The state and post-industrial urban regeneration: the reinvention of south Cardiff

South Cardiff was once dependent on the export of coal and the production of steel, but these activities had faded by the 1970s, creating economic stagnation and physical dereliction. However, the area was rechristened ‘Cardiff Bay’ in the mid—1980s and was the focus of an ambitious and contested state—funded regeneration. This article argues that regeneration was broadly successful, although not without failures, and that government remained willing to intervene heavily in some small areas. The main contribution is to identify and analyse how local authorities retained influence over regeneration, in contrast to approaches taken elsewhere by central government

Employers' organisations: a continuing force in the UK?

Leon Gooberman and Marco Hauptmeier explain how Employers' Organisations - an underestimated actor within the world of work - deliver benefits to their members, represent employers in the political process, and play an important role in UK employment relations

Development of a novel intervention to improve sleep and pain in patients undergoing total knee replacement

BACKGROUND: Up to 20% of patients experience long-term pain and dissatisfaction after total knee replacement, with a negative impact on their quality of life. New approaches are needed to reduce the proportion of people to go on to experience chronic post-surgical pain. Sleep and pain are bidirectionally linked with poor sleep linked to greater pain. Interventions to improve sleep among people undergoing knee replacement offer a promising avenue. Health beliefs and barriers to engagement were explored using behaviour change theory. This study followed stages 1–4 of the Medical Research Council’s guidance for complex intervention development to develop a novel intervention aimed at improving sleep in pre-operative knee replacement patients. METHODS: Pre-operative focus groups and post-operative telephone interviews were conducted with knee replacement patients. Before surgery, focus groups explored sleep experiences and views about existing sleep interventions (cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, exercise, relaxation, mindfulness, sleep hygiene) and barriers to engagement. After surgery, telephone interviews explored any changes in sleep and views about intervention appropriateness. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymised, and analysed using framework analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 23 patients took part, 17 patients attended pre-operative focus groups, seven took part in a post-operative telephone interview, and one took part in a focus group and interview. Key sleep issues identified were problems getting to sleep, frequent waking during the night, and problems getting back to sleep after night waking. The main reason for these issues was knee pain and discomfort and a busy mind. Participants felt that the sleep interventions were generally acceptable with no general preference for one intervention over the others. Views of delivery mode varied in relation to digital move and group or one-to-one approaches. CONCLUSION: Existing sleep interventions were found to be acceptable to knee replacement patients. Key barriers to engagement related to participants’ health beliefs. Addressing beliefs about the relationship between sleep and pain and enhancing understanding of the bidirectional/cyclical relationship could benefit engagement and motivation. Individuals may also require support to break the fear and avoidance cycle of pain and coping. A future intervention should ensure that patients’ preferences for sleep interventions and delivery mode can be accommodated in a real-world context

The Importance of Sleep for People With Chronic Pain:Current Insights and Evidence

ABSTRACT We are currently in the midst of a sleep crisis. Our current work and lifestyle environments are normalizing poor sleep with substantial negative impact on our health. Research on sleep has linked sleep deprivation to poorer mental health, obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and a myriad of other health conditions. Sleep deprivation is an even greater issues for people with musculoskeletal conditions and chronic pain. Between 67% and 88% of individuals with chronic pain experience sleep disruption and insomnia, and at least 50% of people with insomnia report chronic pain. The link between sleep and pain is well documented. Experimental, cohort, and longitudinal studies have all demonstrated that restricted sleep is linked to greater pain. Poor sleep therefore not only affects general health but has a direct impact on inflammation, pain response, and experience. Improving sleep in people living with musculoskeletal conditions and with chronic pain has the potential to deliver great benefit to many. This article describes the evidence base that can underpin such work, including research about the link between pain and sleep as well as theories and approaches to intervention that may help. © 2022 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

Contemporary employer interest representation in the United Kingdom

Focussing on employers’ organisations in the United Kingdom, this article contributes to the literature on employer interest representation by advancing three interrelated arguments, which reflect how the methods, structure and interests of employer representation have evolved. First, the primary method of collective interest representation has shifted from collective bargaining, nowadays only pursued by a minority of employers’ organisations, to political representation, now the most frequent form of collective interest representation. Second, the structure of employer interest representation has evolved and is fragmented between a small number of large, general employers’ organisations, a large majority of sectoral employers’ organisations, regional interest representation in the devolved nations, which has become more important, and a new type of employer body, the employer forum, which focusses on corporate social responsibility. Third, the shift in collective interest representation is complemented by a broadening of individual interest representation, with employers’ organisations having developed a wide range of services

The decline of Employers' Associations in the UK, 1976 to 2014

This article examines the collective, member-based employers’ associations in the UK that regulate the employment relationship by participating in collective bargaining. The main empirical contribution is to provide, for the first time, a longitudinal dataset of employers’ associations in the UK. We use archival data from the UK Government’s Certification Office to build a new dataset, identifying a decline of 81% in the number of employers’ associations between 1976 and 2013–2014. We also find that political agency and reducing levels of collective bargaining undermined employers’ associations by reducing employers’ incentives to associate, although changes within the UK’s system of employment relations enabled other types of collective employer organisation to survive