Understanding the impact of the Cheshire Children’s Fund: Findings from 11 family case studies

The Children’s Fund was created in 2000 as part of the Government’s commitment to tackle disadvantage amongst children and young people. The aim of the Fund was to facilitate the development of more extensive and better co-ordinated early intervention services for children and young people aged 5 to 13 years who were at risk of social exclusion. Cheshire Children’s Fund, the local response to this national initiative, is guided by the Children’s Fund Partnership which is made up of representatives from local voluntary and statutory organisations. The aim of this research was to explore the impact of a number of projects which had received funding from the Cheshire Children’s Fund, specifically to learn how these projects had worked with children and families where there had been a positive outcome. The objectives of the research were to identify, for each child or family, the reasons for the provision of a service, the type of service that had been provided, and the impact that it had had on their lives. The research explored the factors that enabled a positive outcome for each family: the similarities and differences between the cases were also examined to determine whether any contributing factors were present across the services. The 11 projects were selected to cover a range of themes to reflect the breadth of the Children’s Fund work in Cheshire. They provided a range of services under the headings of crime prevention, promoting inclusion, success in schools and family support.Cheshire Children’s Fun

Emotional intelligence and its role in recruitment of nursing students

This article considers the concept of emotional intelligence and how it can be used in the recruitment and development of nursing students. The links between emotional intelligence and the qualities of compassion and caring are examined. The ethical difficulties surrounding the use of emotional intelligence tests are explored and the value of using a variety of recruitment methods is emphasised. The article suggests that emotional intelligence is an ability which may be developed through nurse education programmes, even if not fully present at interview. The contribution of service users to the recruitment of nursing students is examined, suggesting that they offer some important observations about interviewees. These observations may be more valid than the insights gained from the use of emotional intelligence tests

Postgraduate Podcasting: An innovative approach to assessment

This paper explores the use of podcasting as an innovative assessment method for a taught postgraduate module. This includes a discussion around the challenges of introducing a technology-based assessment, results from primary research undertaken with the students and reflections from the teaching team. In 2009 a new approach to assessment required the students to create and record a podcast and then produce a reflective report. These assessment methods address the criteria for 'innovative assessment' proffered by Mowl (1996:5) by aiming to produce students who are: - Highly motivated and committed - Enterprising - Equipped with a range of transferable skills - Capable of self-criticism and evaluation - Active and reactive participants in the learning process From the learning and teaching perspective we know Generation Y students expect us to use the latest technology within teaching and learning and Frand (2000) argues that students have an 'information age mindset'. Developing the skills to research, script and deliver a podcast provides an 'added-value' activity and addresses feedback from students about their concerns about too many assessed presentations and the associated 'death by PowerPoint'. Gribbins (2007:1) suggests that an advantage of podcasts is "the ability to add clarity and meaning, motivation, emotion...". However secondary research suggests that podcasts are mainly used to deliver information to students in lieu of lectures (Murphy, 2008). Whilst this can be useful, it is one-way communication. A contemporary development with similar limitations is academics' use of podcasts to deliver their feedback to students (e.g. the work of Ribchester et al., 2008). The lack of evidence on students designing and recording their own podcasts (and subsequent evaluations) provides a potentially useful opportunity for this study. Primary research was collected in the form of an online questionnaire completed by students and content analysis of students' individual reflective statements that were also part of the summative assessment. Feedback was also provided by the teaching team and technical support assistant. The results demonstrate the perceived benefits of this method of assessment and the transferable skills developed by students (for both current and future roles). The conclusions also provide a series of recommendations for educators who wish to consider the use of podcasts as an innovative form of assessment in the future

Causal mapping for evaluators

Evaluators are interested in capturing how things causally influence one another. They are also interested in capturing how stakeholders think things causally influence one another. Causal mapping - the collection, coding and visualisation of interconnected causal claims - has been used widely for several decades across many disciplines for this purpose. It makes the provenance or source of such claims explicit and provides tools for gathering and dealing with this kind of data, and for managing its Janus-like double-life: on the one hand providing information about what people believe causes what, and on the other hand preparing this information for possible evaluative judgements about what causes what. Specific reference to causal mapping in the evaluation literature is sparse, which we aim to redress here. In particular, the authors address the Janus dilemma by suggesting that causal maps can be understood neither as models of beliefs about causal pathways, nor as models of causal pathways per se, but as repositories of evidence for those pathways

Use and experiences of front-line health services amongst Black and Minority Ethnic residents of Western Cheshire

This small-scale study was designed to explore the use and experiences of front-line health services within the Western Cheshire Primary Care Trust area amongst residents belonging to black and minority ethnic groups. A qualitative approach was adopted for the study as the aim was to explore perceptions and capture experiences

Evaluation of the Indiana Child Care Financing Initiative

A research report evaluating the results of the Indiana Child Care Financing Initiative, a statewide effort to improve child care in Indiana. The report summarizes results in the areas of improving capacity, quality, and community awareness of child care issues, as well as the role of 69 local projects in initiating or expanding local partnerships focused on child care

A randomised trial comparing the clinical effectiveness of different emergency department healthcare professionals in soft tissue injury management

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of soft tissue injury management by emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs) and extended scope physiotherapists (ESPs) compared to the routine care provided by doctors in a UK emergency department (ED). Design: Randomised, pragmatic trial of equivalence. Setting: One adult ED in England. Participants: 372 patients were randomised; 126 to the ESP group, 123 to the ENP group and 123 to the doctor group. Participants were adults (older than 16 years) presenting to the ED with a peripheral soft tissue injury eligible for management by any of the three professional groups. Patients were excluded if they had any of the following: injury greater than 72 hours old; systemic disease; dislocated joints; recent surgery; unable to give informed consent (eg, dementia), open wounds; major deformities; opiate analgesia required; concurrent chest/rib injury; neurovascular deficits and associated fracture. Interventions: Patients were randomised to treatment by ESPs, ENPs or routine care provided by doctors (of all grades). Main outcome measures: Upper-limb and lower-limb functional scores, quality of life, physical well-being, preference-based health measures and the number of days off work. Results: The clinical outcomes of soft tissue injury treated by ESPs and ENPs in the ED were equivalent to routine care provided by doctors. Conclusions: As all groups were clinically equivalent it is other factors such as cost, workforce sustainability, service provision and skill mix that become important. This result validates the role of the ENP, which is becoming established as an integral part of minor injuries care, and demonstrates that the ESP should be considered as part of the clinical skill mix without detriment to outcomes. ISRCTN-ISRCTN trials register number: 70891354