More and Better Jobs in Home-Care Services

[Excerpt] This study examines recruitment and retention measures in community-based care and support services for adults with disabilities and health problems. It focuses on 10 EU Member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. It examines 30 case studies from these countries, analysing initiatives that were successful either in creating more jobs in the provision of health and social care for adults in the community or in improving the quality of jobs, with the aim of both attracting new recruits and retaining existing staff

Developing an online knowledge sharing platform and community of practice for health professionals: Experiences from C-WorKS developed in North East England and Yorkshire during COVID-19

AbstractBackgroundAlthough knowledge sharing online has been recognised as an important strategy for health professionals to apply research findings to their practice, limited research exists on how to develop and implement these platforms to help facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing.ObjectivesThis study evaluated an online knowledge sharing platform and community of practice developed in the North East of England and Yorkshire during COVID-19 to support UK health and care professionals to reduce the impact of the wider consequences of COVID-19.MethodsSemi-structured interviews with stakeholders (n = 8) and users of C-WorKS (n = 13), followed by an online survey (n = 19) among a wider group of users to analyse knowledge use.ResultsInterview and survey findings highlighted several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to support future development of online knowledge sharing platforms.DiscussionOnline knowledge sharing supports six ‘pillars’ of successful research and innovation partnerships. This requires distributed forms of leadership and linking of different knowledge sharing strategies, and careful combination of platforms with communities of practice.ConclusionOnline knowledge sharing provides pragmatic and timely strategies for health professionals in the UK to apply research evidence to their practice. Our study provides generalisable, practical insights in how to develop and implement a knowledge sharing platform

Co-production in local government:process, codification and capacity building of new knowledge in collective reflection spaces. Workshops findings from a UK mixed methods study

Background: Co-production of research evidence is valued by local government to improve effective decision-making about public services in times of austerity. However, underlying structural issues of power (so-called ‘dark shadows of co production’) challenge this ambition with limited evidence on how to embed research use sustainably. In this paper we reflect on mechanisms for increasing co-production in local government. Methods: This paper presents findings from a Health Foundation funded research project that explored how a culture of evidence use to improve population health could be embedded in UK local government. Five linked work packages were undertaken using mixed methods. In this paper, we report the views of UK local authority staff who participated in four workshops (n=54), informed by a rapid literature review and an online scoping survey. Results: We identified five themes that facilitate public health evidence use in local government: 1) new governance arrangements to integrate national and local policies , 2) codifying research evidence through local system-wide approaches and 3) ongoing evaluation of programmes , and 4) overcoming political and cultural barriers by increasing absorptive capacity of Local Authorities to embed co-produced knowledge in their cognitive structures. This requires adaptive governance through relationship building between academic researchers and Local Authority staff and shared understanding of fragmented local policy making, which are supported by 5) collective spaces for reflection within local government. Conclusions: Creating collective spaces for reflection in between government departments allows for iterative, interactive processes of co-production with external partners that support emergence of new governance structures to socially action the co produced knowledge in context and build capacity for sustained evidence use

Performing collaborative research: a dramaturgical reflection on an institutional knowledge brokering service in the North East of England

Background: To increase the uptake of research evidence in practice, responsive research services have been developed within universities that broker access to academic expertise for practitioners and decision-makers. However, there has been little examination of the process of knowledge brokering within these services. This paper reflects on this process within the AskFuse service, which was launched in June 2013 by Fuse, the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, in North East England. The paper outlines the challenges and opportunities faced by both academics and health practitioners collaborating through the service. Methods: The authors reflected on conversations between the AskFuse Research Manager and policy and practice partners accessing the service between June 2013 and March 2017. Summary notes of these conversations, including emails and documents relating to over 240 enquiries, have been analysed using an auto-ethnographic approach. Findings: We identified five challenges to knowledge brokering in an institutional service, namely length of brokerage time required, limits to collaboration, lack of resources, brokering research in a changing system, and multiple types of knowledge. Conclusions: To understand and overcome some of the identified challenges, we employ Goffman's dramaturgical perspective and argue for making better use of the distinction between front and back stages in the knowledge brokering process. We emphasise the importance of back stages for defusing destructive information that could discredit collaborative performances

Thuis voelen in de buurt: een opgave voor stedelijke vernieuwing

Public administration; Sociolog

Branding: Wijkidentiteit als aangrijpingspunt voor stedelijke vernieuwing

In this article the authors explore the potential of the popular concept of identity branding for urban renewal and urban development. They describe the case of a neighbourhood in Ede, where branding was thought to have been very successful by all those involved. However, a more in depth analysis shows that the assigned identity of the neighbourhood did not play any role in this success. In an effort to explain this discrepancy, the authors argue that branding was not directed at the symbolic space of the neighbourhood, but merely at the social and physical space. Drawing on theoretical literature on identity construction, the authors end with some suggestions to enhance a more fruitful use of the symbolic space in urban renewal and urban development

Real-Time PET Imaging for Range Verification of Helium Radiotherapy

Real-time range verification of particle beams is important for optimal exploitation of the tissue-sparing advantages of particle therapy. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) of the beam-induced positron emitters such as 15O (T1/2 = 122 s) and 11C (T1/2 = 1223 s) has been used for monitoring of therapy in both clinical and preclinical studies. However, the half-lives of these nuclides preclude prompt feedback, i.e., on a sub-second timescale, on dose delivery. The in vivo verification technique relying on the in-beam PET imaging of very short-lived positron emitters such as 12N (T1/2 = 11 ms), recently proposed and investigated in feasibility experiments with a proton beam, provides millimeter precision in range measurement a few tens of milliseconds after the start of an irradiation. With the increasing interest in helium therapy, it becomes relevant to study the feasibility of prompt feedback using PET also for helium beams. A recent study has demonstrated the production of very short-lived nuclides (T1/2 = 10 ms attributed to 12N and/or 13O) during irradiation of water and graphite with helium ions. This work is aimed at investigating the range verification potential of imaging these very short-lived nuclides. PMMA targets were irradiated with a 90 AMeV 4He pencil beam consisting of a series of pulses of 10 ms beam-on and 90 ms beam-off. Two modules of a modified Siemens Biograph mCT PET scanner (21 × 21 cm2), installed 25 cm apart, were used to image the beam-induced PET activity during the beam-off periods. For the irradiation of PMMA, we identify the very short-lived activity earlier observed to be 12N (T1/2 = 11.0 ms). The range precision determined from the 12N activity profile that is measured after just one beam pulse was found to be 9.0 and 4.1 mm (1σ) with 1.3 × 1074He ions per pulse and 6.6 × 1074He ions per pulse, respectively. When considering 4.0 × 1074He ions, which is about the intensity of the most intense distal layer spot in a helium therapy plan, a range verification precision in PMMA of 5.7 mm (1σ) can be realized. The range precision scales approximately with the inverse square root of the number of 4He ions, i.e., the relative statistical accuracy of the number of coincidence events. Thus, when summing data over about 10 distal layer spots, this study shows good prospects for obtaining 1.8 mm (1σ) precision in range verification, within 50 ms after the start of a helium irradiation by in-beam PET imaging (scanner 29% solid angle) of 12N

Mobilising knowledge in public health:Reflections on ten years of collaborative working in fuse, the centre for translational research in public health

Background: Fuse was established in 2008 as one of five public health research centres of excellence in the UK funded by the UK Clinical Research Centres collaboration. The centre works across five universities in the North East of England. This is an innovative collaboration and enables the pooling of research expertise. A prime focus of the centre is not just the production of excellent research, but also its translation into usable evidence, a dual focus that remains uncommon. Aims/objectives: This practice paper outlines Fuse's approach to knowledge exchange (KE) by reflecting on ten years of collaborative research between academics and policy and practice partners in the North East of England. We will describe the principles and assumption underlying our approach and outline a conceptual model of four steps in Fuse's KE process to develop collaborative research and achieve meaningful impact on policy and practice. Key conclusions: Our model describes a fluid and dynamic approach to knowledge exchange broken down in four steps in the KE process that are concurrent, iterative and vary in intensity over time: awareness raising; knowledge sharing; making evidence fit for purpose; and supporting uptake and implementation of evidence. These steps support the relational context of KE. Relationship building and maintenance is essential for all stages of KE to develop trust and explore the meaning and usefulness of evidence in a multi-directional information flow that supports the co-creating and application of evidence

How do public health professionals view and engage with research? A qualitative interview study and stakeholder workshop engaging public health professionals and researchers.

Abstract Background With increasing financial pressures on public health in England, the need for evidence of high relevance to policy is now stronger than ever. However, the ways in which public health professionals (PHPs) and researchers relate to one another are not necessarily conducive to effective knowledge translation. This study explores the perspectives of PHPs and researchers when interacting, with a view to identifying barriers to and opportunities for developing practice that is effectively informed by research. Methods This research focused on examples from two responsive research schemes, which provide university-based support for research-related enquiries from PHPs: the NIHR SPHR Public Health Practitioner Evaluation Scheme1 and the responsive research service AskFuse2. We examined enquiries that were submitted to both between 2013 and 2015, and purposively selected eight enquiries for further investigation by interviewing the PHPs and researchers involved in these requests. We also identified individuals who were eligible to make requests to the schemes but chose not to do so. In-depth interviews were conducted with six people in relation to the PHPES scheme, and 12 in relation to AskFuse. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic framework analysis. Verification and extension of the findings were sought in a stakeholder workshop. Results PHPs recognised the importance of research findings for informing their practice. However, they identified three main barriers when trying to engage with researchers: 1) differences in timescales; 2) limited budgets; and 3) difficulties in identifying appropriate researchers. The two responsive schemes addressed some of these barriers, particularly finding the right researchers to work with and securing funding for local evaluations. The schemes also supported the development of new types of evidence. However, other barriers remained, such as differences in timescales and the resources needed to scale-up research. Conclusions An increased mutual awareness of the structures and challenges under which PHPs and researchers work is required. Opportunities for frequent and meaningful engagement between PHPs and researchers can help to overcome additional barriers to co-production of evidence. Collaborative models, such as the use of researchers embedded in practice might facilitate this; however, flexible research funding schemes are needed to support these models