Group role-play as a method of facilitating student to student interaction and making theory relevant

Large group settings, which often mean less peer to peer interaction among students, are increasingly common in many UK universities. This paper proposes group role-play as one possible teaching method in a large group of students, and aims to evaluate how it affects peer to peer interaction and its perceived learning benefits. The findings suggest that group role-play does encourage interaction between students and facilitates their understanding of the applicability of theories to practice. However, this study also found that group role-play should be mixed with a lecture, and that the tutor has to pay attention to time management and the motivation of a student to get involved

Examining patient distress and unmet need for support across UK renal units with varying models of psychosocial care delivery : a cross-sectional survey study

Objective: To examine in-centre haemodialysis patients’ emotional distress and need for support across UK renal units with varying models of psychosocial service provision. Design: The study used a cross-sectional survey design. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine patient distress, as captured by the Distress Thermometer, and need for support, across different renal units. Setting: Seven renal units across England, Wales and Scotland. The units were purposively selected so that varying workforce models of renal psychosocial services were represented. Participants: In total, 752 patients were on dialysis in the participating centres on the days of data collection. All adult patients, who could understand English, and with capacity (as determined by the nurse in charge), were eligible to participate in the study. The questionnaire was completed by 509 patients, resulting in an overall response rate of 67.7%. Outcome measures: The prevalence of distress and patient-reported need for support. Results: The results showed that 48.9% (95% CI 44.5 to 53.4) of respondents experienced distress. A significant association between distress and models of renal psychosocial service provision was found (χ2(6)=15.05, p=0.019). Multivariable logistic regression showed that patients in units with higher total psychosocial staffing ratios (OR 0.65 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.89); p=0.008) and specifically higher social work ratios (OR 0.49 (95% CI 0.33 to 0.74); p=0.001) were less likely to experience distress, even after controlling for demographic variables. In addition, a higher patient-reported unmet need for support was found in units where psychosocial staffing numbers are low or non-existent (χ2(6)=37.80, p<0.001). Conclusions: The novel findings emphasise a need for increased incorporation of dedicated renal psychosocial staff into the renal care pathway. Importantly, these members of staff should be able to offer support for psychological as well as practical and social care-related issues

An untapped pool of volunteers for the Big Society? Not enough social capital? Depends on how you measure it....

The key factor in determining the success of the Big Society in the UK is the availability of volunteers. How large is the pool of adults in Great Britain not already volunteering? To answer this question this paper adopts an under-utilised dynamic approach to measuring volunteering and compares its results to the more commonly used cross-sectional approach. Using longitudinal data from the British Household Survey, this paper finds considerable movement of individuals into and out of volunteering. The results show the vast majority of British adults have volunteered at least once and most of them do it repeatedly. Consequently the untapped pool of individuals who have never volunteered is significantly smaller than cross-sectional analysis suggests. This study recommends that Big Society policy should therefore give greater emphasis to retaining and re-engaging its existing volunteers and less emphasis to recruiting people who have never volunteered

Communities as ‘renewable energy’ for health care services? A multi-methods study into the form, scale, and role of voluntary support for community hospitals in England

Objective To examine the forms, scale and role of community and voluntary support for community hospitals in England. Design A multi-methods study. Quantitative analysis of Charity Commission data on levels of volunteering and voluntary income for charities supporting community hospitals. Nine qualitative case studies of community hospitals and their surrounding communities, including interviews and focus groups. Setting Community hospitals in England and their surrounding communities. Participants Charity Commission data for 245 community hospital Leagues of Friends. Interviews with staff (89), patients (60), carers (28), volunteers (35), community representatives (20), managers and commissioners (9). Focus groups with multi-disciplinary teams (8 groups across nine sites, involving 43 respondents), volunteers (6 groups, 33 respondents) and community stakeholders (8 groups, 54 respondents). Results Communities support community hospitals through: human resources (average = 24 volunteers a year per hospital); financial resources (median voluntary income = £15,632); practical resources through services and activities provided by voluntary and community groups; and intellectual resources (e.g. consultation and coproduction). Communities provide valuable supplementary resources to the NHS, enhancing community hospital services, patient experience, staff morale and volunteer well-being. Such resources, however, vary in level and form from hospital to hospital and over time: voluntary income is on the decline, as is membership of League of Friends, and it can be hard to recruit regular, active volunteers. Conclusions Communities can be a significant resource for health care services, in ways which can enhance patient experience and service quality. Harnessing that resource, however, is not straight forward and there is a perception that it might be becoming more difficult questioning the extent to which it can be considered sustainable or ‘renewable’

Bike share in Greater Manchester

Active travel offers cities opportunities to address vital challenges such as health, air quality and congestion. Bike share is increasingly evident in cities across the globe, whether in the more conventional docked form found in, for example, London and Paris or the newer dockless technology facilitated through smartphone apps. Such systems offer people a bike to use without the hassle of ownership or storage and, if they have their own bike, access to a bike to make journeys when they do not have it with them. They therefore promise to make cycling an option for a wider population and for more journeys. They offer to complete the elusive ‘last mile’ that can make public transport difficult and to help to make cycling a visible and attractive option for many. This report provides new evidence of experiences and perceptions of bike share in Greater Manchester. It explores whether, to what extent and in what forms bike share can contribute to an overall increase in the number of people cycling, the number of journeys they make and the health and environmental benefits that follow

Higher rates of bullying reported by “white” males: gender and ethno-racial intersections and bullying in the workplace

Existing workplace bullying literature suggests that ethno-racial minorities and women are more likely be bullied in relation to their ethnicity, race, or gender. However, very few studies apply an intersectional framework of analysis to consider for instance, how ethno-racial status and gender interacts to affect general workplace bullying experiences and their reporting decisions. This article uses an intersectional analytical framework and a cross sectional quantitative analysis of the British Workplace Behaviour Survey (2007-2008) to examine bullying in the workplace, as experienced by the intersections of ethno-racial status and gender. In discussing how some groups report -particular dimensions of bullying more than others, this article closely examines the somewhat unexpected finding that “white” men were significantly more likely to report instances of workplace bullying. This article argues for the use of an intersectional analytical approach to understand and progressively address the nuances of identity, power and workplace bullying experience

The same but different: a comparison between family volunteers, other formal volunteers and non-volunteers

Extensive research has examined how family status, composition and dynamics affect volunteering, but not how family members volunteer as a group. This research note explores family volunteering – two or more members of a family volunteering together. Using diary data from the United Kingdom Time Use Survey, it examines some essential facts about family volunteering – the extent and patterns of family volunteering, and how family volunteers differ from individuals who volunteer but not together with members of their family and from non-volunteers. The results suggest that family volunteering constitutes a substantive proportion of formal volunteering and nearly half of family volunteers are two adult partners. The findings also indicate that while family volunteering shares some predictors of volunteering with formal volunteering without one’s family members, it is also a sufficiently different volunteering phenomenon that warrants further theoretical explanation and empirical investigation