Gender Differences in Visuospatial Abilities and Complex Mathematical Problem Solving

Mathematical problem-solving and spatial visualization are areas in which performance has been shown to vary with sex. This article describes the impact of gender on spatial relations measured in 331 secondary school students (202 males, 129 females), 145 (105 males, 40 females) of whom had been selected to participate in a mathematical talent stimulation project after passing a complex problem-solving test. In the two tests administered, the Differential Aptitude Tests-Space Relations (DAT-SR) and the Primary Mental Abilities-Space Relations (PMA-SR), performance was assessed on the grounds of both absolute scores and the ratio to the number of items answered. The students participating in the talent program earned higher scores on both tests, although no interaction was identified between mathematical abilities and gender in connection with the differences in spatial habilities observed. In PMA-SR, boys answered more items and scored higher, whereas in DAT-SR girls tended to omit more items. None of the indicators studied exhibited differences between the sexes in both tests and in some cases the differences in the absolute values of the indicators were absent when expressed as ratios

The reference site collaborative network of the european innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing

Seventy four Reference Sites of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) have been recognised by the European Commission in 2016 for their commitment to excellence in investing and scaling up innovative solutions for active and healthy ageing. The Reference Site Collaborative Network (RSCN) brings together the EIP on AHA Reference Sites awarded by the European Commission, and Candidate Reference Sites into a single forum. The overarching goals are to promote cooperation, share and transfer good practice and solutions in the development and scaling up of health and care strategies, policies and service delivery models, while at the same time supporting the action groups in their work. The RSCN aspires to be recognized by the EU Commission as the principal forum and authority representing all EIP on AHA Reference Sites. The RSCN will contribute to achieve the goals of the EIP on AHA by improving health and care outcomes for citizens across Europe, and the development of sustainable economic growth and the creation of jobs

Collaborating for children's mental health : a study of the experiences of health and social care practitioners and managers working within different models of service integration

The fragmented history of collaboration across health and social care is an acknowledged problem in public services in the United Kingdom. For several decades Government policy documents have recommended improved collaboration to tackle problems associated with people's satisfaction with the quality of public services, the perceived lack of communication across agencies and service inefficiency as a result of the duplication of activities.Too often the establishment of collaborative structures and processes are mistaken for the realisation of collaborative activity, overlooking the need to nurture identity, relationships and interdependence. This thesis adopts a qualitative methodology to explore the experiences of health and social care practitioners and managers working within interagency and inter-professional teams providing family support and guidance in relation to children's mental health and emotional well being.There is limited knowledge of the complexity of interagency and inter-professional relationships and the conceptual frameworks that could improve our understanding of the behaviours of people working within, and across, health and social care. This research focuses upon understanding how collaboration is organised at the level of teams, concentrating on models and levels of team integration. Such an approach allows the study of how interagency and inter-professional teams are structured and any impact upon the nature and development of relationships between the people working within such environments. In so doing, this research connects conceptual frameworks located within both organisational and social theories.This thesis identified many of the benefits and challenges of integrated team working and concluded that higher levels of satisfaction were experienced by people working within more integrated team structures. The relevance of social identity theory is discussed as managers' and practitioners' experiences were explained as an expression of their need to belong to something which could take the form of an agency, a team and/or a profession. This suggests that, if the public policy goals of collaboration are to be realised, there is a need for practical strategies that pay attention to nurturing relationships, interdependence and building positive social identities within the workplace. Indeed the history of failed collaboration might be explained by a neglect of the people issues