Book review: Handbook of early childhood literacy

Joanne Larson and Shira May Peterson highlight the paucity of research on how talk is used in pre-school settings compared to school settings. They locate the wealth of research studies on talk and discourse in formal learning settings in terms of the different ideological positions adopted. They use two continua; Streets (1995) distinction between ideological and autonomous conceptions of literacy and whether the function of literacy is seen as fixed or fluid to separate the studies into four quadrants, each with a distinctive ideological base. This means that their analysis does not highlight the groundbreaking impact of individual studies, but it does illustrate very effectively how ideological assumptions shape both research design and the resulting recommendations for practice. It also highlights some key research problems: that ideological rigidity means researchers can miss opportunities to build on each others' findings

Development and feasibility testing of a buddy intervention to increase postnatal physical activity

Childbirth is a life event that negatively influences mothers’ physical activity (PA) levels and is identified as a teachable moment for health behaviour change and therefore interventions to increase postnatal PA are required. This thesis broadly follows the first two steps in the Medical Research Council (MRC) intervention development guidance, combined with methods from the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW). The first study systematically reviewed the existing literature on the effectiveness of postnatal PA interventions. Eleven studies were included in the narrative review and eight in the meta-analysis. There was a small but significant increase in PA behaviour in the intervention group compared to the control group, but heterogeneity was high. A need for interventions with larger sample sizes, longer follow-up periods and objective PA measurements was identified. Study two utilised a multi-methods design to explore the factors that influence postnatal PA according to the COM-B model of behaviour. Semi-structured interviews qualitatively explored participants’ views on what factors influenced PA, and a questionnaire determined their relative importance. Qualitative findings indicated that all COM-B components influenced behaviour, and quantitative findings indicated that the most important factors that influenced behaviour were time, feeling tired, lack of available childcare, lack of advice from a healthcare professional, lack of motivation and development of a habit. The results are presented in a behavioural analysis for postnatal PA. The next section of this thesis described the remaining steps of the BCW to identify intervention options, content and implementation options resulting in ‘Buddy Up’, an intervention that matches two new mothers as PA buddies to provide mutual support to increase PA. A buddy is an existing friend or another eligible participant. The intervention includes three PA counselling sessions based on Motivational Interviewing principles supplemented by a booklet. The final study explored the feasibility of delivering ‘Buddy Up’ utilising a single group pre-post study design. The study explored the feasibility of recruitment, data collection, intervention acceptability and preliminary efficacy data. 44 participants (existing friends (n=22); new match (n=22)) were recruited, and 21 participants 5 remained unmatched. Key recruitment challenges were engaging Children’s Centres (CCs) with recruitment and matching participants. Participants engaged in PA with their buddy on 1.06 days (SD=1.76) in the past week and provided support by sending encouraging messages (85.7%), sharing PA ideas/information (71.4%) and doing PA together (60%). Findings from the post-intervention interviews suggest good acceptability of the intervention sessions, minimal usage of the booklet and varied views on the acceptability of the buddy element among participants. Preliminary effectiveness data is promising for objective (Baseline=697.68 counts per minute (cpm); Follow-up=765.05 cpm) and self-report PA (Baseline=1533.56 MET-min/week; Follow-up=1917.50 MET-min/week) and has a significant effect on self-efficacy to overcome some barriers to PA (when feeling depressed, when there is no one to be physically active with, during bad weather and when they have no money). Collectively, this thesis describes the intervention development process and presents the first buddy intervention for postnatal physical activity. The feasibility study findings show promise that this is a fruitful research avenue, but the intervention’s operational feasibility requires further refinement prior to recommending a large-scale efficacy trial.This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care

Women at Refrigerators: The Gender Politics of Food and Eating in Supergirl

Dans la série télévisée Super Girl, l’héroïne extraterrestre Kara Zor-El est dotée d'un métabolisme tout aussi « super ». En tant que Kryptonienne, elle peut manger tout ce dont elle a envie, son corps lui permettant de consommer des calories infinies sans les conséquences genrées généralement dramatisées au cinéma et à la télévision. Traitées sur un mode comique, ces scènes soulignent le lien qui unit Kara et sa sœur humaine Alex, et proposent un renoncement superficiel aux normes alimentaires imposées aux femmes. Pourtant, de telles scènes suggèrent-elles une résistance ou une réification de telles normes, en particulier lorsque ses homologues humains ne bénéficient pas d’un tel répit ? Au cours des 60 ans d’histoire du personnage, la nourriture a souvent marqué les divisions de genre entre Kara et son cousin, Superman, tout en ne soulignant que rarement son expérience de la diaspora et sa lutte pour s’assimiler à la fois en tant que citoyenne terrienne et américaine. Alors que la série propose des récits sur la discrimination et les droits des extraterrestres, en énonçant des maximes sur l’autonomie des femmes et leur « pouvoir féminin », elle offre un paysage culinaire fade et largement occidental où la nourriture évoque les stéréotypes de la féminité idéalisée et la pression exercée pour contrôler le corps. Retraçant l’histoire de la bande dessinée du personnage, cet article étudie le rôle de l’alimentation dans la série télévisée Super Girl, en examinant la manière dont la nourriture est le lieu d’une critique et d’une réaffirmation des normes alimentaires genrées.In the television series Supergirl, the alien heroine Kara Zor-El is gifted with an equally super metabolism. As a Kryptonian, she can eat whatever and however much she wants, her body allowing her to consume endless calories minus the gendered consequences implied in film and television. Such scenes work as comedy while emphasizing the bond shared by Kara and her human sister Alex, and function as a surface renunciation of the eating norms placed on women. Yet, do such scenes suggest resistance or reification of such norms, particularly when her human counterparts enjoy no such respite? Throughout the character’s 60-year history, food has often marked the gendered divisions between Kara and her male cousin, Superman, while only rarely highlighting her experience of diaspora and her struggle to assimilate as both Earthling and American citizen. While the series features narratives about discrimination and alien rights, spouting maxims about women’s autonomy and ‘girl power,’ it offers up a bland, largely Western culinary landscape where food evokes stereotypes of idealized femininity and the pressure to control the body. Tracing the character’s comic book history, this paper takes up the role of eating in the Supergirl TV series, examining the ways in which food both counters and reinscribes gendered eating norms as well as Western cultural assumptions

The housing environment of participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC):a resource for studies of influences on health [version 1; peer review: 2 approved with reservations].

Background: Early life environmental health exposures related to housing can have a significant impact on an individual’s physical and mental health and physical development. Housing exposures can fall into two main areas – a representation of social circumstances and physical conditions.   Methods: During pregnancy and post-delivery, self-completion questionnaires concerning the housing environment were administered to the ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents & Children) study mothers and their partners until the study offspring were aged 18. Data collected included types of housing, housing tenure, numbers of rooms in the home, whether shared or sole use of kitchen and indoor flushing toilet, household moves, Council Tax band, difficulties in affording rent/mortgage and becoming homeless. Here we also describe the historic development of housing in the Bristol and surrounding Avon areas. Results: Data collected included the tenure (e.g., owned/rented) of the home, its size (indexed by the number of rooms), the presence of over-crowding (measured by the number of residents per room), presence of amenities, and frequency of household moves. This information was collected on over 13,000 women during pregnancy >8000 at age 10 and >4000 at 18 years. Council Tax bands were asked at 10 and 18 years.   Conclusions: This is the first of two Data Notes on the housing type and housing circumstances of the families enrolled in ALSPAC. The second Data Note will detail their internal housing conditions. The data provides an excellent resource for researchers when considering the influences of housing on physical and mental health and development

Increasing Student Access to Mental Health Services in Virginia Through Staffing and Structures

This dissertation in practice is a response to a request for assistance (RFA) submitted by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) Office of Student Services (OoSS). To help school divisions meet Standards of Quality (SOQs) and serve student needs, the VDOE OoSS aims to increase the pipeline of licensed school-based mental health professionals (SMHPs). This Capstone examines staffing and service models that create equitable access to student mental health supports using problem and context analysis, a review of literature, and a three-phased mixed methods data collection. Focus group participants consisted of students and practitioners in the fields of school psychology, counseling, and social work. Document analysis of mental health practice integration was conducted for schools implementing advanced tier models in Virginia Tiered Systems of Support (VTSS) and schools implementing VTSS in conjunction with Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) certification. Additionally, a survey was administered to division-level leadership and SMHPs to examine their understanding of the roles and everyday responsibilities of SMHPs in schools across the state of Virginia

Investigating Impacts of Health Policies Using Staggered Difference-in-Differences: The Effects of Adoption of an Online Consultation System on Prescribing Patterns of Antibiotics

We use a recently proposed staggered difference-in-differences approach to investigate effects of adoption of an online consultation system in English general practice on antibiotic prescribing patterns. The target estimand is the average effect for each group of practices (defined by year of adoption) in each year, which we aggregate across all adopting practices, by group, and by time since adoption. We find strong evidence of a positive effect of adoption on antibiotic prescribing rates, though the magnitude of effect is relatively small. As time since adoption increases, the effect size increases, while effects vary across groups