The views of five participating undergraduate students of the Student Associates Scheme in England

This paper reports findings from a study which explored undergraduate perceptions of the Student Associates Scheme in England (SAS). The scheme was established by the Training and Development Agency for Schools in an attempt to increase the number of graduates entering the teaching profession, particularly in shortage subjects such as the physical sciences and mathematics. The scheme places undergraduate students on short-term placements in secondary schools throughout England to provide them with experiences that may encourage them to consider teaching as a career option. Findings show that the SAS school placements were a positive experience for the students participating in this study. However, a question emerged as to whether or not the scheme is targeting students who have yet to decide upon teaching as a career or just reinforcing the existing aspirations of students who have already decided to teach. As the scheme is attempting to increase the number of teachers entering the profession this question has important implications for this study and further work which will focus on undergraduates who think that their career ambitions would not be fulfilled by teaching

Finding a way: long-term care homes to support dementia

An ageing demographic has increased the number of people with dementia. Although dementia is commonly associated with memory loss, other early symptoms include difficulty with wayfinding. Dementia alters visuo-spatial perception and the processes used to interpret the physical environment. The role of the design of the physical environment for people with dementia has gained increased recognition. Despite this, design for dementia is often overlooked, focusing on issues relating to physical impairment. This paper presents the results of a PhD study and aims to examine the role of the design of the physical environment in supporting wayfinding for people with dementia living in long-term care settings in Northern Ireland. Mixed methods combined the observation of wayfinding walks and conversational style interviews to elicit perspectives and experiences of residents with dementia. The findings aim to promote well-being for those with dementia living in long-term care settings

Protocol for collaboration between the National Genebank and Community Seed Banks

In recent years, national genebanks of some countries (e.g. Bhutan, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa and Uganda) have started to collaborate with community seed banks on the important task of conservation of crop (and tree) varieties. This collaboration has taken place in informal ways, in the form of participation in meetings and gatherings, seed and food fairs and through a number of joint activities, including the establishment of community seed banks and related (capacity development) activities. As far as is known, no formal agreements have been made/signed to structure, monitor and evaluate the collaboration in a more rigorous manner. Based on interactions among professionals from various countries who support community seed banks, it was decided to develop a generic collaboration protocol that could help shape the collaboration process in countries where this has not yet taken place or to solidify the process in countries where this is already happening. The protocol document includes chapters (articles) on the roles of the national genebank; the roles of community seed banks; principles of collaboration; activities that can be done together and rules and regulations for the collaboration. It benefitted from the inputs of many partners in Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe and from the long community seed bank working experience of staff of Bioversity International, now the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT

PrEP in Europe - expectations, opportunities and barriers

INTRODUCTION: In contrast to the global trend showing a decline in new HIV infections, the number reported in the World Health Organization (WHO) region of Europe is increasing. Health systems are disparate, but even countries with free access to screening and treatment observe continuing high rates of new infections in key populations, notably men who have sex with men (MSM). Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is only available in France. This commentary describes the European epidemics and healthcare settings where PrEP could be delivered, how need might be estimated for MSM and the residual barriers to access. DISCUSSION: Health systems and government commitment to HIV prevention and care, both financial and political, differ considerably between the countries that make up Europe. A common feature is that funds for prevention are a small fraction of funds for care. Although care is generally good, access is limited in the middle-income countries of Eastern Europe and central Asia, and only 19% of people living with HIV received antiretroviral therapy in 2014. It is challenging to motivate governments or civil society to implement PrEP in the context of this unmet treatment need, which is driven by limited national health budgets and diminishing assistance from foreign aid. The high-income countries of Western Europe have hesitated to embrace PrEP for different reasons, initially due to key gaps in the evidence. Now that PrEP has been shown to be highly effective in European MSM in two randomized controlled trials, it is clear that the major barrier is the cost of the drug which is still on patent, although inadequate health systems and diminishing investment in civil society are also key challenges to overcome. CONCLUSIONS: The momentum to implement PrEP in European countries is increasing and provides a welcome opportunity to expand and improve clinical services and civil society support focused on HIV and related infections including other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections

Donor power and the news:The influence of foundation funding on international public service journalism

How does donor funding affect the independence, role-perceptions and ideology of the journalism it supports? We begin to answer this increasingly important but under-researched question with a year-long case study of the humanitarian newswire IRIN as it transitioned from being funded by the United Nations to a private foundation, run by a Malaysian billionaire. Using content analysis, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic research we document the changes that occurred in IRIN’s outputs, target audience and public service values and the complex interplay of influences which produced these changes. We find that, in this case, donor power operated entirely indirectly and always in concert with the dominant professional values within IRIN. In doing so, this case study highlights the importance of journalistic agency and contextual variables in the journalist-donor relationship, as well as the potential significance of contradictory dynamics. We also use this case to test whether Benson, Hesserus and Sedel’s model of media owner power can help to explain the workings of donor power

A review of population-based prevalence studies of physical activity in adults in the Asia-Pacific region

Background: Physical activity (PA) surveillance is an important component of non-communicable disease risk factor monitoring, and occurs through national and international surveillance systems. This review identifies population PA estimates for adults in the Asia-Pacific region, and examines variation in trends and prevalence rates obtained using different PA measures.Methods: Data were obtained from a MEDLINE search; World Health Organization&rsquo;s Global Health Infobase; Government websites and reference lists of relevant papers. Inclusion criteria included: national studies or those reporting large scale population-level data; data published from 2000 to 2010 and trend data prior; sample sizes over n = 1000, or fewer subjects in small nations.Results: In total, 56 population surveys from 29 Asia-Pacific countries were identified. Data on &lsquo;sufficient physical activity&rsquo; amongst adults were available from 45 studies (80%), with estimates ranging from 7% to 93% (median 62%, inter-quartile range 40%-85%). For 14 countries, estimates of &lsquo;sufficient activity&rsquo; were documented in multiple surveys using different methods, with the largest variation from 18% to 92% in Nepal. Median or mean METminutes/ day, reported in 20 studies, ranged from 6 to 1356. Serial trend data were available for 11 countries (22%), for periods spanning 2-10 years. Of these, five countries demonstrated increases in physical activity over time, four demonstrated decreases and three showed no changes.Conclusions: Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region collect population-level PA data. This review highlights differences in estimates within and between countries. Some differences may be real, others due to variation in the PA questions asked and survey methods used. Use of standardized protocols and measures, and combined reporting of data are essential goals of improved international PA surveillance.<br /

Systematic review of the uptake and design of action research in published nursing research, 2000-2005

Action research (AR) is promoted for health care development. A systematic review was undertaken to gain insight into the uptake and designs of practice-based AR. Empirical research papers from 2000 to 2005 were extracted from CINAHL, MEDLINE and British Nursing Index, and two specialist AR journals. The initial search identified 335 papers: 38% were AR (20% were phenomenology; 32% ethnography; 10% randomised-controlled trials). Further filtering produced 62 AR papers for detailed analysis. Eighty-seven per cent of AR studies involved ‘organisational/professional development’, or ‘educational’ settings; only 13% were directly ‘clinical’. Practitioners were the main participants in 90% of studies. Seventy-two per cent of all participant groups were rated ‘active’ in the research process, yet 70% of first (lead) authors were from an academic institution. Patients/carers were generally passive in the research process and absent from the authorship. Ninety per cent of studies used two or more methods, predominantly qualitative. Forty-four per cent of articles identified external funding sources, relatively high for nursing research. Participatory AR has a strong identity in practice-based research, with a diversity of methods. The focus reflects that of nursing research generally. A high level of participation by practitioners is evident but with little equity in authorship. Service user/carer involvement should be given more prominence by researchers

iTEC: conceptualising, realising and recognising pedagogical and technological innovation in European classrooms

Innovation, a complex concept, underpinned a four-year pan-European research project designed to increase the effective use of technology in school classrooms. This article revisits evaluation data collected during the project and explores the challenges of conceptualising, realising and researching ‘innovation’. The authors describe how innovation was conceptualised, highlighting key issues, not all of which could be resolved in the project. The development of an approach to support teachers to change their practices facilitated the realisation of innovation in the classroom. This approach, through which researchers and national pedagogical coordinators worked with teachers to develop their teaching and learning practices with technology in potentially innovative ways, is outlined. Case study data are then used to exemplify how teachers and other stakeholders applied this approach and how they perceived innovation in practice within their own countries. Through a discussion of these cases, the article highlights the challenge of defining innovation in different country settings and, in turn, the complexity of identifying its occurrence. It concludes by proposing the next steps for similar research endeavours

Democratic experimentation in early childhood education

Qualifications of the early years workforce are a salient predictors of quality and therefore of children’s outcomes. International reports advise that a majority of staff is trained at Bachelor’s levels and rank countries according to this criterion. There is fewer consensus on what this professionalism should be. In a majority of countries, large numbers of professionals are untrained, unqualified and sometimes invisible in the official reports. Many of these unqualified “assistants” take up crucial “care” tasks, while the teacher’s tasks are defined as “education”. The separation between care and education occurs in split systems as well as in systems where education and care are supposed to be integrated. In addition, the growing diversity of families challenges our preconceived ideas about “the good life” for children. These observations urge us to rethink professionalism in terms of reflexivity and the capacity of co-constructing pedagogy with parents and children. A case study in Ghent shows how low qualified professionals develop research capacities. The analysis of their experience suggests that “learning” may be less a quality of the individual than a quality of the systemic relationships that are build in the teams as well as in the interaction between teams and their social contexts

Cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent road traffic injuries in low- and middle-income countries: A literature review

© 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Objective: The objective of this study was to identify, critically appraise, summarize, and synthesize evidence from cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) of interventions aimed at preventing road traffic injuries (RTIs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by age group and road users targeted. Methods: A search strategy was applied to 12 electronic databases for studies published between May 2002 and August 2015 that met prespecified inclusion criteria. Additional studies were identified by contacting authors and searching bibliographies. Included studies were critically appraised against published criteria and a narrative synthesis was conducted including a use of the strength of evidence criteria. Results: Five studies were included in the final review that reported 9 interventions. Only 2 out of 9 interventions (drink-drive legislation with enforcement via breath testing campaign and combined interventions for reducing RTIs) showed moderate evidence of being cost-effective, whereas the evidence of cost-effectiveness of other interventions was weak. Only 2 interventions (bicycle and motorcycle helmet use legislation and enforcement) were explicitly targeted to children, young people and vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. The cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent RTIs in LMICs ranged from US$4.14 per disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted for building speed bumps at the most dangerous junctions that caused 10$3,403 per DALYs averted for legislation and enforcement of helmet use by motorcyclists in the World Health Organization (WHO) sub-Saharan Africa region. Conclusions: Evidence of cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent RTIs in LMICs is limited, particularly for children, young people, and vulnerable road users. Evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a larger number of possible road safety interventions in a variety of LMIC settings is warranted to generate the evidence base for effective traffic injury prevention programs