Reflecting the real world?: How British TV portrayed developing countries in 2005

TV audiences are fed up with how the developing world is portrayed on the small screen, according to a new VSO report published today. Reflecting the real world? How British TV portrayed developing countries in 2005 reveals that television viewers have an overwhelmingly negative view of the developing world and that they hold TV responsible. The report shows that viewers have a real appetite for richer representations of the world outside the UK and calls on broadcasters to invest more money, creativity and talent in bringing the world to UK audiences. The report is based on interviews with TV viewers and leading broadcasters. It shows that despite the high level of developing world coverage on TV over the last year, there has been no sign of a positive shift in public attitude. TV viewers associated the developing world with famine, disaster and corruption and people's initial image was very often of starving babies with flies around their eyes. The research highlights that news coverage and charity campaigns have also contributed to a feeling that the developing world is a hopeless cause. News reporting of the Asian Tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake brought people's attention to poorer countries but reinforced a doom-laden view of them. Even the Make Poverty History campaign and the Live 8 concerts, which enthused millions of people, appear to have inadvertently contrived to confirm a stereotype of Africa as a continent on its knees and added to a sense that nothing has changed over the last 20 years. The research uncovered a very strong sentiment that TV coverage of developing countries is too negative. Viewers expressed a desire to see the positive side of life in the developing world and hear about any progress being made. Crucially, they wanted TV programmes that were positive and transforming, challenged their perceptions, and contained human interest stories, real-life issues and characters they can relate to. Their ideas for new developing world programming tended to reflect their favourite genres and included Jamie's African School Dinners, Life Swap, African Grand Designs, Spooks or 24 in Africa and Africa's Next Top Model

‘Person-Centred’- An Ethic of Christian Charitable Service

How many of us really see another human being when we make contact with them, particularly when we might know them already? How often do we look at them closely, look at their eyes, concentrate, take stock of their ‘being’ at that actual moment? Not many of us and not very often I suspect. Instead, we see someone we’ve pigeonholed in our mind’s eye, and say to ourselves, I know this person – she’s a friend, or this person is talkative, or again, this one is boring or challenging – and so on, and we forget to look at them as complete people, with something to say, as someone who is important to me. I ask these questions because the words ‘person-centred’ have become fairly humdrum; they are words that were briefly, politically popular but now, for many, they are hollowed-out, retaining only a dim echo of their original meaning. That meaning was, I think, to make us really pay attention and think about the ‘Other’ when having a conversation with someone who might be wanting services or establishing a work relationship

The economics of charity – Who cares?

The current Australian human services charity profile is as a socially moral, not-for-profit business which generates a surplus; a community organization advocating on behalf of disadvantaged people and communities. This description is becoming harder to reconcile with the reality of relativist values-based care work carried out on a daily basis by tens of thousands of women for meagre wages in poor employment conditions. This paper argues that human services charity work is gendered and combined with its religious, social and ethical underpinnings, oppressive employment conditions and practices are facilitated that are flourishing in the present economic rationalist/neoliberal environment

Can a four-week pedelec commuting intervention alter body composition in sedentary individuals?

Pedelecs are a specific form of electric assist bicycles that have a modest electric motor, which provides assist only when the rider is pedaling. Such bikes may help to overcome the hurdles associated with active commuting for those individuals who are leading a sedentary lifestyle. This project was part of a larger study looking at physiological changes resulting from a pedelec intervention. The purpose of this project was to use a 4-week intervention period to study changes in body composition in a sedentary population, through the use of these bicycles. Fourteen physically inactive individuals (4 males, 11 females) visited the lab for baseline physiological testing and body composition scans. During the 4 weeks following their preliminary testing, subjects commuted to and from their work using the pedelecs while wearing a heart rate monitor and GPS device. Individualized regression equations were used to estimate energy expenditure and METS for subjects based on their VO2max test data and their riding data from the monitoring devices. RIndiParticipants were asked to ride at least 40 min/day, 3 days/week in order to fulfill the required intervention stimulus for the study. After the intervention, participants returned to the lab for repeated physiological testing and body composition scans. Multiple regression analysis and paired t tests were used to assess how starting physiological values of the individuals, and their riding tendencies effected changes in body composition. The larger study found significant changes in VO2max, power output at VO2max, and glucose regulation. No significant changes in body composition were observed, although an average decrease of a .53 kg and .44 kg of total mass and fat mass were lost respectively, indicating improvement patterns were present. A dose response pattern was also indicated by fat mass loss, although not significant. Usage of a pedelec over a four-week period is a good intervention for promoting physical activity, as well as improving some physiological parameters, despite the absence of significant body compositional changes. A longer duration and more frequent riding patterns may lead to significant changes in body composition, as well as increase the significance of other physiological findings, and should be a focus for further research regarding electric assist bicycle interventions

Symmetrical and asymmetrical outcomes of leader anger expression: a qualitative study of army personnel

Recent studies have highlighted the utility of anger at work, suggesting that anger can have positive outcomes. Using the Dual Threshold Model, we assess the positive and negative consequences of anger expressions at work and focus on the conditions under which expressions of anger crossing the impropriety threshold are perceived as productive or counterproductive by observers or targets of that anger. To explore this phenomenon, we conducted a phenomenological study (n = 20) to probe the lived experiences of followers (as observers and targets) associated with anger expressions by military leaders. The nature of task (e.g. the display rules prescribed for combat situations) emerged as one condition under which the crossing of the impropriety threshold leads to positive outcomes of anger expressions. Our data reveal tensions between emotional display rules and emotional display norms in the military, thereby fostering paradoxical attitudes toward anger expression and its consequences among followers. Within this paradoxical space, anger expressions have both positive (asymmetrical) and negative (symmetrical) consequences. We place our findings in the context of the Dual Threshold Model, discuss the practical implications of our research and offer avenues for future studies

A pilot randomised controlled trial of an internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy self-management programme (MS Invigor8) for multiple sclerosis fatigue

The majority of people affected by Multiple Sclerosis (PaMS) experience severe and disabling fatigue. MS Fatigue is poorly understood and most existing treatments have limited effectiveness. However, a recent randomised controlled trial (RCT) showed that cognitive-behaviour therapy with a clinical psychologist was effective in reducing MS fatigue severity and impact. The current study developed an Internet-based version of this intervention to make it available to a wider group of PaMS and conducted preliminary investigations of its efficacy, feasibility and cost-effectiveness in a pilot RCT. The ‘MS Invigor8’ website was developed using agile design and substantial input from PaMS. The programme includes eight online tailored and interactive sessions along with homework tasks, intended to be accessed weekly. In the pilot trial, 40 patients were randomised to MS Invigor8 (n=23) or standard care (n=17). The MS Invigor8 group accessed sessions over 8-10 weeks and received up to three 30-50 minute telephone support sessions. Participants completed online questionnaires assessing fatigue, mood and quality of life at baseline and 10 weeks follow-up. Large between group treatment effects were found for the primary outcomes of fatigue severity (d=1.19) and impact (d =1.22). The MS Invigor8 group also reported significantly greater improvements in anxiety and depression. Analysis suggested that the intervention may be cost-effective. Qualitative feedback suggested that participants considered this treatment approach acceptable and helpful. Technical website problems negatively affected some users’ experiences and need to be resolved. Given the promising results a larger RCT with longer term follow-up is warranted. <br/