Accounting for decarbonisation and reducing capital at risk in the S&P500

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Colin Haslam, Nick Tsitsianis, Glen Lehman, Tord Andersson, and John Malamatenios, ‘Accounting for decarbonisation and reducing capital at risk in the S&P500’, Accounting Forum, Vol. 42 91): 119-129, March 2018. Under embargo until 7 August 2019. The final, definitive version is available online at doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2018.01.004.This article accounts for carbon emissions in the S&P 500 and explores the extent to which capital is at risk from decarbonising value chains. At a global level it is proving difficult to decouple carbon emissions from GDP growth. Top-down legal and regulatory arrangements envisaged by the Kyoto Protocol are practically redundant given inconsistent political commitment to mitigating global climate change and promoting sustainability. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and European Commission (EC) are promoting the role of financial markets and financial institutions as drivers of behavioural change mobilising capital allocations to decarbonise corporate activity.Peer reviewe

'Different things at different times': Wellbeing strategies and processes identified by parents of children who have an intellectual disability or who are autistic, or both

Background: Most parents of children with an intellectual disability or who are autistic identify positives in their family life and their own wellbeing, in addition to reported mental health challenges. Several models and interventions have been developed in relation to parent carer wellbeing. Few studies have asked parent carers how they support their own wellbeing. Method: Adopting an interpretive phenomenological approach this study utilised semi-structured interviews. Seventeen parent carers were asked and what supported their emotional wellbeing. Template Analysis was applied to develop themes. Results: All participants identified factors that supported their wellbeing. Themes included strategies that countered stress time for themselves, relaxation, 'parking' difficulties) and broader wellbeing strategies (finding meaning life direction, greater understanding of child). An ongoing process of supporting wellbeing by 'Reorienting and finding balance' appeared central. Conclusions: Self-identified, multi-dimensional strategies benefit parents' emotional wellbeing and should be considered in the context of support provided to families

Senior manager decision‐making and interactions with frontline staff in intellectual disability organisations: A Delphi study

Very little is known of the activities of the most senior managers in organisations providing social care in the community to people with intellectual disabilities. Yet the importance of the focus and activities of senior managers in directing and supporting staff practice and staff experiences is likely to be central to an organisation's functioning and support provided for staff and service users. This study employed Delphi methodology with a panel of 11 senior managers, mostly chief executives, managing small to very large organisations providing support for people with intellectual disabilities, in the UK. Answering three rounds of questions, senior managers described their face‐to‐face and non‐face‐to‐face contacts with staff and decision‐making. Narrative data were subject to quantitative and thematic analysis. In the last round, themes were subject to quantitative analysis. Most contacts between senior managers and staff were in formal structured contexts and all managers used social media to promote the organisations' ambitions regarding good practice. The panel focused upon accessing and understanding the informal aspects of their organisations and staff factors. Decisions were both short‐term reactive and long‐term strategic and an effort to link these was felt to improve organisational functioning. A framework for understanding senior managers' activities emerged showing two sources of demands and opportunity, extra‐organisational focused upon meeting legal and regulatory demands and intra‐organisational focused upon understanding and influencing informal staff practices/experiences and cultures within their organisations

Mental health as motivational operation: Service-user and caregiver emotional states in the context of challenging behaviour

This brief conceptual paper seeks to address the role of mental health and the experience of negative life events in the positive behavioural support framework in relation to the behaviour of both service users and caregivers and some of the implications this may suggest for intervention. It is argued that the conceptualisation of mental health related variables as motivating operations is parsimonious at a theoretical and practical level and may create one way of generating further synergies within the field of IDD

Residential school placements for children and young people with intellectual disabilities: their use and implications for adult social care

Out of area residential placements are associated with a range of poor outcomes for adults with intellectual disabilities and behaviours that challenge. In recent years there has been an increased drive to reduce such placements at as early a stage as possible. In this context the current review collates research and policy regarding use of residential schools for children and young people with intellectual disabilities and transition from these settings to adult services. The review highlights that relatively little is known about both use of, and transition from, residential schooling for children and young people with intellectual disabilities in the UK. Thirteen articles are identified: 7 examining the child or families’ experiences before placement, 4 examining outcomes during the placement, and 4 examining the process of transitioning from the placement and longer term outcomes. The methodological quality of articles was often limited. A lack of control groups, independent samples, or adequate sample sizes was particularly notable. Results are discussed in relation to factors that lead to a child’s placement in a residential school, children and families’ experiences of the placement, and outcomes following placement, including the transition process. A number of research priorities are highlighted based on gaps in the literature. Examples of alternative forms of support from clinical practice are provided, with recognition that a multi-element model is likely to be needed to provide high quality support to this group of young people

Building core domains for the evaluation of PBS: A consensus-based approach

Background: The PBS framework brings together values, theory and procedures that principally facilitate high quality lifestyles and constructive changes for people with disabilities, other stakeholders and organisations. Most commonly, however, PBS research has focused on a small range of potential outcomes, with a primary emphasis on reducing behaviour that challenges (CB). Agreeing a more comprehensive set of outcome domains that fit with the UK context is important for ensuring the implementation and development of PBS. Method and materials: This study used a three phase, consensus-building approach to identify a set of core outcome domains for PBS. Phase One comprised a four-round Delphi exercise to identify an initial pool of domains and overall structure. Subsequent phases involved stakeholder voting exercises to identify core domains and a stakeholder representative group to shape final wording. Results: A total of 23 core domains were identified that covered a broad scope of outcomes for people with disabilities, family and paid caregivers, and systems change at an organisational level. Conclusions: The identified domains provide a useful structure to support the evaluation and implementation of PBS in the UK with potential benefits for people with disabilities, families, professionals and commissioners. The core domains will also allow for development of focused research programmes to build a more detailed evidence base for best practice

Making it Meaningful: Caregiver Goal Selection in Positive Behavioral Support

Objectives Positive Behavioral Support (PBS) is considered the treatment framework of choice for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) at risk of behavior that challenges. PBS demands stakeholder engagement, yet little research has explored goal formation in this context for caregivers of children with IDD. Methods We used Talking Mats and semi-structured interviews to support 12 caregivers of children with IDD who displayed behaviours that challenge, to develop goals for PBS. Interviews covered quality of life for caregivers and their child, adaptive and challenging aspects of child behavior, and aspects of caregiver’s own behavior. Results Caregivers were able to form individualised and meaningful goals in relation to all domains, demonstrating rich insight into personal needs and needs of their child. The process of forming goals was psychologically and emotionally complex given prior experiences and needs of participants but effectively supported by the interview method. Conclusions We conclude that goal formation in PBS requires careful consideration and structuring but has the potential to support effective working relationships and ensure assessment and intervention is aligned with the needs and aspirations of families

New ways of seeing and being: Evaluating an acceptance and mindfulness group for parents of young people with intellectual disabilities who display challenging behaviour

The current study presents findings from an acceptance and commitment therapy-based intervention for family carers of children who have an intellectual/developmental disability and display high levels of challenging behaviour. The parent well-being workshops consist of two workshops incorporating acceptance and mindfulness-based exercises and discussions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five family carers following attendance of the workshops. Participants found the workshops useful and reported that they were better able to cope with stress. They also described how they had incorporated mindfulness into their daily lives and how their practice had had positive effects on their own well-being and on those around them (e.g. their child). Implications of the findings are discussed with emphasis on how the workshops can be included within a positive behaviour support framework. Future directions include a more robust quantitative evaluation, inclusion of follow-up sessions and the application of the workshops with other client groups and in other delivery formats

“Stop, Look and Listen to me”: Engaging children and young people with severe learning disabilities

This report summarises the work we (the Challenging Behaviour Foundation and the Tizard Centre) did to find new ways of “asking” five young people with severe learning disabilities (whose behaviours are described as challenging) what they enjoy and who or what supports them to do those things.We were able to find out information about what the young people enjoy (and what they don’t) in a range of ways and our mixed methods approach allowed us to gather rich information from each young person in answer to our questions.We found that family carers, advocates and staff who knew the young people well were key to seeking their views and perspectives successfully. Their role included: preparing our researchers with information about communication methods, observable indicators of enjoyment and behaviours that indicate the activity should be stopped. They also had a key role in supplementing the information we gathered from and with the young people themselves with more abstract information about the support available to young people to access enjoyable activities.We would like to see all commissioners and providers of support for children and young people with severe learning disabilities taking active steps to seek their views and preferences directly on a regular basis. We would also like to see all consultation processes relevant to disabled children and young people adapted to include a strand which is accessible to young people with a severe learning disability.We hope this small scale, unfunded piece of work will be a first step towards developing new and better ways to seek the views, wishes and perspectives of people with a severe learning disability (of all ages) and that such engagement becomes par for the course, rather than an unusual and innovative project

Training Individuals to Implement Applied Behavior Analytic Procedures via Telehealth: A Systematic Review of the Literature

The purpose of this article is to summarize literature relating to training individuals to implement applied behavior analytic procedures via telehealth and identify any gaps in the evidence base for this type of support. A systematic literature search revealed 20 articles focusing on training individuals to implement specific ABA techniques via telehealth. The Evaluative Method (Reichow et al. in J Austism Dev Disord 38:1311–1319, 2008; Reichow, in: Reichow, Doehring, Cicchetti, Volkmar (eds) Evidence-based practices and treatments for children with autism, Springer, New York, Reichow 2011) was used to assess the methodological quality of included articles. Results indicated that individuals were trained to implement a range of techniques, including assessments, targeted interventions, and specific teaching techniques. Socially significant outcomes were reported for clients in the form of reduced challenging behavior and increased skills. Trainee fidelity following training via telehealth was variable, and barriers related to the use of telehealth were highlighted. Where evaluated, cost and travel burdens were considerably lower than support provided in-person. The emerging literature is promising and suggests that telehealth may be an effective means of training individuals in ABA techniques; however, wider issues and practical implications related to the use of telehealth should be considered and are discussed as it relates to ABA providers