future work The literature identified in the rapid review was limited in volume and often lacked the depth of description necessary to acquire new insights. All members of our advisory group were based in England, so this report has limited information on the NHS contexts specific to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A conventional systematic review of this topic would not appear to be appropriate in the immediate future, although a more interpretivist approach to exploring this literature might be feasible. Wherever possible, future evaluations should involve service users and be clear about which outcomes, facilitators and barriers are likely to be context-specific and which might be generalisable

Urban neighbourhood flood vulnerability and risk assessments at different diurnal levels

Diurnal changes within communities can significantly alter the level of impacts during a flood, yet these essential daily variations are not currently catered for within flood risk assessments. This paper develops a flood vulnerability and risk model that captures crucial features of flood vulnerability; integrating physical and socio‐economic vulnerability data, combined with a flood hazard analysis, to give overall flood risk at neighbourhood scale, at two different times of day, for floods of different magnitudes. The flood vulnerability and risk model, the resulting diurnal coastal flood vulnerability and risk indexes, and corresponding maps for the ward of Hilsea (Portsmouth, United Kingdom), presented within this paper, highlight three previously unidentified neighbourhoods in particular in the northwest of the Hilsea ward, which have the highest levels of risk during both time zones and for flood events of different magnitude. Critically, these neighbourhoods lie further inland and not directly on the Hilsea coastline, yet by analysing at this resolution (including diurnal impacts), substantial levels of underlying vulnerability were identified within these areas

Retail and leisure floorspace supply Monitoring information, 2002

Title from coverAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:7785. 431(2002) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Hampshire business development needs study 2002 Summary report

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:m03/15592 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo