Final report RSHE recommendations to schools 2023

The Women and Equalities Committee inquiry (2016), found sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools to be widespread, facilitated by access to online pornography. UK research found most children have seen pornography by 16, with 75% reporting that pornography did not teach about positive relationships (Martellozzo et al., 2017). Ofsted conducted a rapid review of sexual abuse in schools (Ofsted, 2021), finding serious areas of concern surrounding sexual abuse in school has arisen in the context of child-on-child or peer-on-peer abuse (DFE, 2022; Ofsted, 2021). ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website forum for survivors of sexual abuse testifies to this. UK statutory guidance (DFE, 2019) introduced new mandates around Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), making this compulsory in secondary schools in England from late 2020. The new mandates regarding RSHE provision, highlight the need for more concerted action to ensure that RSHE is relevant to young people’s needs and is delivered effectively. Our current study aimed to inform future action in this area. Our research questions were as follows:1. What do young people want to learn about consent and pornography in schools? 2. How do young people want to learn about consent and pornography in schools? 3. What kind of RSHE resources and activities can empower young people to forge healthy relationships in their daily lives? Five schools and 62 year 9 students took part in this study, which used a focus group approach and delivered this through a post-it note questions activity, showing of a film 'DARE' made by young people for young people (by two members of the research team), and a quote activity, looking at quotes from previous research (conducted by one member of the research team), upon the impact of pornography upon young people. 12 hours of focus group data was collected. Thematic analysis was used to inform our main findings and themes, which were:Focus on relationships not just biology, deliver consent in more depth, integrate diverse sexuality and gender across content, do not ignore pornography and its impact in young people's lives, use innovative entry points such as film and testimonies to discuss topics, allow time to deliver RSHE and prioritise and ringfence this time, deliver learning across genders, the importance of confidence, openness, respect and adaptability of those delivering RSHE, create enabling environments, that may lead to critical conversations with young people about the things that matter in their lives and which are relatable to them

Parents dealing with anorexia : actions and meanings

This paper examines parents&rsquo; actions in response to anorexia nervosa, and how these are shaped by the ways they construct or understand the eating disorder. The findings indicate that parents try to influence their daughters by searching for help, providing practical support, avoiding confrontation, complying with special requirements, persuading, explaining, and pressuring, using ploys and force, providing emotional support, and mediating interactions. Parents&rsquo; actions are influenced by how they construct anorexia, such as whether they see it as an eating issue, an illness, a psychological problem, a choice, or a mystery. Understanding parents&rsquo; actions and constructions can help clinicians develop collaborative partnerships with parents.<br /

Clinical presentation and predictors of outcome in patients with severe acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requiring admission to intensive care unit

BACKGROUND: Severe acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AE-COPD) is a common reason for emergency room (ER) visit about which little has been documented from India. METHODS: Prospective study of the clinical presentation and predictors of outcome in 116 patients presenting with severe AE-COPD requiring admission to the medical intensive care unit between January 2000 and December 2004. RESULTS: Their mean age was 62.1 ± 9.8 years. There were 102 males. Mean duration of COPD was 7.2 ± 5.8 years. All males were smokers (22.3 ± 11.2 pack years); 35.2% smoked cigarettes and 64.8% smoked bidis. All women were exposed to domestic fuel. Associated co-morbid illnesses were present in 81 patients (69.8%); 53(45.7%) had one co-morbid illness and the remaining 28 (54.3%) had two or more co-morbid illnesses. Evidence of past pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) was present in 28.4% patients; 5 patients who also had type II diabetes mellitus had active PTB. Arterial blood gas analysis revealed respiratory failure in 40 (33.8%) patients (type I 17.5% and type II 82.5%). Invasive mechanical ventilation was required in 18 patients. Sixteen (13.7%) patients died. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed need for invasive ventilation (OR 45.809, 95%CI 607.46 to 3.009;p < 0.001); presence of co-morbid illness (OR 0.126, 95%CI 0.428 to 0.037;p < 0.01) and hypercapnia (OR 0.114, 95%CI 1.324 to 0.010;p < 0.05) were predictors of death. CONCLUSION: Co-morbid conditions and metabolic abnormalities render the diagnosis of AE-COPD difficult and also contribute to mortality. High prevalence of past PTB and active PTB in patients with AE-COPD suggests an intriguing relationship between smoking, PTB and COPD which merits further study

Factors affecting commencement and cessation of smoking behaviour in Malaysian adults

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tobacco consumption peak in developed countries has passed, however, it is on the increase in many developing countries. Apart from cigarettes, consumption of local hand-rolled cigarettes such as <it>bidi </it>and <it>rokok daun </it>are prevalent in specific communities. Although factors associated with smoking initiation and cessation has been investigated elsewhere, the only available data for Malaysia is on prevalence. This study aims to investigate factors associated with smoking initiation and cessation which is imperative in designing intervention programs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected from 11,697 adults by trained recording clerks on sociodemographic characteristics, practice of other risk habit and details of smoking such as type, duration and frequency. Smoking commencement and cessation were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier estimates and log-rank tests. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to calculate the hazard rate ratios.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Males had a much higher prevalence of the habit (61.7%) as compared to females (5.8%). Cessation was found to be most common among the Chinese and those regularly consuming alcoholic beverages. Kaplan-Meier plot shows that although males are more likely to start smoking, females are found to be less likely to stop. History of betel quid chewing and alcohol consumption significantly increase the likelihood of commencement (p < 0.0001), while cessation was least likely among Indians, current quid chewers and kretek users (p < 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Gender, ethnicity, history of quid chewing and alcohol consumption have been found to be important factors in smoking commencement; while ethnicity, betel quid chewing and type of tobacco smoked influences cessation.</p

Signifying “students”, “teachers” and “mathematics”: a reading of a special issue

This paper examines a Special Issue of Educational Studies in Mathematics comprising research reports centred on Peircian semiotics in mathematics education, written by some of the major authors in the area. The paper is targeted at inspecting how subjectivity is understood, or implied, in those reports. It seeks to delineate how the conceptions of subjectivity suggested are defined as a result of their being a function of the domain within which the authors reflexively situate themselves. The paper first considers how such understandings shape concepts of mathematics, students and teachers. It then explores how the research domain is understood by the authors as suggested through their implied positioning in relation to teachers, teacher educators, researchers and other potential readers

Feeding a fear of fatness? A preliminary investigation of how women with a history of eating disorders view ‘anti-obesity’ health promotion campaigns

In recent years concerns about an ‘epidemic of obesity’ and its associated implications for health have led to national and global health promotion campaigns seeking to encourage weight-loss through healthier eating and exercise. Whilst intended as health-enhancing, these campaigns have been criticized for vilifying fatness and fat people and for promoting ‘dieting’ as unproblematically healthy. The ubiquitous media idealization of thin female bodies and the concomitant normativity of dieting are now widely recognized as contributing to the development of body dissatisfaction, restrictive dieting and ‘eating disorders’ amongst girls and women. Yet little attention has been paid to the possibility that anti-obesity health promotion campaigns may mobilise similar problems. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of women, who had been diagnosed with an ‘eating disorder’; specifically the way they made sense of contemporary anti-obesity healthy promotion campaigns. Hence eight women, aged 19-57 years, who had had a diagnosis of ‘anorexia’ and/or ‘bulimia’ participated in face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. The resulting transcripts were analysed qualitatively using a discourse analytic method. Findings indicate that anti-obesity campaigns were often construed not only as health-promoting but also as ‘anorexogenic’ and ‘bulimogenic’. This emerged in four key ways where these campaigns were portrayed as (i) exacerbating already-existing cultural denigrations of fatness and idealisations of thinness; (ii) justifying fat-phobic bullying; (iii) mobilising ‘unhealthy’ eating practices; and (iv) occluding problems of under-weight and ‘disordered’ under-eating. The implications of our analysis for future weight-related health promotion of this preliminary study are briefly discussed