What kinds of policies to reduce health inequalities in the UK do researchers support?

BACKGROUND: Despite a wealth of research and policy initiatives, progress in tackling the UK's health inequalities has been limited. This article explores whether there appears to be consensus among researchers about the kinds of policies likely to reduce health inequalities.METHODS: Ninety-nine proposals for addressing health inequalities were identified from multiple sources. Forty-one researchers participated in a survey assessing the extent to which they believed each proposal would reduce health inequalities, based on three criteria. The 20 proposals generating most support were employed in a second stage, in which 92 researchers indicated which proposals they felt would have the greatest impact on reducing health inequalities.RESULTS: Some consensus exists among researchers about the policy approaches likely to reduce UK health inequalities: a more progressive distribution of income/wealth, greater investment in services for deprived communities, plus regulatory policies to limit the impact of lifestyle-behavioural risks. However, researchers' support for proposals varies depending whether they are asked to express their expert opinion or to comment on the strength of the available evidence.CONCLUSIONS: When consulting researchers about health inequalities, policymakers need to consider whether they are seeking research-informed expertise or assessments of the available evidence; these questions are likely to yield different responses

Aharonov-Bohm Radiation

A solenoid oscillating in vacuum will pair produce charged particles due to the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interaction. We calculate the radiation pattern and power emitted for charged scalar particles. We extend the solenoid analysis to cosmic strings, and find enhanced radiation from cusps and kinks on loops. We argue by analogy with the electromagnetic AB interaction that cosmic strings should emit photons due to the gravitational AB interaction of fields in the conical spacetime of a cosmic string. We calculate the emission from a kink and find that it is of similar order as emission from a cusp, but kinks are vastly more numerous than cusps and may provide a more interesting observational signature.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys Rev

Incorporating Cultural Competence & Youth Program Volunteers: A Literature Review

The increasing diversity of youth in the United States necessitates a shift in the ways that youth services and programming are designed and implemented. This article examines existing scholarship on developing the cultural competency of volunteers in youth development programs in an effort to improve 4-H YDP protocol. Drawing from a diverse, interdisciplinary range of peer-reviewed, academic articles, this literature review plots out recent pedagogical trends, theoretical concepts, and empirical studies dealing with the cultural competence of service workers and mentors interacting with youth. Based on a synthesis of the findings, this paper presents guiding principles for increasing cultural competence of youth program design through both training and organizational changes

Effects of prerequisite library research instruction on the information seeking knowledge and behavior of community college students in an introductory nursing course

Abstract from public.pdf file.Dissertation supervisors: Drs. John Budd and Denice Adkins.Includes vita.The nursing profession is evolving from basing patient care on tradition and expert opinion to emphasizing evidence based practice. Literature suggests that nurses do not have the information literacy skills required for evidence based practice, and that they have neither adequate instruction nor the experience needed to effectively, efficiently, and ethically find the information that they need. To help meet this need, this dissertation examines the effects of a pre-requisite information literacy credit course on the information seeking behavior of community college students in an introductory nursing course. I used a convergent parallel designed mixed-methods research approach, employing both a knowledge based assessment (n = 153) and a series of interviews/focus groups (n= 16) to test the hypothesis and sub-hypotheses. Students' exposure to the library (using library databases, receiving assistance from a reference librarian, or attending a "one-shot" library instruction session) was also measured. Using the Chi-square test for association, a statistically significant relationship was found between the correct answers on the knowledge based assessment and the completion of the course: X2 (3, N = 153) = 19.03, p < .00; suggesting that students who completed LIB 101 performed significantly better on the knowledge based assessment than the students who did not complete LIB 101. A low, significant, and positive relationship was found between the completion of the course and the information literacy score, rpb = .26, p < .01 using Point-Biserial correlation. Regression Analysis provided evidence that the library course was a significant predictor of the information literacy score, t(150) = 2.12, p < .05. Eleven themes supporting the quantitative study emerged from the interviews/focus groups. Although the research supported the main hypothesis, there is much room for further study--not only within the confines of the effect of such a course on nursing students, but also the effect of information literacy instruction on both student and practicing nurses. The future of nursing relies upon evidence based practice, and, ultimately, evidence based practice relies on information literate nurses.Includes bibliographical references (pages 125-139)

Governing by narratives:REF impact case studies and restrictive storytelling in performance measurement

Performance assessment is permeating increasingly diverse domains of higher education, even in areas previously perceived to be too complex and idiosyncratic to quantify. The UK's attempts to assess 'research impact' within the Research Excellence Framework (REF) are illustrative of this trend and are being closely monitored by several other countries. A fundamental rationale for employing narrative case studies to assess impact within REF, rather than taking a (less resource intensive) quantified approach, was that this would allow for the variation, complexity and idiosyncrasy inherent in research impact. This paper considers whether this promise of narrative flexibility has been realised, by analysing a combination of REF impact case study reports and interviews and focus group discussions with actors involved in case study production. Informed by this analysis, our central argument is that the very quality which allows narratives to govern is their ability to standardise performance (albeit whilst retaining a degree of flexibility). The paper proposes that REF impact case studies position narratives of impact as technologies of governance in ways that restrict the 'plot line' and belie the far more complex accounts held by those working to achieve research impact. This is partly because, as research impact becomes institutionalised within universities' measurement infrastructures, higher education institutions become impact gatekeepers, filtering out narratives that are deemed overly complex or insufficiently persuasive, while perpetuating particular approaches to recounting tales of impact that are deemed likely to perform well. Crucially, these narratives not only describe impact but actively construct it as an auditable phenomenon

The Unequal Pandemic

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC- ND It has been claimed that we are ‘all in it together’ and that the COVID-19 virus ‘does not discriminate’. This accessible, yet authoritative book dispels this myth of COVID-19 as an ‘equal opportunity’ disease, by showing how the pandemic is a syndemic of disease and inequality. Drawing on international data and accounts, it argues that the pandemic is unequal in three ways: it has killed unequally, been experienced unequally and will impoverish unequally. These inequalities are a political choice: with governments effectively choosing who lives and who dies, we need to learn from COVID-19 quickly to prevent growing inequality and to reduce health inequalities in the future. COVID-19 is an unequal pandemic

Long-term Tennis Participation and Health Outcomes: An Investigation of “Lifetime” Activities

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(7): 1251-1261, 2020. Lifetime sports, such as tennis, provide opportunities for participation throughout the lifespan and has been linked with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression. The objective of this study was to consider the influence of chronic tennis participation on various parameters of health. Members of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) completed a survey consisting of questions from International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), Satisfaction With Life Survey (SWLS), and specific tennis participation questions. Descriptive characteristics were calculated for all variables and a chi-squared analysis was used to compare prevalence of health variables of this sample and recent BRFSS data. Compared to the BRFSS greater proportion of study participants 45yrs and older frequently reported being in good or better health (χ2=7.946, p = 0.005); lower obesity rates (χ2=19.92, p = 0.0001); and a lower prevalence of heart disease than those of similar age who completed BRFSS (χ2= 8.759, p = 0.003). This study highlights the importance of activities that continue throughout the lifespan such as tennis

What is known about tobacco industry efforts to influence tobacco tax? A systematic review of empirical studies.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review studies of tobacco industry efforts to influence tobacco tax policies. METHODS: Searches were conducted between 1 October 2009 and 31 March 2010 in 14 databases/websites, in relevant bibliographies and via experts. Studies were included if they focused on industry efforts to influence tobacco tax policies, drew on empirical evidence, were in English and concerned the period 1985-2010. In total, 36 studies met these criteria. Two reviewers undertook data extraction and critical appraisal. A random selection of 15 studies (42%) was subject to second review. Evidence was assessed thematically to identify distinct tobacco industry aims, arguments and tactics. RESULTS: A total of 34 studies examined industry efforts to influence tax levels. They suggest the tobacco industry works hard to prevent significant increases and particularly dislikes taxes 'earmarked' for tobacco control. Key arguments to counter increases are that tobacco taxes are socially regressive, unfair and lead to increased levels of illicit trade and negative economic impacts. For earmarked taxes, the industry also frequently tries to raise concerns about revenue allocation. Assessing industry arguments against established evidence demonstrates most are unsupported. Key industry tactics include: establishing 'front groups', securing credible allies, direct lobbying and publicity campaigns. Only seven studies examined efforts to influence tax structures. They suggest company preferences vary and tactics centre on direct lobbying. CONCLUSIONS: The tobacco industry has historically tried to keep tobacco taxes low using consistent tactics and misleading arguments. Further research is required to explore efforts to influence tax structures, excise policies beyond the USA and recent policies