'Making Choices in my Life': Listening to the ideas and experiences of young people in the UK who communicate non-verbally

Service user participation and making choices are frequently advocated, however, they are complex concepts and how they are translated and/or experienced in everyday life can vary amongst different groups of service users. Recognising the importance of participation in current international guidance and UK government policy this paper seeks to explore how research can include a frequently marginalised group of disabled young people, in particular young people with learning disabilities and/or who communicate non-verbally. The paper discusses the use of non-traditional research methods, especially symbols based interviews developed in an ongoing English longitudinal study exploring choices and decision-making processes for young people with life limiting conditions. The paper then presents some research findings and concludes by discussing their implications. In particular, the use of symbols based interviews for informing policy makers about how these young people can be included in research and how listening to them can inform our understanding of decision-making processes

A Content Analysis of Youth Internet Safety Programs: Are Effective Prevention Strategies Being Used?

ABSTRACT: Almost half of youth in the U.S. report receiving internet safety education (ISE) in their schools. Unfortunately, we know little about what educational messages make a difference in problems such as cyberbullying, sexting, or online predators. To consider directions for improving effectiveness, a content analysis was conducted on materials from four ISE programs. Results indicate that ISE programs are mostly not incorporating proven educational strategies. Common ISE messages have proliferated without a clear rationale for why they would be effective. It is recommended that program developers and other stakeholders reconsider ISE messages, improve educational strategies, and participate in evaluation. The field must also consider whether ISE messages would be better delivered through broader youth safety prevention programs versus stand-alone lessons

Session 2: Female Orgasms and Evolutionary Theory

Proceedings of the Pittsburgh Workshop in History and Philosophy of Biology, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, March 23-24 2001 Session 2: Female Orgasms and Evolutionary Theor

A Systematic Review of Effective Youth Prevention Education: Implications for Internet Safety Education.

ABSTRACT: Over the past two decades, a wide array of internet safety education materials and programs have developed to increase positive youth behavior and safety online. Although it is a new area of prevention, programs should incorporate practices that prior prevention evaluation studies tell us work best. To inform internet safety education, 31 youth prevention education meta-analyses across a wide range of youth prevention (substance abuse, risky sex behavior, delinquency, etc.) were coded to identify prevention program characteristics shown by research to be most effective. The review identified that active, skill-based lessons, focused on research based causal and risk factors, and provided with adequate dosage were key. Such strategies must be included as a starting place when developing prevention in new areas of youth risk concerns. Implications of the finding suggest some need for reevaluating how internet safety education is delivered in the future

Leaving school - transition experiences and routes taken by disabled young children.

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN019802 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

5th national survey of Australian secondary students and sexual health 2013

Results of the fifth National Survey of Australian Secondary Students and Sexual Health provide a picture of teenagers demonstrating similar sexual behaviours to those in previous surveys, with individuals generally acting responsibly and being mostly happy about the choices they make. The survey has been carried out by La Trobe researchers at regular intervals since 1992 and is the most comprehensive of its kind into the sexual behaviour, attitudes and health of young people at secondary school.  It involved more than 2,000 students in years 10, 11 and 12 at Government, Catholic and Independent schools in all states and territories. 50% of young people expressed significant dissatisfaction with sex education at schools, citing irrelevance to their real experiences, lack of relationship advice and lack of discussion of same-sex issues as problems. 36% of students commonly asked their mother about sex, 41% asked a female friend. 86% of teenagers said the last time they\u27d had sex they\u27d used a condom if one was available. 23% of sexually active students had sex with three or more people in the past year. 25% of sexually active students reported an experience of unwanted sex of some kind. 50% of those who had not had intercourse felt good about this decision, with religion, culture and pressure from parents being less important than personal decision making. Overall low numbers reported frequent cyber bullying

Heterogeneity in pure microbial systems: experimental measurements and modeling

Cellular heterogeneity influences bioprocess performance in ways that until date are not completely elucidated. In order to account for this phenomenon in the design and operation of bioprocesses, reliable analytical and mathematical descriptions are required. We present an overview of the single cell analysis, and the mathematical modeling frameworks that have potential to be used in bioprocess control and optimization, in particular for microbial processes. In order to be suitable for bioprocess monitoring, experimental methods need to be high throughput and to require relatively short processing time. One such method used successfully under dynamic conditions is flow cytometry. Population balance and individual based models are suitable modeling options, the latter one having in particular a good potential to integrate the various data collected through experimentation. This will be highly beneficial for appropriate process design and scale up as a more rigorous approach may prevent a priori unwanted performance losses. It will also help progressing synthetic biology applications to industrial scale

Carers' roles in personal budgets: tensions and dilemmas in front line practice

Adult social care in England emphasises the service and support preferences of disabled and older people. Personal budgets play a central role in this development. Carers in England have also secured rights to assessment and support in their care-giving roles. However, these policies have developed largely separately, with little consideration of the interdependencies between disabled and older people and their carers. There is limited evidence detailing current practice. This paper explores current practice, particularly how far social care practitioners recognise and balance the needs and interests of service users and carers, especially those with cognitive and/or communication impairments. The paper reports findings from nine qualitative focus groups (forty-seven participants) conducted in 2012 with practitioners involved in service user personalisation and carer assessments from older people and learning disability teams across three English authorities. Findings indicate inconsistencies in practice. Although practitioners felt they sought to involve carers, practices varied between authorities, teams and colleagues in the same team. Clear and timely links between processes for service users and carers were absent. Practice was discussed most frequently around service user assessments, other stages of personalisation appeared ad hoc. Areas of confusion and tension are identified. Future policy and practice developments and challenges are also considered

Personalisation, personal budgets and family carers: Whose assessment? Whose budget?

SUMMARY The policy of personalisation in English adult social care prioritises choice and control by service users over the support they receive. Carers also have rights to assessments and support, but these rights have developed separately, so interdependencies between carers and service users may be overlooked. Moreover it may be difficult to reconcile these divergent policies in routine practice. This paper reports findings from a study examining the roles played by carers in England in the processes of assessment, support planning and management of personal budgets for disabled and older people. The study was conducted between January 2011 and February 2013. It involved a survey of sixteen adult social care departments across two English regions, and interviews with personalisation and carers lead officers in three local authorities. The Framework approach was used to manage the data, and analysis was done thematically. FINDINGS Practice was fragmented and inconsistent. Carers were reported to be involved in service users' assessments, and also asked about their willingness and ability to continue caring, but not necessarily about their own needs. Separate carers’ assessments were reported to be usually offered, but take-up was low and lead officers’ opinions about their value varied. Any help given by carers reduced the level of service users’ personal budgets, but there was no evidence that carers’ own needs (as identified in carers’ assessments) were taken into account. APPLICATIONS Greater clarity and consistency is needed, especially the linking of service users’ and carers’ assessments and finding appropriate ways to meet both. These changes will become increasingly urgent with the implementation of the 2014 Care Act