Enhanced Support for High Intensity Users of the Criminal Justice System – an evaluation of mental health nurse input into Integrated Offender Management Services in the North East of England

The current UK Government’s focus on the development of services to manage and support offenders with mental health problems has resulted in a number of innovative project developments. This research examines a service development in the North East of England which co-located Mental Health nurses with two Integrated Offender Management teams. While not solving all problems, the benefits of co-location were clear – although such innovations are now at risk from government changes which will make Integrated Offender Management the responsibility of new providers without compelling them to co-operate with health services

Pathways to social well-being of children with intellectual disability : testing the Family Investment Model

Background: Social well-being, including prosocial and peer relationship skills, independence and co-operation, is a particularly important developmental outcome in intellectual disability. The present study investigated pathways to social well-being through the early years’ family environment, particularly the role of parental investments in mediating the path from family poverty to child social well-being. Methods: In line with the Family Investment Model (FIM), we tested whether parental investments between three and five years of age mediate the impact of family poverty at nine months of age on children’s social well-being at seven years. Structural equation models were fitted to data from 555 children with intellectual disability identified from a UK population-based cohort. Results: Findings indicated that home learning investments and the structural home environment (though not play) significantly mediated the effect of family poverty on children’s social skills, albeit in different directions. While all parental investments reduced in the presence of poverty, the home learning environment appeared to promote social well-being, whereas the structural home environment did not. Sensitivity analyses controlling for co-occuring autism confirmed the pattern of findings. Child gender, ethnicity and parental educational qualifications did not moderate the mediational relationships, suggesting FIM pathways to social well-being were relevant to all families. Conclusions: FIM provides a helpful framework to map developmental pathways for children with an intellectual disability. Parental investments related to home learning, the structural home environment and play are reduced in the presence of poverty although their impact on child social well-being appears to differ

The mental health and well-being of adolescents with/without intellectual disability in the UK

Aims To estimate the self-reported and parent-reported mental well-being of adolescents (aged 14 and 17) with/without intellectual disability in a sample of young people representative of the UK population.MethodsSecondary analysis of data collected in Waves 6 and 7 of the UK's Millennium Cohort Study. The analytic sample consisted of 10,838 adolescent respondents at age 14 (361 with intellectual disability and 10,477 without) and 9,408 adolescent respondents at age 17 (292 with intellectual disability and 9,116 without).ResultsParental reports of adolescent problems on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) indicated that adolescents with intellectual disability at ages 14 and 17 were more likely to have problems than those without intellectual disability across all SDQ domains. Adolescent self-report data at age 17 indicated that adolescents with intellectual disability were more likely to (self)-report that they had problems than those without intellectual disability on all but one SDQ domain. The magnitude of relative inequality between those with and without intellectual disability was consistently lower for self-report than parental report. On indicators of depression, mental well-being, self-harm, positive mental health, happiness and general psychological distress at ages 14 and 17, we found no self-reported group differences between adolescents with and without intellectual disability.ConclusionsFurther research is needed to understand: (1) why the magnitude of mental health inequalities between those with and without intellectual disability on the SDQ may be dependent on the identity of the informant; and (2) whether such differences are also apparent for other measures of mental health or well-being

Using participatory and creative methods to facilitate emancipatory research with people facing multiple disadvantage: a role for health and care professionals

Participatory and creative research methods are a powerful tool for enabling active engagement in the research process of marginalised people. It can be particularly hard for people living with multiple disadvantage, such as disabled people from ethnic minority backgrounds, to access research projects that are relevant to their lived experience. This article argues that creative and participatory methods facilitate the co-researchers’ engagement in the research process, which thus becomes more empowering. Exploring the congruence of these methods with their professional ethos, health and care professionals can use their skills to develop them further. Both theory and practice examples are presented

Towards InSAR Everywhere, All the Time, With Sentinel-1

Sentinel-1A was launched in April 2014, and has been collecting data routinely over more than one year. Sentinel-1B is set for launch on 22 April 2016. The Sentinel-1 constellation has several advantages over previous radar missions for InSAR applications: (1) Data are being acquired systematically for tectonic and volcanic areas, (2) Images cover a wide footprint, 250 km from near to far range in Interferometric Wide Swath (TOPS) mode, (3) Small perpendicular and temporal baselines greatly improve interferometric coherence at C-band, (4) Data are freely available to all users, (5) The mission is planned to be operational for 20 years, with 1C and 1D planned for future launches. These features enable us to map geological processes occurring in any place at anytime using InSAR.We will review progress within COMET towards our ultimate goal of building a fully-automated processing system that provides deformation results and derived products to the wide InSAR and Geophysics communities. In addition to high-resolution-ECMWF-based atmospheric correction model, we will show results of a systematic analysis of interferometric coherence in tectonic and volcanic areas, and discuss the future goals and timeline for the COMET InSAR automated processing system

What do we know about the health and healthcare of people with intellectual disabilities from minority ethnic groups in the United Kingdom?:A systematic review

Background. People with from minority ethnic communities face inequalities in health and healthcare. This systematic review considers the question of what we know about the health and healthcare of children and adults with intellectual disabilities from ethnic minority communities in the UK. Method. Studies published from 1990 to 2018 were identified via electronic literature databases, email requests, and cross-citations. Studies were reviewed narratively in relation to identified themes. Results. 23 studies were identified, most commonly focusing on South Asian communities. Very little information was identified on physical health or physical healthcare, with the identified evidence tending to focus on mental health care, access to specialist intellectual disability services, and inpatient services. Conclusion. Little is known about the health status of people with intellectual disabilities from minority ethnic groups in the UK. It is clear that they may experience barriers to accessing specialist intellectual disability services and other forms of healthcare

Assessing the functional significance of ecstasy-related memory deficits using a virtual paradigm

Rationale/Objectives: Previous research shows that the use of ecstasy results in working memory and executive impairments in some users. The present study sought to assess the functional significance of such deficits using a virtual reality task. Methods: Twenty-three ecstasy-polydrug users and 26 nonusers were recruited. Individuals completed a drug use questionnaire measures of sleep quality and fluid intelligence. Participants also completed a virtual reality executive function task in which they play the role of an office worker for the day completing predefined tasks such as prioritising different activities according to their importance, organising the physical office environment and managing the outgoing mail in accordance with a delivery schedule. Results: MANOVA revealed that ecstasy users performed worse on the virtual reality task overall, and this was due to poorer performance on the planning and selection subscales. Contrary to expectations, ecstasy-polydrug users performed better on the time-based prospective memory subscale. Indices of ecstasy use were correlated with the planning subscale of the virtual task. Conclusions: The present study provides further support for ecstasy/polydrug related deficits in executive functioning. As it is possible that this task is more ecologically valid and relevant to day-to-day activities of many users, previous research finding null results on executive function tasks may have underestimated the impact of ecstasy-polydrug use on executive functioning

Hemigrapsus takanoi Asakura and Watanabe, 2005 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Grapsoidea): first records of the brush-clawed shore crab from Great Britain

The brush-clawed shore crab is reported from the River Medway, Kent and the River Colne, Essex, England. These represent the first records of Hemigrapsus takanoi Asakura and Watanabe, 2005 from Great Britain. If H. takanoi becomes established in GB, it may pose a threat to populations of the native shore crab Carcinus maenas