Measuring unmet need for social care among older people

Recent spending cuts in the area of adult social care raise policy concerns about the proportion of older people whose need for social care is not met. Such concerns are emphasised in the context of population ageing and other demographic changes. This briefing summarises research published in Population Trends no. 145 which explores the concept of ‘unmet need’ for Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), using data on the receipt of support (informal, state or privately paid for). The results show that each of the three different support sectors tend to provide help for different kinds of need, and that worryingly, there is a significant level of ‘unmet need’ for certain activities

Temne divination: The management of secrecy and revelation.

Divination is approached as a means of defining and redefining people, events and cosmological beliefs through the management of agreement. Historically, the introduction of Islam and the assimilation of Manding and Fula 'strangers' into influential positions among the Temne was facilitated by Muslim diviners and charm-makers. In Temne thought, power and truth come primarily from outside the social realm and are channelled and controlled through the selective use of secrecy. Distinctions between the principal social categories, especially those of men and women, are also maintained through areas of secrecy. However, since secrecy can also conceal dangerous forces, particularly those of witchcraft and adultery, it is regarded as a potential threat as well as a necessity. Divination brings the hidden into the open, but the amount that it reveals is determined by two factors. Firstly, the numerous methods of divination used by the Temne are divided into those which are private, semi-private and public, the majority being private. Secondly, divinatory speech varies in its degree of specificity; in private divination diviners use restricted codes, while in public divination they use elaborated codes. Being mainly private, divination is regarded with considerable suspicion as well as respect. Diviners are very ambivalent figures, admired for their vision, power and access to 'truth', but suspected of using this power for destructive purposes through witchcraft and the use of bad medicine. Women form the majority of diviners' clients and are themselves regarded with ambivalence by men, who see them as necessary and valuable, particularly as childbearers, but also as potentially destructive through their possible adultery. Men say that women are excessively secretive, but women regard their secrecy positively and see it as essential for their protection. Diviners diagnose problems in terms of breaches in relations between people and between people and spirits or ancestors. By controlling what is revealed and what remains concealed, divination is able to either maintain or threaten the secrecy marking the division between men and women and between other social and cosmological categories, thus managing the definition of 'reality' in particular situations

Measuring unmet need for social care amongst older people

Recent spending cuts in the area of adult social care raise policy concerns about the proportion of older people whose need for social care is not being met. Such concerns are emphasised in the context of population ageing and other demographic changes. For example, the increasing proportion of the population aged 75 and over places greater pressure on formal and informal systems of care and support provision, while changes in the living arrangements of older people may affect the supply of informal care within the household. This article explores the concept of "unmet need" for support in relation to specific Activities of Daily Living [ADLs] and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living [IADLs], using data on the receipt of support [informal, formal state or formal paid] from the General Household Survey, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the British Household Panel Survey. The results show that different kinds of need tend to be supported by particular sources of care, and that there is a significant level of unmet need for certain activities

Insect pollination as an agronomic input: strategies for oilseed rape production

1.Ecological intensification involves the incorporation of biodiversity based ecosystem service management into farming systems in order to make crop production more sustainable and reduce reliance on anthropogenic inputs, including fertiliser and insecticides. 2.The benefits of effectively managing ecosystem services such as pollination and pest regulation for improved yields have been demonstrated in a number of studies, however recent evidence indicates that these benefits interact with conventional agronomic inputs such as fertiliser and irrigation. Despite the important contribution of biodiversity‐based ecosystem services to crop production their management is rarely considered in combination with more conventional agronomic inputs. 3.This study combines a number of complementary approaches to evaluate the impact of insect pollination on yield parameters of Brassica napus and how this interacts with a key agronomic input, fertiliser. We incorporate data from a flight cage trial and multiple field studies to quantify the relationships between yield parameters to determine whether insufficient insect pollination may limit crop yield. 4.We demonstrate that, by producing larger seeds and more pods, B. napus has the capacity to modulate investment across yield parameters and buffer sub‐optimal inputs of fertiliser or pollination. However, only when fertiliser is not limiting can the crop benefit from insect pollination, with yield increases due to insect pollination only seen under high fertiliser application. 5.A non‐linear relationship between seed set per pod and yield per plant was found, with increases in seed set between 15 and 25 seeds per pod resulting in a consistent increase in crop yield. The capacity for the crop to compensate for lower seed set due to sub‐optimal pollination is therefore limited. 6.Synthesis and applications. Oilseed rape has the capacity to compensate for sub‐optimal agronomic or ecosystem service inputs although this has limitations. Insect pollination can increase seed set and so there are production benefits to be gained through effective management of wild pollinators or by utilising managed species. Our study demonstrates however that increased insect pollination cannot simply replace other inputs, and if resources such as fertiliser are limiting, then yield potential cannot be reached. We highlight the need to consider insect pollination as an agronomic input to be effectively managed in agricultural systems

Evaluating effective public engagement:local stories from a global network of IPCC scientists

An integral part of the communications strategy for Working Group I (WGI) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is to support its authors, in all geographical regions, to engage a diverse range of audiences with climate change. Building upon a Communications Handbook for IPCC authors and a bespoke photo library, both produced by Climate Outreach for WGI in 2018 ahead of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C, this paper describes the findings of a global survey that gathered practical examples of efforts by WGI authors to engage non-specialist audiences around the world with climate change. A total of 107 survey responses from 44 countries were evaluated against a theoretical framework outlining key principles of effective public engagement drawn from the social science literature. Ideas for how climate scientists can enhance their communication efforts are discussed, illustrated with case studies drawn from the survey responses showing WGI authors using creative techniques to engage people with climate change, including in Senegal, Argentina, India, the Bahamas and Indonesia. This is followed by guidance for the IPCC on developing communications strategies in a way that gives climate scientists confidence to communicate their work and promotes evidence-based techniques. By critically reflecting on the communication practices within the IPCC’s global author network, the paper provides insights and recommendations on how to continue to strengthen the connection between the theory and practice of climate science communication

Mass-flowering crops have a greater impact than semi-natural habitat on crop pollinators and pollen deposition

Context: Maximising insect pollination of mass-flowering crops is a widely-discussed approach to sustainable agriculture. Management actions can target landscape-scale semi-natural habitat, cropping patterns or field-scale features, but little is known about their relative effectiveness. Objective: To test how landscape composition (area of mass-flowering crops and semi-natural habitat) and field-scale habitat (margins and hedges) affect pollinator species richness, abundance, and pollen deposition within crop fields. Methods: We surveyed all flower visitors (Diptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera) in oilseed rape fields and related them to landscape composition and field features. Flower visitors were classified as bees, non-bee pollinators and brassica specialists. Total pollen deposition by individual taxa was estimated using single visit pollen deposition on stigmas combined with insect abundance. Results: The area of mass-flowering crop had a negative effect on the species richness and abundance of bees in fields, but not other flower visitors. The area of semi-natural habitat in the surrounding landscape had a positive effect on bees, but was not as important as the area of mass-flowering crop. Taxonomic richness and abundance varied significantly between years for non-bee pollinators. Greater cover of mass-flowering crops surrounding fields had a negative effect on pollen deposition, but only when non-bee pollinator numbers were reduced. Conclusions: Management choices that result in landscape homogenisation, such as large areas of mass-flowering crops, may reduce pollination services by reducing the numbers of bees visiting fields. Non-bee insect pollinators may buffer these landscape effects on pollen deposition, and management to support their populations should be considered

Using problem formulation for fit‐for‐purpose pre‐market environmental risk assessments of regulated stressors

Pre‐market/prospective environmental risk assessments (ERAs) contribute to risk analyses performed to facilitate decisions about the market introduction of regulated stressors. Robust ERAs begin with an explicit problem formulation, which involves among other steps: (1) formally devising plausible pathways to harm that describe how the deployment of a regulated stressor could be harmful; (2) formulating risk hypotheses about the likelihood and severity of such events; (3) identifying the information that will be useful to test the risk hypotheses; and (4) developing a plan to acquire new data for hypothesis testing should tests with existing information be insufficient for decision‐making. Here, we apply problem formulation to the assessment of possible adverse effects of RNA interference‐based insecticidal genetically modified (GM) plants, GM growth hormone coho salmon, gene drive‐modified mosquitoes and classical biological weed control agents on non‐target organisms in a prospective manner, and of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees in a retrospective manner. In addition, specific considerations for the problem formulation for the ERA of nanomaterials and for landscape‐scale population‐level ERAs are given. We argue that applying problem formulation to ERA maximises the usefulness of ERA studies for decision‐making, through an iterative process, because: (1) harm is defined explicitly from the start; (2) the construction of risk hypotheses is guided by policy rather than an exhaustive attempt to address any possible differences; (3) existing information is used effectively; (4) new data are collected with a clear purpose; (5) risk is characterised against well‐defined criteria of hypothesis corroboration or falsification; and (6) risk assessment conclusions can be communicated clearly. However, problem formulation is still often hindered by the absence of clear policy goals and decision‐making criteria (e.g. definition of protection goals and what constitutes harm) that are needed to guide the interpretation of scientific information. We therefore advocate further dialogue between risk assessors and risk managers to clarify how ERAs can address policy goals and decision‐making criteria. Ideally, this dialogue should take place for all classes of regulated stressors, as this can promote alignment and consistency on the desired level of protection and maximum tolerable impacts across regulated stressors

Turning evidence into recommendations: Protocol of a study guideline development groups

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health care practice based on research evidence requires that evidence is synthesised, and that recommendations based on this evidence are implemented. It also requires an intermediate step: translating synthesised evidence into practice recommendations. There is considerable literature on evidence synthesis and implementation, but little on how guideline development groups (GDGs) produce recommendations. This is a complex process, with many influences on communication and decision-making, <it>e.g</it>., the quality of evidence, methods of presentation, practical/resource constraints, individual values, professional and scientific interests, social and psychological processes. To make this process more transparent and potentially effective, we need to understand these influences. Psychological theories of decision-making and social influence provide a framework for this understanding.</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>This study aims to investigate the processes by which GDGs formulate recommendations, drawing on psychological theories of decision-making and social influence. The findings will potentially inform the further evolution of GDG methods, such as choice of members and procedures for presenting evidence, conducting discussion and formulating recommendations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Longitudinal observation of the meetings of three National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) GDGs, one from each of acute, mental health and public health, will be tape recorded and transcribed. Interviews with a sample of GDG members at the beginning, middle, and end of the GDG's work will be recorded and transcribed. Site documents including relevant e-mail interchanges, GDG meeting minutes, and stakeholders' responses to the drafts of the recommendations will be collected. Data will be selected for analysis if they refer to either evidence or recommendations; the focus is on "hot spots", <it>e.g</it>., dilemmas, conflicts, and uncertainty. Data will be analysed thematically and by content analysis, drawing on psychological theories of decision-making and social influence.</p