Personal health budgets: a new way of accessing complementary therapies?

The popularity and use of complementary and alternative therapies and medicines (CAM) has remained high in the UK and many other countries over at least the last two decades. Access to such modalities via publicly funded health and welfare systems has remained very limited over the same period. Personal health budgets, designed to offer significant control and personal choice over health care, offer a potential mechanism for some individuals to access publicly funded CAM treatments more directly. This development brings into sharp focus debates about evidence based health care and conflicts between public policy which is geared towards consumer choice and public policy which is based on certain forms of scientific evidence. This paper will examine some of the arguments for allowing access to CAM via personal health budgets, and potential objections and obstacles to this

Re-thinking crisis in the digital economy: a contemporary case study of the phonographic industries in Ireland.

Many commentators and reports popularly place the record industry in an increasing state of crisis since the advent of digital copying and distribution. This thesis addresses how the interplay of technological, economic, legal and policy factors, particularly the copyright strand of intellectual property law, shape the form and extent of the Internet’s disruptive potential in the music industry. It points to significant continuities regarding the music industry in an environment where it is often regarded as experiencing turbulence and change, and in doing so the thesis challenges the form and extent of the crisis the music industry currently claims to be battling. The thesis questions the impact the internet is having on the power or role of major music companies, their revenue streams, their relationships with other actors in the music industry chain and their final consumers. The thesis further questions the extent to which the internet has evolved to realise its disruptive potential on the organisation and structure of the record industry by democratising the channels of distribution. It also serves to illuminate the impact of the internet on the role of more traditional intermediaries, particularly radio, in the circulation and promotion of music in the contemporary era. For its primary research material, the thesis draws on a series of thirty-nine interviews conducted with record industry management and personnel as well as key informants from the fields of music publishing, artist management, music retailing, radio, the music press, related industry bodies and policy fields, and other key commentators

A systematic review of homeopathic pathogenetic trials

0-090 Homeopathy, used by 500 million people worldwide according to the WHO, remains controversial. Provings, now known as Homeopathic Pathogenetic Trials ( HPTs) remain one of the foundation stones of Homeopathy. They involve the administration of substances in Homeopathic dilutions to groups of healthy people with the aim of producing pathogenic symptoms. This is the first review of HPTs which meet modern standards for trial design. A systematic review was undertaken, using MEDLINE, AMED, EMBASE , CINAHL, and HOMINFORM. From 503 papers, 11 papers covering 15 trials met the full inclusion criteria. The aim was to assess whether Homeopathic substances could produce symptoms different from those produced by placebo. Trials took place in different countries using different medicines. Outcomes were assessed by structured and unstructured diaries and questionnaires. Statistical meta-analysis was possible for two of the outcome measures: 1. A comparison of the level of symptoms pre-defined as typical of the trial medicine across the verum and placebo group and 2.A comparison of overall proving reactions in the two groups. No significant differences were found. All of the included trials were of good methodological quality in terms of standard RCT design. However they all shared a major weakness in relation to homeopathic theory. The theory suggests that only susceptible individuals will respond to a particular medicine, whether in clinical practice or in a pathogenetic trial, and that the percentage of individuals who are susceptible will be small. For such trials participants should first be screened for susceptibility before randomisation into the main trial. Otherwise trials are likely to show no difference between verum and placebo groups since the level of symptoms produced by placebo is always significant and is unlikely to be less than any real pathogenetic effects produced by the medicine in the small percentage of trial participants who are susceptible. Presenter: Jim Rogers Senior Lecture

Oral History Interview: Jim Rogers

This interview is one of a series conducted concerning West Virginia Vietnam veterans. In this interview, Dr. Jim Rogers discusses: his education and employment history; a brief section on his military training; a very detailed discussion of his involvement with Vietnam Veterans of America (which is the bulk of the interview); a discussion of Agent Orange; other Vietnam veteran organizations (such as the National League of Families); a brief section on the political situation in the Philippines at the time; a lecture & slide presentation based on his return visits to Vietnam; and other topics.https://mds.marshall.edu/oral_history/1057/thumbnail.jp

Fixed odds betting terminals and gambling related harm

This thesis explores links between fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) and ‘gambling related harm’(GRH). FOBTs are a particular type of electronic gambling machine (EGM) which was introduced in the UK in 1999. Gambling related harm is a term which relates to the adverse impacts from gambling on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, communities and society. The thesis brings together information from a variety of sources to provide a more comprehensive picture of harms which link to FOBT use. A mixed methods approach was used. The main primary research which generated new knowledge involved qualitative research with gamblers using ethnographic methods. This was complemented by a review of a wide range of sources of empirical data about the links between FOBTs and harm, and a consideration of government policy towards gambling machines since they were first introduced, including FOBTs over the past two decades. The focus of the study is on harms to individuals, although the wider impacts are also considered at a number of points throughout the study. The theoretical framework provided by actor network theory (ANT) was used as a means of examining the interactions between individuals, gambling machines, gambling environments, the gambling industry and gambling regulators. This framework was also used to help make sense of how interactions between individual problem gamblers and mutual help groups (one of the most available forms of help for problem gamblers in the UK) can facilitate recovery from gambling related harm. The ANT perspective is also useful in illustrating how the widespread availability of FOBTs gained legitimacy at a certain period, which was then weakened as a result of increasing evidence of harm. The thesis provides, for all stakeholders involved in gambling research and the development of gambling policy, a deeper understanding of the nature and scope of the harms which can result from FOBT use, how these might develop, and how they might be mitigated. In particular, the research highlights that key harms in relation to FOBT use include: violence towards machines and people; suicidal ideation; and debt. It shows that there is heterogeneity in the typology of machine gamblers. It also suggests that FOBT gambling is often a mid-point in a gambling 'career' which starts with machine gambling in childhood and ends with internet gambling. These findings provide lessons for the development of policy, research and treatment in relation to all forms of gambling. The thesis also contributes to practice. It does this by providing knowledge to those involved in helping problem gamblers about a number of specific harms that are linked to use of FOBTs, and by showing the particular benefits of Gamblers Anonymous (and to a lesser degree other sources of help) in helping people recover from gambling related harms. Finally, the thesis also makes a contribution to the academic literature by showing the application and relevance of actor network theory (ANT) for a study of machine gambling, in a more detailed manner than any previous studies of this nature.This example also suggests the usefulness of the approach for other studies of gambling. In the way that the study has melded a study of the evolution of policy with other sets of relevant data and applied ANT to the whole, this study makes a contribution by suggesting the utility of the ANT approach for policy studies

A survey of the knowledge and attitudes of care home managers in relation to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

A survey of the knowledge and attitudes of care home managers in relation to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) in one local authority area in Englan

An approach to meeting the ICT requirements of the social work degree

This presentation shows how the social work team at the University of Lincoln have worked together to ensure a model of good ICT practice in meeting the requirements of the Social Work degree. When the GSCC introduced ICT competencies, the management and assessment was left to individual institutions. Many initially chose the ECDL route or incorporated ICT criteria into assessed modules. At Lincoln neither the ECDL nor incorporation into assessed units proved sustainable in practice so an alternative approach was developed. Taking advantage of the institution’s VLE (Blackboard), an automated student-centred resource has been designed. This consists of a self-paced set of learning objects giving students control over their own learning experience. The area provides learning materials, formative interactive assessment opportunities and final summative assessments undertaken in exam conditions. Links to the Blackboard Gradebook ensure staff can see at a glance which students have certified competencies and which need to undertake further assessment. Staff can also view final ICT assessment results. In February 2009 QAA subject benchmarks for social work changed (QAA 2009) and the GSCC decided the ECDL is no longer appropriate for assessing competency. Students are now required to demonstrate a more critical understanding of the role of ICT, including an awareness of the impact of the "digital divide". Reference to the role of technology within social work in the recent Task Force Report (DCSF 2009) shows how good quality ICT supports effective professional social work practice. As the government pushed towards achieving a ‘Digital Britain’ and making explicit the links between social and digital exclusion, (DCMS 2009) then the newly qualified social worker needs to demonstrate competence with the technology and the implications of digital exclusion. The model used at Lincoln not only encourages engagement with technology and assessment of software skills but also provides an adaptable automated system for developing the prerequisite confidence and competencies required in an increasingly digital society. D.C.M.S. 2009. Digital Britain. Communities and Local Government Publications. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/5631.aspx/) D.C.S.F. 2009. Building a safe confident future; social work task force final report. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DCSF-01114-2009 Q.A.A. 2009. Code of Practice Benchmark statements for Social Work. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/statements/socialwork08.pdf