Diffusion theory and multi-disciplinary working in children’s services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how innovation in children’s services is adopted and developed by staff within new multi-disciplinary children’s safeguarding teams. It draws on diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory to help us better understand the mechanisms by which the successful implementation of multi-disciplinary working can be best achieved. Design/methodology/approach It is based on interviews with 61 frontline safeguarding staff, including social workers, substance misuse workers, mental health workers and domestic abuse workers. Thematic analysis identified the enablers and barriers to implementation. Findings DOI defines five innovation attributes as essential for rapid diffusion: relative advantage over current practice; compatibility with existing values and practices; complexity or simplicity of implementation; trialability or piloting of new ideas; and observability or seeing results swiftly. Staff identified multi-disciplinary team working and group supervision as advantageous, in line with social work values and improved their service to children and families. Motivational interviewing and new ways of case recordings were less readily accepted because of the complexity of practicing confidently and concerns about the risks of moving away from exhaustive case recording which workers felt provided professional accountability. Practical implications DOI is a useful reflective tool for senior managers to plan and review change programmes, and to identify any emerging barriers to successful implementation. Originality/value The paper provides insights into what children’s services staff value about multi-disciplinary working and why some aspects of innovation are adopted more readily than others, depending on the perception of diffusion attributes.

New web services are helping authors make data-driven decisions when choosing which journal to submit to

With more than 34,000 active scholarly peer-reviewed journals, how do authors choose which one to submit to? Amy Forrester, Bo-Christer Björk and Carol Tenopir liken this process to a long-term investment decision, with access to critical information on a variety of factors being imperative. A new generation of web tools and services can help authors to find data on journals and publishers and so make informed selection decisions; assessing information on impact and prestige, service quality, and publication cost and policy. Ultimately, of course, the onus remains on the authors to weigh these multiple factors against their own unique publication and career needs

Colony growth of corals transplanted for restoration depends on their site of origin and environmental factors

We determined that growth differences among coral fragments transplanted for restoration were influenced by both source population and environmental factors. In two common garden experiments, storm-generated fragments of Acropora palmata were transplanted from two source populations in the British Virgin Islands to a restoration site (a “common garden”) that lacked A. palmata. In the first experiment, colonies from different sources grew at different rates in the first year after transplanting, suggesting either genetic differences among source populations or enduring acclimation to conditions at the source site. No differences in growth among source populations were detected in the second common garden experiment. To isolate environmental effects on growth, we subdivided fragments from three source populations to create genetically identical pieces that were attached separately at both source and restoration sites. Genetically identical pieces from all source populations grew slightly faster at their source than at the restoration site, implying a subtle home-site advantage. Overall, our results suggest that matching environmental conditions at source and restoration sites may increase the success of restoration projects

WHITE PAPER: Environmental Scan for DataONE

This environmental scan (conducted by the U&AWG in fall 2018) features a multi-faceted analysis of projects/initiatives in the DataONE space. This report (1) provides context by identifying organizations in the data space; (2) analyzes those organizations most similar to DataONE regarding key services and products; and (3) explores the data training/education environment. As appropriate, the report offers key insights derived from the analysis

Family Safeguarding Hertfordshire

Family Safeguarding Hertfordshire is a reform of children’s services that aims to improve how these services work with families, and outcomes for children and their parents. The report evaluates the project and presents local and national lessons

Healthy Later Living in a time of COVID.:CASP Policy Labs:Executive Summary.

The CASP project’s aim was to develop a University of Bath (UoB) Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Faculty wide Policy Lab (PL) initiative to approach policy issues using innovative design orientated methods.The UoB is also committed to engaging locally to ensure maximum benefits of their research can be shared and applied to local community issues and activities. Building on the small number of existing PL models in UK public policy settings, the project sought to enhance these new approaches in two key ways:• first by building capacity and capability through the Centre for the Analysis ofSocial Policy (CASP) in the HSS which would have a regional and local basis; and• second by involving service users by experience (including carers) in the PLsessions, which has not been a feature of initiatives such as the UK CabinetOffice PL programme.Policy Labs (PLs) were planned for three administrative areas within the West of England Combined Authorities Area (WECA). These are Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Bristol and South Gloucestershire (S Gloucestershire). A final Regional PL was held for the whole WECA area to discuss feedback from the local PLs and future plans. The topic for the PLs was Healthy Ageing (subsequently retitled to Healthy Later Living) which also ties in well with the UoB Healthy Later Living campaign and network.The process of building the PL team, designing the events and developing the networks and contacts to support the events was established and the first PL for BaNES was held in March 2020. The findings from this event assisted the project to enhance the understanding of best practice on PLs, and lessons learned from the first event were included in planning for the next two PLs for Bristol and S Gloucestershire. These two PLs were held in March 2021 since the intervention of the COVID-19 (Covid) pandemic prevented the project from delivering all events as planned in 2020. The Covid pandemic has had a significant impact for carers and older people and the second two PLs have addressed the issues raised by the pandemic in relation to healthy later living.The project was funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) programme through the UoB. Full description of the process and issues from the PLs are described in more comprehensive reports submitted to the UoB, which include details of the presentations and discussions for the PLs. This document provides a summary of the key findings and conclusions of the PLs, including a critique of the PL process used in the project. And how it might be taken forward

A simple method for estimating larval supply in reef fishes and a preliminary test of population limitation by larval delivery in the kelp bass \u3cem\u3eParalabrax clathratus\u3c/em\u3e

This paper describes a method for estimating larval supply of a temperate reef fish, the kelp bass Paralabrax clathratus, that is simple, inexpensive, requires relatively low effort, and integrates larval supply over time. Using this method, we sampled larval supply concurrently at 4 sites spread over about 35 km for nearly an entire settlement season. With these data and visual estimates of recruitment (the density of young-of-the-year after the end of the settlement season), we tested the hypothesis that spatial patterns in recruitment were set by larval supply. This hypothesis was rejected: kelp bass recruitment to the 4 sites was not related to patterns of larval supply. Furthermore, in contrast to the findings of an earlier study, recruitment was not related to the density of the macroalga Macrocystis pyrifera. Recruitment was, however, strongly correlated with the density of 1 yr old kelp bass, suggesting that spatial patterns of recruitment were consistent between the 2 cohorts. Recruitment, however, was not correlated with the density of bass 2+ yr old. We also measured larval supply in a second year and found that spatial patterns of supply were strongly correlated between years at a relatively small scale of 10s to 100s m, but not at a larger scale of several km. This finding suggests that some deterministic process (or set of processes) sets spatial patterns of larval supply at small, but not large scales. At large scales, consistent patterns of recruitment between 2 cohorts in the face of variable larval supply suggest that deterministic, postsettlement processes may generate predictable patterns of recruitment even when the supply of larvae is variable. In addition to demonstrating that spatial patterns in the abundance of demersal fish are not always well predicted by larval supply, this study introduces a technique that may facilitate more thorough exploration of the role of larval supply in determining the dynamics of populations of reef fishes

Associations between self-reported sleep duration and cardiometabolic risk factors in young African-origin adults from the five-country Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study (METS)

To investigate associations between self-reported sleep duration and cardiometabolic (CM) risk factors in African-origin adults residing in five countries spanning the epidemiologic transition. Cross-sectional. Ghanaian (n = 491), South African (n = 503), Jamaican (n = 508), Seychellois (n = 501) and American (n = 480) men and women. Self-reported sleep duration was obtained using questionnaires. Sex- and site-stratified logistic regression analyses investigated relationships between sleep duration, individual CM risk factors and a binary CM risk variable (presence of ≥3 CM risk factors), adjusting for age, physical activity and education. Sleep duration distributions varied by cohort: 44.5%, 41.4%, 35.9%, 16.8% and 2.5% of American, Jamaican, Seychellois, Ghanaian and South African men reported <7 h sleep per night respectively (p < 0.001). Similarly, 42.6%, 28.6%, 25.2%, 12.8% and 1.5% of American, Jamaican, Seychellois, Ghanaian and South African women reported <7 h sleep respectively (p < 0.001). American men reporting ≤6 h sleep were more likely to be in the elevated CM risk group (OR: 2.52, 95%CI: 1.02, 6.22, p = 0.045) and to have a high waist circumference (OR: 2.44, 95%CI: 1.07, 5.57, p = 0.034) compared to those reporting 8 h sleep. Jamaican women reporting ≤6 h sleep (OR: 2.53, 95%CI: 1.19, 5.36, p = 0.016) and American women reporting 7 h sleep (OR: 2.71, 95%CI: 1.17, 6.26, p = 0.002) were more likely to be obese than those reporting 8 h sleep. Associations between short sleep and CM risk factors were only evident in the American men and women and Jamaican women. Future interventions to address CM risk and sleep health may need to be country-specific when targeting high-risk populations