Pastoral care in psychiatric hospitals: an approach based on some of the insights and methods of liberation theology

In this work some of the insights and methods of a particular form of political theology, liberation theology, are used as a basis for constructing a critique of a specific type of pastoral care, that undertaken in English and Welsh psychiatric hospitals.In the first part of the thesis the background, character and method of liberation theology are described. A 'methodological spiral' based on, and integrating, some of the insights and methods of liberation theology is outlined. This determines the rest of the work. It requires that the socio-political factors surrounding pastoral care should be thoroughly explored using the insights of the social sciences, and that particular attention should be paid throughout to matters of injustice, inequality and impotence before pastoral care and its political significance is assessed and suggestions are made for its re-orientation.The psychiatric hospital and socio-political factors affecting its contemporary functioning and the lives of those living or working within it is the focus of the next part. The evolution of the psychiatric hospital is considered and its contemporary goals and organisations are described. A staff/patient divide is identified and patient and staff groups and relevant socio-political factors affecting them and their mutual interaction are surveyed. An examination of some models of mental disorder and modes of treatment and their socio¬ political implications is undertaken. Finally, some of the problems of the contemporary psychiatric hospital are outlined and the future of this institution is discussed. It is concluded that socio-political factors play a large part in the functioning of the psychiatric hospital and that the inequalities and injustices revealed in the foregoing analysis can contribute to human suffering.Eileen Witts has worked long and very hard to transform my original manuscript into a legible document. Thanks are hardly adequate as a tribute to her industry and perseverance.In the light of these findings, the final part is concerned with an examination of the practice and ideology of pastoral care in the psychiatric hospital. The role of the chaplain in the hospital is described. Socio-political awareness among chaplains is assessed and found to be minimal. A Marxist analysis of the role of the chaplain reveals a mainly conservative function. Turning to the wider pastoral care tradition of the Church, it is argued that the socio¬ political dimension is not incompatible with the essential nature of pastoral care and that it should on occasion stand at the centre of this activity. In conclusion, some principles orientating pastoral care in psychiatric hospitals towards socio-political awareness and commitment are outlined

Prospects for flourishing in contemporary health care

This special issue of Health Care Analysis originated in an conference, held in Birmingham in 2014, and organised by the group Think about Health. We introduce the issue by briefly reviewing the understandings of the concept of ‘flourishing’, and introducing the contributory papers, before offering some reflections on the remaining issues that reflection on flourishing poses for health care provision

Flourishing in health care

The purpose of this paper is to offer an account of ‘flourishing’ that is relevant to health care provision, both in terms of the flourishing of the individual patient and carer, and in terms of the flourishing of the caring institution. It is argued that, unlike related concepts such as ‘happiness’, ‘well-being’ or ‘quality of life’, ‘flourishing’ uniquely has the power to capture the importance of the vulnerability of human being. Drawing on the likes of Heidegger and Nussbaum, it is argued that humans are at once beings who are autonomous and thereby capable of making sense of their lives, but also subject to the contingencies of their bodies and environments. To flourish requires that one engages, imaginatively and creatively, with those contingencies. The experience of illness, highlighting the vulnerability of the human being, thereby becomes an important experience, stimulating reflection in order to make sense of one’s life as a narrative. To flourish, it is argued, is to tell a story of one’s life, realistically engaging with vulnerability and suffering, and thus creating a framework through which one can meaningful and constructively go on with one’s life

How affordable is affordable housing?

At the end of 2015 Flagship Group commissioned the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam University to assess the affordability of its housing products. The research was commissioned as it became clear that a number of external changes were likely to affect the context in which Flagship operated as well as the affordability of its housing products. These include: Welfare reform: since their election in May 2015, the Conservative Government have outlined a range of additional welfare reforms that are likely to affect the incomes of many Housing Association tenants. These include the extension of the overall benefit cap, freezes on various working age benefits and the continued roll out of Universal Credit Housing policy: the Housing and Planning Act (2016) outlined a number of changes to housing policy including the introduction of ‘pay to stay’ for social renters on higher incomes. The Act also provides funding for the extension of the Right to Buy to Housing Association tenants Governance and role of Housing Associations: the government is reassessing the governance of Housing Associations through a review of the Homes and Communities Agency. These changes provide both opportunities and challenges for Housing Associations as they assess their future roles The objectives of the research were to: Understand what rent affordability means and how it impacts on customers Identify how affordability differs by geography and key tenant characteristics Understand the impact that imminent welfare and other wider changes will have on affordability. This report provides detailed analysis of the key findings from the research. A summary analysis can be found here www.flagship-group.co.uk/research

Capping aspiration : the millennial housing challenge

Housing costs in the south east of England are unaffordable for millennials, even in social housing. And the Shared Accommodation Rate could cause severe hardship for single 16–34 year olds claiming Housing Benefit. The housing aspirations identified during the research were tempered by realism, and younger people recognised the importance of increased earnings. However, most were pessimistic about the prospects of improving their housing situation. In terms of developing viable housing offers to meet this group’s needs, housing associations are hampered by the nature of the homes they own; the procedures and protocols they share with their local authority partners in relation to allocating and managing those homes; and the impending risk of the Shared Accommodation Rate, which could make tenancies unsustainable

The Effect of Ischemic Preconditioning on Repeated Sprint Cycling Performance

Purpose: Ischemic preconditioning enhances exercise performance. We tested the hypothesis that ischemic preconditioning would improve intermittent exercise in the form of a repeated sprint test during cycling ergometry.Methods: In a single-blind, crossover study, 14 recreationally active men (mean ± SD age, 22.9 ± 3.7 yr; height, 1.80 ± 0.07 m; and mass, 77.3 ± 9.2 kg) performed twelve 6-s sprints after four 5-min periods of bilateral limb occlusion at 220 mm Hg (ischemic preconditioning) or 20 mm Hg (placebo).Results: Ischemic preconditioning resulted in a 2.4% ± 2.2%, 2.6% ± 2.7%, and 3.7% ± 2.4% substantial increase in peak power for sprints 1, 2, and 3, respectively, relative to placebo, with no further changes between trials observed for any other sprint. Similar findings were observed in the first three sprints for mean power output after ischemic preconditioning (2.8% ± 2.5%, 2.6% ± 2.5%, and 3.4% ± 2.1%, for sprints 1, 2, and 3, respectively), relative to placebo. Fatigue index was not substantially different between trials. At rest, tissue saturation index was not different between the trials. During the ischemic preconditioning/placebo stimulus, there was a -19.7% ± 3.6% decrease in tissue saturation index in the ischemic preconditioning trial, relative to placebo. During exercise, there was a 5.4% ± 4.8% greater maintenance of tissue saturation index in the ischemic preconditioning trial, relative to placebo. There were no substantial differences between trials for blood lactate, electromyography (EMG) median frequency, oxygen uptake, or rating of perceived exertion (RPE) at any time points.Conclusion: Ischemic preconditioning improved peak and mean power output during the early stages of repeated sprint cycling and may be beneficial for sprint sports

Home : no less will do - homeless people's access to the private rented sector

The research on which this report is based was carried out by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam University. It was commissioned by Crisis in response to concerns that single homeless people are finding it difficult to access the private rented sector, at a time when there is increased reliance on the sector to meet housing need. Changes introduced through the Localism Act 2011 in England, for example, allowed local authorities to discharge their homelessness duty into the private rented sector (PRS) and gave them greater power to determine who qualifies for social housing. The consequence is restricted access to social housing. In the meantime, however, the Government has introduced a raft of measures affecting the private rented sector, particularly at the low cost end of the market, focused mainly but not exclusively on changes to Housing Benefit (HB). The concern is that the combined effect of policy changes in the social and private housing markets - alongside wider tenure restructuring and market change - will leave many homeless people unable to resolve their housing problems. This study sought to unpick some of these issues, by exploring landlord views and lettings practices on the one hand, and prospective (homeless) tenants’ experiences of trying to access the sector on the other. It also explored views and experiences of private rented access schemes - schemes that seek to provide bette

Caffeine and Sprinting Performance: Dose Responses and Efficacy

The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of caffeine supplementation on sprint cycling performance and to determine if there was a dose-response effect. Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 17 well-trained men (age: 24 ± 6 years, height: 1.82 ± 0.06 m, and body mass(bm): 82.2 ± 6.9 kg) completed 7 maximal 10-second sprint trials on an electromagnetically braked cycle ergometer. Apart from trial 1 (familiarization), all the trials involved subjects ingesting a gelatine capsule containing either caffeine or placebo (maltodextrin) 1 hour before each sprint. To examine dose-response effects, caffeine doses of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mg·kg bm−1 were used. There were no significant (p ≥ 0.05) differences in baseline measures of plasma caffeine concentration before each trial (grand mean: 0.14 ± 0.28 μg·ml−1). There was, however, a significant supplement × time interaction (p < 0.001), with larger caffeine doses producing higher postsupplementation plasma caffeine levels. In comparison with placebo, caffeine had no significant effect on peak power (p = 0.11), mean power (p = 0.55), or time to peak power (p = 0.17). There was also no significant effect of supplementation on pretrial blood lactate (p = 0.58), but there was a significant time effect (p = 0.001), with blood lactate reducing over the 50 minute postsupplementation rest period from 1.29 ± 0.36 to 1.06 ± 0.33 mmol·L−1. The results of this study show that caffeine supplementation has no effect on short-duration sprint cycling performance, irrespective of the dosage used