Front‐line perspectives on ‘joined‐up’ working relationships: a qualitative study of social prescribing in the west of Scotland

Cross-sector collaboration has been promoted by government policies in the United Kingdom and many western welfare states for decades. Literature on joint working has focused predominantly on the strategic level, neglecting the role of individual practitioners in putting ‘joined-up working’ into practice. This paper takes the case of ‘social prescribing’ in the West of Scotland as an instance of joined-up working, in which primary healthcare professionals are encouraged to refer patients to non-medical sources of support in the third sector. This study draws on social capital theory to analyse the quality of the relationships between primary healthcare professionals and third sector practitioners. Eighteen health professionals and 15 representatives of third sector organisations participated in a qualitative interview study. Significant barriers to collaborative working were evident. The two stakeholder groups expressed different understandings of health, with few primary healthcare professionals considering non-medical sources of support to be useful or relevant. Health professionals were mistrustful of unknown third sector organisations, and concerned about their accountability for referrals that were not successful or positive for the patient. Third sector practitioners sought to build trust through face-to-face interactions with health professionals. However, primary healthcare professionals and third sector practitioners were not connected in effective networks. We highlight the on-going imbalance of power between primary healthcare professionals and third sector organisations. Strategic collaborations should be complemented by efforts to build shared understandings, trust and connections between the diverse frontline workers whose mutual co-operation is necessary to achieve effective joined-up working

Caregivers' perceptions of displayed resilience among preschool aged children living in a South African children's home.

This study explored caregivers’ perceptions of displayed resilience in children living in a South African Children’s home and what they perceived the origins of this resilience to be. In South Africa, the incidence of orphaned and vulnerable children has risen substantially due to factors such as HIV/AIDS, poverty and unemployment. Previous research found that children in care centres are often at risk of developmental delays and deficits. However, in recent years, there has been a shift in focus to the protective factors associated with resilience and positive outcomes for these children. This qualitative study aimed to explore these protective factors and how they lead to the development of resilience. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was used to explore the various structures that influence childhood development. This was then applied to the care centre environment and the development of resilience using Bernard’s theory. Semi-structured interviews with the caregivers’ with open-ended questions were used to gain the data. Thematic content analysis was then used to transcribe, examine and categorize the data. The themes that emerged during the data analysis indicated that the caregivers’ perceptions were consistent with literature on the factors needed for the development of resilience. These findings showed that both internal and external factors are needed for resilience to emerge; these were then explored in more detail. The findings suggest although children in the centre are vulnerable, there are protective factors which lead to more positive outcomes in their lives. The limitations of the study are discussed as well as suggestions for further research

Frontline perspectives on "joined-up" working relationships: a qualitative study of social prescribing in the West of Scotland

Cross-sector collaboration has been promoted by government policies in the United Kingdom and many western welfare states for decades. Literature on joint working has focused predominantly on the strategic level, neglecting the role of individual practitioners in putting ‘joined-up working’ into practice. This paper takes the case of ‘social prescribing’ in the West of Scotland as an instance of joined-up working, in which primary healthcare professionals are encouraged to refer patients to non-medical sources of support in the third sector. This study draws on social capital theory to analyse the quality of the relationships between primary healthcare professionals and third sector practitioners. Eighteen health professionals and 15 representatives of third sector organisations participated in a qualitative interview study. Significant barriers to collaborative working were evident. The two stakeholder groups expressed different understandings of health, with few primary healthcare professionals considering non-medical sources of support to be useful or relevant. Health professionals were mistrustful of unknown third sector organisations, and concerned about their accountability for referrals that were not successful or positive for the patient. Third sector practitioners sought to build trust through face-to-face interactions with health professionals. However, primary healthcare professionals and third sector practitioners were not connected in effective networks. We highlight the on-going imbalance of power between primary healthcare professionals and third sector organisations. Strategic collaborations should be complemented by efforts to build shared understandings, trust and connections between the diverse frontline workers whose mutual co-operation is necessary to achieve effective joined-up working

An analysis of nurse managers' human resources management related to HIV and tuberculosis affected/infected nurses in selected hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa - an ethnographic study.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2014.INTRODUCTION: Providing sufficient quality nurses in resource strapped countries is a human resource management challenge which nurse managers’ experience on a daily basis. THE PURPOSE of this study was to analyse and to determine the issues which affect the the human resources management of nurse managers in selected hospitals in the eThekwini District of the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and to formulate draft guidelines to assist nurse managers with human resource management. METHODOLOGY: A constructionist, reflexive ethnographic approach was used. The ethnographer spent two years in the field collecting data from informants, who were nurse managers, in four (4) selected district hospitals. Data was collected using unstructured informant interviews, non-participant observation and confirmatory document analysis. Data analysis led to eliciting codes from the data, searching for semantic relationships, performing componential analyses and discovering the themes for discussion within the final ethnographic report. A nominal group process was used to develop the draft guidelines. FINDINGS: The findings showed that the human resources management around sick nurses is a complex task. The themes of nurse managers’ experiences were a “burden” of maintaining confidentiality, as well as an emotional burden. Administratively, they experience the burden of absenteeism and the burden of policy compliance. The final theme is the burden of the deaths of HIV and Tuberculosis affected/infected nurses. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Organizations should create a non-judgmental work environment where non- disclosure by employees is respected in order to promote disclosure. They should have an awareness of the emotional effect on nurse managers and provide them with support. Emphasis needs to be placed on an HIV and AIDS policy and programme, incapacity leave workplace strategies and return to work policies. It is also recommended that contingency plans be provided when the death or prolonged absence of an employee impacts the staffing of the organization; consideration to be given to piloting and refining the draft guidelines; the management of employees on prolonged sick leave be included in the Nursing Administration Curricula taught to future nurse managers; and further research be conducted to assess employee reluctance to report needle stick injuries (sharps injuries) as well as the related phenomenon of stigmatization

Comics and the world wars: a cultural record

Comics and the World Wars argues for the use of comics as a primary source by offering a highly original argument that such examples produced during the World Wars act as a cultural record. Recuperating currently unknown or neglected strips, this work demonstrates how these can be used for the study of both world wars. Representing the fruits of over five years team research, this book reveals how sequential illustrated narratives used humour as a coping mechanism and a way to criticise authority, promoted certain forms of behaviour and discouraged others, represented a deliberately inclusive educational strategy for reading wartime content, and became a barometer for contemporary popular thinking

A survey of University Students' Perceptions of Learning Management Systems in a Low-Resource Setting using a Technology Acceptance Model

Learning management systems have been widelyadvocated for the support of distance learning. Inlow-resource settings, the uptake of these systemsby students has been mixed. This study aimed to dentify, through the use of the Technology AcceptanceModel, the individual, organizational, and technological factors that could be influencing the use of learning management systems. A simple quantitative descriptive surveywas conducted of nursing and health science students at a university in South Africa as part of their first exposure to a learning management system. A total of 274 respondents (56.7%) completed the survey questionnaire,made up of 213 nursing respondents (87.7%) and 61 health sciences respondents (25%).Overall, the respondents found the learning management system easy to use and useful for learning. Therewere significant differences between the two groups of respondents, with the respondents from health sciences being both younger andmore computer literate. The nursing respondents, who received more support and orientations, reported finding the learning management system more useful. Recommendations are made for training and support to ensure uptake.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Frequency of cannabis and illicit opioid use among people who use drugs and report chronic pain: A longitudinal analysis.

BACKGROUND:Ecological research suggests that increased access to cannabis may facilitate reductions in opioid use and harms, and medical cannabis patients describe the substitution of opioids with cannabis for pain management. However, there is a lack of research using individual-level data to explore this question. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal association between frequency of cannabis use and illicit opioid use among people who use drugs (PWUD) experiencing chronic pain. METHODS AND FINDINGS:This study included data from people in 2 prospective cohorts of PWUD in Vancouver, Canada, who reported major or persistent pain from June 1, 2014, to December 1, 2017 (n = 1,152). We used descriptive statistics to examine reasons for cannabis use and a multivariable generalized linear mixed-effects model to estimate the relationship between daily (once or more per day) cannabis use and daily illicit opioid use. There were 424 (36.8%) women in the study, and the median age at baseline was 49.3 years (IQR 42.3-54.9). In total, 455 (40%) reported daily illicit opioid use, and 410 (36%) reported daily cannabis use during at least one 6-month follow-up period. The most commonly reported therapeutic reasons for cannabis use were pain (36%), sleep (35%), stress (31%), and nausea (30%). After adjusting for demographic characteristics, substance use, and health-related factors, daily cannabis use was associated with significantly lower odds of daily illicit opioid use (adjusted odds ratio 0.50, 95% CI 0.34-0.74, p < 0.001). Limitations of the study included self-reported measures of substance use and chronic pain, and a lack of data for cannabis preparations, dosages, and modes of administration. CONCLUSIONS:We observed an independent negative association between frequent cannabis use and frequent illicit opioid use among PWUD with chronic pain. These findings provide longitudinal observational evidence that cannabis may serve as an adjunct to or substitute for illicit opioid use among PWUD with chronic pain

Empowering Energy Innovation in the Communities of Aotearoa

Since the electricity grid began connecting more and more areas of Aotearoa New Zealand, we have been relying on technology that was fit for purpose for a 1980s future. In the last ten years, the New Zealand power system has seen an increase in non-dispatchable generation and an accelerated rate of electrification, creating supply and demand volatility. Aotearoa New Zealand uses more electricity in homes, cars, factories, and devices than ever, yet the generation currently installed around the country is not increasing at the rate of usage or predicted usage. As a result, the national grid operator, Transpower, runs closer to constraint limits on cold evenings every year, has recently been fined over handling a low-generation event in 2021, and subsequently has been issuing more Customer Advisory Notices (CAN) than ever before. Through a combination of technology-driven development and energy infrastructure, the energy sector has the potential to find new ways to access more electricity through the use of existing generation, or through infrastructure predicted to exist, in more innovative and efficient ways. While companies are working on specific solutions, many of these are required to have an economic benefit for the company by bringing in revenue, as opposed to providing relief to the communities these companies operate in and have been supported. Technology-driven change should support these communities. This research focuses on how technology driving change in the energy space can be used more effectively to provide security of supply to communities that have yet to be considered when energy policy was written. The first phase of this research analysed small-scale and medium-heat processes in a beverage factory with solar panels to understand and show how solar generation can be used to offset a factory’s electricity load from the grid. Case Study One analysed how this approach could reduce demand and reliance on the grid by allowing electricity to go where it is required on cold evenings. A monitoring system was custom created for Chia Sisters as a way to provide a deeper understanding of their electricity and solar usage. The system has been available as an open-source project on GitHub for use by other companies in a similar position to Chia Sisters. The second phase of this research simulated the electricity storage potential in electric buses by applying Vehicle to Grid technology advancements to school buses in the Wellington region through Case Study Two. This simulation took advantage of stationary school buses, which sit idle during school hours and evenings. Nationally, school buses are changing and are required to become electric in the next decade, with electric school buses expected to be a part of the transport system by 2035. By combining these two community-centred approaches to improving ex- isting infrastructure, smaller communities have potential to gain generation opportunities through a deployable system that would monitor microgrids and monitoring systems. The theorised Community Energy Management System (CEMS) looks at all the inputs (generation and electric vehicles), usage times, and electricity usage trends in remote, rural, or isolated communities to allow electricity to be used more effectively in our communities. These communities often need to be at the forefront of legislation planning. Such a system shows how supply and demand has the potential to change in communities across New Zealand over time by using a community management system. Approaches such as the CEMS theorised have been seen in emergency climate response situations already in New Zealand, so by applying these more resilient microgrid systems with generation stemming from factory roof solar, storage from school buses, and being used in communities, this overall process could become a crucial part of our energy future