Illness perceptions in irritable bowel syndrome: change over time and relationship with self-reported quality of life

Background: Pathways in an ‘extended’ common-sense model of illness representations (CSM) were examined in those affected by Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) over time. As complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is extensive in IBS, participants were grouped according to CAM use (CAM-users and non-users). Methods: An online survey examined 197 participant responses (125 CAM-users, 72 non-users) at baseline and again after a minimum of six months. Illness perceptions, conventional treatment beliefs (captured by the IPQ-R and BMQ-General scale respectively), coping (Brief COPE) and domain specific quality of life (IBS-QOL) were measured at both time-points. Related t-tests were used to examine changes over time within each group and regression analyses were used to assess theorised pathways proposed by the CSM. Findings: Both groups showed improved quality of life ratings (CAM-users: t(124)= -5.97, p<.001; non-users: t(71)= -3.31, p<.01) and significantly lower emotional representations at time-two (CAM-users: t(117)= 3.33, p<.01; non-users: t(68)= 2.60, p<.05). Stronger perceptions of illness consequences CAM-users: Beta=-.67, p<.001; non-users: Beta=-.62, p<.001) and emotional representations at time-one (CAM-users: Beta=-.58; non-users: Beta=-.51, p<.001) predicted reduced quality of life at time-two in both groups. Mediation tests revealed that self-blame and behavioural disengagement mediated the pathway from illness perceptions to quality of life in the CAM-user group only. Discussion: Findings suggest some consistency with CSM theory and addressing components of illness perceptions early in the health care process may improve quality of life in those affected by IBS. CAM-users (and those intending to use CAM) may receive greater benefit from such intervention

Explaining use of complementary and alternative medicine in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: a common-sense model approach

Background: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent chronic functional gastrointestinal condition. Conventional medical treatment can be unsuccessful and many of those affected use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for symptom relief, despite concerns over CAM treatment efficacy. An ‘extended’ common-sense model of illness representations (CSM) was used to examine psychological influences on CAM use. Methods: 653 participants with IBS completed an online survey which included the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R), the (general) Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ), the Complementary and Alternative Medicines Beliefs Inventory (CAMBI) and questions regarding CAM use. Unrelated t-tests compared the illness and treatment perceptions of CAM-users to those not using CAM. A binary logistic regression analysis examined which factors predicted CAM use. Findings: 57% of participants reported using CAM to relieve IBS symptoms. CAM-users reported significantly stronger illness identity, illness consequences, medication harm beliefs and stronger emotional representations. CAM-users had more positive beliefs about CAM in terms of feelings towards natural treatments, client participation in treatment and beliefs in holistic treatments. Logistic regression analysis revealed 3-4 years (Odds ratio = 3.62) or over 5 years (3.19) since diagnosis, having A’ levels (1.89) or postgraduate qualifications (2.34), and stronger illness identity (1.10), consequences (1.07), cyclical timeline beliefs (1.08) and medication harm beliefs (1.10) predicted CAM use. Discussion: Findings suggest CAM use is influenced by certain illness and treatment perceptions. Health psychology interventions which address these components may have potential to improve IBS symptom management and support patient’s informed decision making regarding treatment

Ultrasound Career Structure and Education : a Time for Change

Background: In 2011 the Society and College of Radiographers (SCoR) undertook a survey of Ultrasound Departments in the United Kingdom (UK) to ascertain the current state of the workforce with a focus on staffing and vacancy levels. The study found there was a 10.9% Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) vacancy rate (SCoR 2011); current studies through the Health Education East Midlands sonography workforce project (2015) have found the WTE vacancy rate as high as 17%. The workforce issue in ultrasound is not a new problem; the British Medical Ultrasound Society’s (BMUS) “Extending the Provision of Ultrasound services in the UK’ (2003) highlighted that ultrasound training was failing to keep up with the service demand for, and natural wastage of, sonographers. It is therefore evident that a solution to the workforce dilemma is long overdue to secure the future of ultrasound services Purpose: The study aimed to explore sonographer opinion on the feasibility of a clinical competence framework that included bands 5 to 8 sonographer practitioners. Methodology: A qualitative study was undertaken using semi-structured interviews. A purposive sample population from a wide professional and geographical demographic was included in the study. Thematic analysis was undertaken using NVIVO. Findings: Data illustrated themes such as power, professional protectionism, managing change and sonographer education but failed to identify clinical competences for band 5 and 6 sonographers. Conclusion: The research suggests that a professional resistance to engage with the concept of a band 5 and 6 sonographer persist. This resistance is routed in the fear and anxiety of the unknown. A microcosm of power within Sonography exists which inhibits any move to address the unsustainable career and education philosophy that exists today

Mapping the African research evidence base for educational policy and practice

This paper reports on a project to ‘map’ education research conducted by researchers and institutions based in sub-Saharan Africa as a basis for addressing the Sustainable Development Goals. A strong research base is required for governments, donors, NGOs, researchers and practitioners to engage in evidence-informed debate and decision-making on educational policy and practice. Despite signs that the volume of African education research has increased significantly over the past two decades, African scholarship is routinely ‘overlooked and undervalued’ (Maclure 2006), including studies with findings which are important for the achievement of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa, Agenda 2063, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Researchers based in the North are in a comparatively privileged position when it comes to disseminating their work. African research outputs are spread across a wide array of journals, working papers, monographs and other publications, which poses a challenge to policymakers, researchers and others seeking to access the evidence base. As a result, African research regularly fails to attract the necessary attention to effect changes in learning and conditions in schools and other educational settings. In the absence of an accessible indigenous research evidence base, local knowledge and expertise is frequently overlooked in favour of solutions developed elsewhere, often in markedly different socio-cultural and material contexts. This project seeks to address this issue and raise the visibility and impact of African education research through the development of an open access database and accompanying literature review of African education research. This study sought to identify social science research with implications for educational policy and practice conducted in the past decade by researchers and institutions based in sub-Saharan Africa. The research identification strategy involved two main strands. Firstly, structured searches were conducted using academic and ‘grey’ literature databases, including Scopus and BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine). The latter draws on university repositories which have only recently become available online. The second strand involved a broad consultation of African researchers, institutions and organisations, including the Association for Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), in addition to NGOs, researchers and others based in the North. Steps were taken to maximise the scope of the consultation in terms of regional and thematic coverage. The search was conducted in English initially, with plans to incorporate Portuguese and French at a later stage. Studies identified through this process were catalogued by author, institutional affiliation, country of focus, research methods, keywords, and number of citations. The keywords were developed through an iterative process of induction and deduction with reference to the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) thesaurus, and other indexing systems. The study reveals significant variation in the research productivity of different institutions and countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Positive outliers are identified, with implications for knowledge sharing and capacity development. Analysis of the keywords offers comparative insights on national and regional research foci. The exercise indicates a significant untapped source of policy- and practice-relevant research evidence in areas such as school-level language policy and planning, early childhood education, literacy development, teacher deployment and retention, and ICT in education. Key findings in these areas are discussed

Literature search protocol for the African Education Research Database

This methodological note provides an overview of the ‘Mapping education research in sub-Saharan Africa’ project. It presents the protocols for the literature search, data extraction, and development of the African Education Research Database.This study was sponsored by Education Sub-Saharan Africa with financial support from Bosch Foundation and Jacobs Foundation

Trait Emotional Intelligence of student sonographers : is it learnt or inherent?

INTRODUCTION This poster presents the findings of a study undertaken in partial fulfillment of the BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Radiography award. Despite the increasing popularity of both research and practice on emotional intelligence (EI), it remains a debateable psychological construct. The definition of the construct differs widely under different theoretical frameworks, with some models defining EI as a related set of abilities and some models defining EI as a mixture of behaviours, motivations, beliefs, and attitudes (MacCann et al. 2014). For many years the EI intelligence of student sonographers has been a stumbling block for the introduction of undergraduate/direct entry ultrasound programmes. With this in mind, the main focus of this study was whether or not EI can be taught to student sonographers, or whether it is an individual’s intrinsic ability? METHODOLOGY Participants - First and second year student sonographers were invited to complete a demographic survey to collate personal variables such as; age, gender, profession and area of clinical study. In addition to this, the respondents were asked to complete the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire TEIQue-SF), a self-report measure. Findings: From the results demonstrated within this study, it is evident that the main statistical significances stem from the independent variables of age group and gender. Results from this study suggested that perhaps Emotional Intelligence could be learnt over time Conclusion: Whilst females have proved to be more capable and successful at encompassing Emotional Intelligence, it could be inferred that this is due to family social interactions or the expectation of society itself and thereby learnt. Studies have suggested that EI, as a part of the personality, is inherent in the person suggesting EI could be improved if that facet in your personality is present. The study indicated that obstetric sonographers scored higher in the EI test than the Abdominal sonographers which suggests a possible role for EI testing as an indicator for recruiting to specific ultrasound practice where higher EI is preferred

The Pyramid Club elementary school-based intervention: testing the Circle Time technique to elicit children’s service satisfaction

Children’s views of the social-emotional health services they use are important to service evaluation and development. However, often it is parental or clinician feedback that is gathered. In the current study Circle Time groups were run to identify children’s satisfaction with the Pyramid Club School-based intervention and to test the salience of this technique in eliciting children’s views. Children evaluated Clubs positively, reported no adverse effects and suggested ways to develop the intervention. The efficacy of Pyramid Clubs in building social-emotional competencies is supported by the children’s qualitative reports and Circle Time proved a salient technique for eliciting the views of young children

The role of rumination in adjusting to termination of pregnancy for fetal abnormality: rumination as a predictor and mediator of posttraumatic growth.

Objective: Rumination is important in adjusting to traumatic events. Evidence suggests that deliberate rumination predicts posttraumatic growth (PTG), and mediates the relationship between coping and PTG. This study examined the relationship between rumination and psychological adjustment following pregnancy termination for fetal abnormality (TFA). Method: A cross-sectional, online study was conducted with women who had undergone TFA. Women were recruited from a support organisation; 161 women completed the Brief COPE, the Perinatal Grief Scale, the Event-Related Rumination Inventory and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Data were analysed using regression and mediation analyses. Results: The results show that women engaged in high levels of intrusive and deliberate rumination post-TFA and that intrusive rumination predicted grief. Intrusive and deliberate rumination predicted PTG, although intrusive rumination was a negative predictor of growth. Deliberate rumination mediated the relationship between grief and PTG. It also mediated the path between positive reframing and PTG, and religious coping and PTG, although the mediation effect depended upon the inclusion of the grief variable in the models. Conclusions: The results confirm the applicability of the PTG model to TFA and support the relevance of rumination to the PTG experience. The results also have clinical implications. Given the positive relationship between deliberate rumination and PTG, promoting interventions that encourage reflective thinking and narrative construction would benefit women post-TFA, particularly those experiencing high levels of distress and/or at risk of complicated grief.N/