Sexual health for all 2000: Identifying key obstacles to sexual health for lesbians, gay and bisexual people

Duration: March 2000 - May 2000 This was a short, joint investigation between the National AIDS Trust, The Lesbian and Gay Foundation (formerly Healthy Gay Manchester and Manchester Lesbian & Gay Switchboard) and Sigma Research. It was intended to inform the development of the English National Sexual Health Strategy (prior to its merger with the National HIV Strategy) by the Department of Health. The Department of Health commissioned this research on the sexual health needs of Gay men and Lesbians, and identified access to services and health promotion as two areas of special interest. A survey was developed to elicit the views of Lesbians, Gay men and Bisexuals on what the forthcoming strategy (a) should be trying to achieve and (b) how to achieve it. A short, self-completion questionnaire was used (two sides of a single sheet of A4), with a Freepost return facility. The questions covered: demographics; health concerns; obstacles to sexual health; and experiences of sexual health service. Respondents were recruited from Gay and Lesbian community groups, Lesbian & Gay pubs and bookstores in London and Manchester. Respondents were included if they were 16 years or older and resident in England and either: (i) homosexually active in last five year, and / or (ii) Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual identity. The final sample included 497 women and 417 men. The report to the Department of Health included twenty specific recommendations intended to inform the National Strategy

Locating the ‘radical’ in 'Shoot the Messenger'

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below, copyright 2013 @ Edinburgh University Press.The 2006 BBC drama Shoot the Messenger is based on the psychological journey of a Black schoolteacher, Joe Pascale, accused of assaulting a Black male pupil. The allegation triggers Joe's mental breakdown which is articulated, through Joe's first-person narration, as a vindictive loathing of Black people. In turn, a range of common stereotypical characterisations and discourses based on a Black culture of hypocrisy, blame and entitlement is presented. The text is therefore laid wide open to a critique of its neo-conservatism and hegemonic narratives of Black Britishness. However, the drama's presentation of Black mental illness suggests that Shoot the Messenger may also be interpreted as a critique of social inequality and the destabilising effects of living with ethnicised social categories. Through an analysis of issues of representation, the article reclaims this controversial text as a radical drama and examines its implications for and within a critical cultural politics of ‘race’ and representation

Remittance micro-worlds and migrant infrastructure: circulations, disruptions, and the movement of money

Remittances are increasingly central to development discourses in Africa. The development sector seeks to leverage transnational migration and rapid innovations in financial technologies (fintech), to make remittance systems cheaper for end-users and less risky for states and companies. Critical scholarship, however, questions the techno-fix tendency, calling for grounded research on the intersections between remittances, technologies, and everyday life in African cities and beyond. Building on this work, we deploy the concepts of “micro-worlds” and “migrant infrastructure” to make sense of the complex networks of actors, practices, regulations, and materialities that shape remittance worlds. To ground the work, we narrate two vignettes of remittance service providers who operate in Cape Town, South Africa, serving the Congolese diaspora community. We showcase the important role of logistics companies in the “informal” provision of remittance services and the rise of fintech companies operating in the remittance space. These vignettes give substance to the messy and relational dynamics of remittance micro-worlds. This relationality allows us to see how remittances are circulations, not unidirectional flows; how they are not split between formal and informal, but in fact intersect in blurry ways; how digital technologies are central to the story of migrant infrastructures; and how migrants themselves are compositional of these networks. In doing so, we tell a more relational story about how remittance systems are constituted and configured

Using ‘sport in the community schemes’ to tackle crime and drug use among young people: Some policy issues and problems

This is a PDF version of an article published in European physical education review © Sage, 2004. The definitive version is available at www.sagepub.com.This article discusses the effectiveness of sport in the community schemes such as the Positive Futures initative and Summer Splsh/Splash Extra in reducing crime and drug use amongst young people

Professional development perspectives across gender and age groups of under-qualified rural NEETs

Our study explored how self-efficacy perceptions are associated with Perceived Barriers (PB), meaning beliefs about constraints on current/future vocational development, and Professional Expectations (PE) among rural, under-qualified youths Not in Employment, nor in Education or Training (NEET). We also analyzed how the connections between these factors varied across gender and age groups. One-hundred and eighty eight NEETs participated in this study (58.20% female; (M = 23.05; SD = 1.96). Through linear regression analysis using PROCESS macros we found that higher self-efficacy was associated with stronger PB, after accounting for the effects of training offers and income. Moreover, men showing stronger self-efficacy also displayed stronger PB, while men depicting weaker self-efficacy presented weaker PB, compared to women in similar conditions. Being offered more training opportunities resulted in stronger perceptions of professional barriers for these NEETs. Thus, rural, under-qualified NEETs require person-centered approaches from employment services, to support their transition to employment/training.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

The end of the beginning? Taking forward local democratic renewal in the post-referendum North East.

This article draws upon the author’s commissioned research on the nature of regional governance following the 2004 Referendum in the North East on elected regional assemblies. The article aimed to both capture these views and to assess how the ‘No vote in the referendum has impacted on subsequent developments in sub-national governance. The article provides both an empirical overview of recent developments and engages with the wider conceptual debates on democratic renewal. The arguments covered in this output are aimed at both academic and practitioner audiences, and have been also disseminated at regional and national conferences

The impact generated by public and charity-funded research in the UK: A systematic literature review

Objective: To identify, synthesize and critically assess the empirical evidence of the impact generated by public and charity funded health research in the United Kingdom. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of the empirical evidence published in English in peer-reviewed journals between 2006 and 2017. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria were selected and their findings were analysed using the Payback Framework into five main categories: knowledge, benefits to future research and research use, benefits from informing policy and product development, health and health sector benefits and broader economic benefits. We assessed the studies for risk of selection, reporting and funding bias. Results: Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of the studies (10 out of 13) assessed impact at multiple domains including the main 5 key themes of the Payback Framework. All of them showed a positive impact of funded research on outcomes. Of those studies, one presented low risk of bias (8%), 6 studies were classified as presenting moderate risk of bias (46%) and 6 studies presented high risk of bias (46%). Conclusions: Empirical evidence on the impact of public and charity funded research is still limited and subject to funding and selection bias. More work is needed to establish the causal effects of funded research on academic outcomes, policy, practice and the broader economy

The co-evolutionary relationship between energy service companies and the UK energy system: Implications for a low-carbon transition

The Energy Service Company (ESCo) business model is designed to reward businesses by satisfying consumers' energy needs at less cost and with fewer carbon emissions via energy demand management and/or sustainable supply measures. In contrast, the revenue of the incumbent Energy Utility Company (EUCo) model is coupled with the sale of units of energy, which are predominantly sourced from fossil fuels. The latter is currently dominant in the UK. This paper addresses two questions. First, why has the ESCo model traditionally been confined to niche applications? Second, what role is the ESCo model likely to play in the transition to a low-carbon UK energy system? To answer these, the paper examines the core characteristics of the ESCo model, relative to the EUCo model. The paper then examines how ESCos have co-evolved with the various dimensions of the energy system (i.e. ecosystems, institutions, user practices, technologies and business models) to provide insight into how ESCos might help to shape the future UK energy system. We suggest that institutional and technological changes within the UK energy system could result in a more favourable selection environment for ESCos, consequently enabling the ESCo model to proliferate at the expense of the EUCo model. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Factors Affecting Students’ Learning in Civil Engineering Measurement

The purpose of this study is to assess the factors affecting students’ learning in civil engineering measurement, with a view to enhancing students learning experiences and outcomes. The methodology adopted for this research was quantitative with the use of questionnaires distributed to 30 civil engineering students in their 3rd year, studying at a Nigerian university. The measurement of items in the survey questionnaire was based on a 5 point Likert scale. The data from the survey were analysed using descriptive statistics such as percentages and mean scores. The data from the survey were also presented in the form of pie chart and table. Teaching style was found to be the most significant factor affecting students’ learning in civil engineering measurement. Other significant factors were factors that had to do with the nature of the course which included difficulty with understanding the measurement process, measurement calculations, standard method of measurement (SMM), taking off sheet and terminology and acronyms. The findings also provided additional evidence to support a conducive learning environment and the use of teaching aids in enhancing learners’ experiences. The study focused only on civil engineering students from one university in Nigeria. More empirical evidence of the factors affecting students' learning in civil engineering measurement can be obtained by considering other universities within and outside Nigeria. The findings place great responsibility on lecturers to improve their teaching styles. Moreover, the use of sufficient examples during teaching, and the use of 3D drawings such as Revit would greatly enhance the learning experiences of students in civil engineering measurement