Double jeopardy : a socio-demographic profile of homeless jobseekers aged 18-35

This article reports on socio-demographic research that was undertaken as part of a broader project to improve service delivery to homeless jobseekers aged 18-35 years (Grace et 01 2005). The broader project, known as Yp4, is a randomised controlled trial of joined up services and programs for young homeless jobseekers. Yp4 is an initiative of four organisations: Hanover Welfare Services, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne Citymission and Loddon Mallee Housing Services This paper does not provide detailed information about the Yp4 trial, rather it reports on socio-demographic research undertaken to set the context in which Yp4 operates. For further details regarding Yp4 please see Horn (2004). When we set out to prepare a socio-demographic profile of homeless jobseekers aged 18-35 years, we found two main ways to count homelessness and at least two ways to quantify unemployment. Obtaining data and assessing its quality was far from easy, and this research was an exercise in frustration and perseverance. In this article we discuss the complexities of counting homelessness and unemployment, and the educated guesswork involved in estimating numbers of homeless jobseekers. We present a tentative socio-demographic profile; and we make suggestions regarding better access to data in the future

Evaluation of the child development grant pilot

Audience: Early Years Providers, Lead Member for Children's Services, Researchers The Child Development Grant (CDG) pilot aimed to encourage economically deprived and disengaged parents, through (cash) incentives to utilise the services offered by their local Sure Start Children’s Centres (SSCC), in particular those services that have a positive impact on the child’s development and family. This evaluation report details the learning resulting from the Child Development Grant (CDG) pilot. The pilot was one of nine Child Poverty pilots funded by the Child Poverty Unit between 2008 and 2011. York Consulting and Ipsos MORI were commissioned to undertake the evaluation in April 200

It's Very Different Here: Practice-Based Academic Staff Induction and Retention

The sociologist, Max Weber (1864-1920), suggested that few could withstand the frustrations of academic life. As the strategic management of human resources begins to differentiate higher education institutions (HEIs) in league tables, the costs of voluntary staff turnover (attrition) become more significant. In this paper, we consider links between induction (orientation) and retention for academic staff. We report on a qualitative study of thirty academic staff in five United Kingdom HEIs who were recruited on the basis of their professional experience. Their practice-based knowledge lends our participants particular insight into their HEI induction experience which, where found wanting, led in several cases to resignation. We analyse the induction experiences of our participants to glean explanations for these perceived shortcomings. Since induction interventions are thought to lead to improved retention, we recommend policy and practice changes to induction which may benefit all academic staff

Social Workers\u27 Perceptions of the Effects on United States Soldiers of Multiple Deployments

Military personnel who have served during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn have experienced longer and more frequent deployments than U.S. personnel involved in any previous conflict. These multiple tours in combat zones have resulted in complex psychosocial needs for military personnel. The goal of this action research study was to understand social workers\u27 perceptions and experiences of military personnel who experienced 3 or more deployments in a combat zone. The theoretical foundation for the study was narrative theory. Research questions sought to understand the social workers\u27 perceptions of the psychosocial treatment needs of these veterans, to understand the social workers\u27 experiences in providing services to address their needs, and whether participants perceived that the services provided were enhancing the mental and social well-being of the veterans. Data were collected from a focus group of 8 master\u27s-degree-level social workers who worked with veterans with multiple deployments. Data were analyzed using descriptive coding to determine categories and themes. Findings included increased incidents of posttraumatic stress disorder and complex psychosocial needs, the importance of evidence-based practice and successful reintegration, clinical considerations, and potential barriers to effective service. Findings also focused on the importance of organizational support and continuing education for social workers providing these services. The findings of this study might be used to promote positive social change by highlighting the need for ongoing education for social workers, organizations, and society to provide informed evidence-based treatment for veterans who have experienced multiple deployments

Ageing Technologically: Exploring the Motivating Operations of Technology Use by Older Adults

Statistics from the 2011 UK Census revealed that one sixth of the population were over the age of 65, which is the highest recorded ratio in any census history. Although there are discrepancies in the physical, mental and social wellbeing of the older adult population, huge strains have been placed upon the National Health Service, care system and subject population. Previous scholarship has revealed that technology use in various formats can reduce these pressures, however, published work on older adults and technology often focusses on attitudes and intentions rather than motivations of actual use. This thesis addresses this gap in the literature by examining the Motivating Operations (MOs) on post-purchase technology use of older adults. By adopting a radical behaviourist perspective, the present research attempts to introduce the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) term, Motivating Operation, to consumer behaviour by incorporating the proposed MOs into the already established Behavioural Perspective Model (BPM). This approach encourages the measurement of actual technology use as an operant behaviour alongside the MOs, as independent variables, impacting upon the rate-of-response. Consequently, a longitudinal quantitative and qualitative empirical strategy has been devised to produce a rich and complex set of data to explain older adult technology use. Overall, by using principles of behaviourism to interpret the technology use of older adults within a post-purchase environment, this thesis intends to break the dominant trend within technology acceptance and adoption literature of relying on either the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) or Diffusion of Innovation (DIT) to explain behaviours related to technology use. Alternatively, it produces an imaginative but logical analysis of the subject behaviour, which is not in contention with previous models but intends to enhance and expand the consumer behaviour, technology acceptance and adoption literature

Ontogenic changes in porcine pulmonary vascular and airway smooth muscle responsiveness in vitro

A marked decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance occurs in the newborn period, and a decrease in susceptibilty to bronchospasm occurs with maturation in humans. Both of these processes may be related to changes in the responsiveness of the smooth muscle to constricting and relaxing mediators. The goals of these studies were to determine if maturational changes occurred in the responsiveness of airway and vascular porcine smooth muscle in vitro. Studies were performed using pigs ranging in age from newborn to adult. Rings of pulmonary artery with and without endothelium, and tracheal smooth muscle strips or bronchial rings were suspended in organ baths filled with physiological salt solution, maintained at 37°C, and bubbled with 95%C>2 5%C02- Tissues were stretched to their optimal length for force development, and then concentration-response curves to a variety of agonists obtained.Pulmonary arteries from immature pigs were less responsive than those from adult pigs to adrenoreceptor mediated vasoconstriction. An alpha-2 adrenoreceptor mediated release of endothelium-derived relaxing factor was demonstrated in pulmonary arteries from adult pigs but not in those from immature pigs. Arteries from immature pigs were less responsive to relaxation induced by nitric oxide and hypoxia but not by sodium nitroprusside. Bronchial rings from immature pigs produced greater force (normalised to wet weight) in response to acetylcholine or potassium chloride than did rings from adult pigs, although the concentration of acetycholine required to produced half-maximal response (EC50) was similar. Rings from newborn pigs were more sensitive to the bronchodilator ketamine than those from adult pigs, as manifested by a shift in EC50. The relaxant action of ketamine on tracheal smooth muscle was shown to be due to an inhibitory effect on excitation of the postsynaptic nicotinic receptors of the intramural parasympathetic ganglion and a direct effect on the smooth muscle cell. Nonadrenergic noncholinergic innervation was shown to be present from birth. Hypoxic bronchodilation was seen in bronchial rings from all ages. In conclusion, this study demonstrates age-related changes in the in vitro responsiveness of both pulmonary vascular and airway smooth muscle to contractile and relaxant agonists, responses depending not only upon the agonist used to elicit contraction or relaxation, but also upon the age of the animal studied

Integrated Vector Management – generation and use of evidence for more effective vector control

Vector-borne diseases (VBD) such as malaria, dengue and leishmaniasis have a major public health impact primarily in low and middle income countries in the tropics. Vector control methods including long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying contribute substantially to control of VBDs, particularly malaria. However, progress is being hampered by a number of factors including a lack of human, infrastructural and financial resources, and is threatened by the development of insecticide resistance. The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly advocates the use of Integrated Vector Management (IVM), a policy which has the potential to overcome many of the challenges facing vector control. IVM calls for evidence-based and adaptive use of vector control tools and involvement of multiple sectors to control VBDs. This thesis brings together work on the theme of IVM and the generation and use of evidence for better vector control programming. Specifically I ask how do we develop high quality evidence to improve the effectiveness of vector control? The writer has been a principal author of a recently published WHO Toolkit for IVM in sub-Saharan Africa (Volume II of this thesis). This toolkit for vector control programme managers builds on previous WHO guidance by providing practical detail on how to plan, implement, and monitor and evaluate an IVM programme. In order to provide guidance on choice of vector control interventions in the IVM toolkit, it was necessary to systematically review the evidence from field trials of vector control tools. Two systematic reviews are presented evaluating the efficacy of insecticide-treated nets, curtains and screening against non-malaria VBDs, and the efficacy of topical repellents against malaria. These found that: i) insecticide-treated materials in the home (nets, curtains and screening) are protective against cutaneous leishmaniasis and may be protective against dengue and Japanese encephalitis, ii) topical repellents are not protective against falciparum or vivax malaria in endemic populations. Systematic reviews revealed a paucity of well-conducted efficacy studies of vector control interventions which hinders evidence-based policy-making. A critical analysis of vector control study design and conduct is presented. This analysis identified common failings with vector control trials including a lack of randomisation and blinding, poor choice of outcome measures, lack of replication, no sample size calculations and contamination between clusters in cluster-randomised trials. Many of these failings could be easily rectified to produce better quality evidence and prevent waste in research. As well as evidence-based policy making on vector control interventions, IVM calls for use of evidence throughout the lifetime of the programme through entomological and epidemiological surveillance and monitoring and evaluation to choose and target interventions, measure their effectiveness and adapt the programme over time. One entomological parameter which should be measured is insecticide resistance. A study of the spatial and temporal pattern of knockdown resistance (kdr) resistance in Anopheles gambiae s.l. in a setting of high vector control use in the Upper River Region of The Gambia is presented which found that: i) An. arabiensis was the most common member of the species complex, ii) the odds of kdr were 24 times higher in An. gambiae s.s. in villages with both IRS and LLINs and 14 times higher in villages with LLINs alone, iii) the kdr mutation was more common in mosquitoes in the second year of the study and with increasing distance from the river. The result of this work is the IVM Toolkit for sub-Saharan Africa. IVM provides a logical framework to think through vector control and advocates for a more locally tailored and adaptive approach which engages partners within and beyond the health sector. Compared to current vector control, IVM has the potential to be more effective (through evidence-based use of interventions), cost-effective (through implementation of cost effective interventions and sharing of resources across sectors), sustainable (through engagement and mobilisation of communities and the non-health sector) and ecologically sound (through the use of non-insecticide-based tools). However, there are a number of challenges to utilisation of IVM. While this thesis outlines the theoretical framework for IVM, it does not test its use by programmes, and in fact there are few good examples of IVM in practice available. Policies and organisational structures of vector control programmes are currently not in support of IVM. Lack of resources (infrastructural, human and financial) hampers implementation of this more knowledge-intensive and adaptive approach to vector control. Deeply engrained silos and lack of political support may impede partnership working within and across sectors. An increased focus on vector control in the light of the recent Zika virus disease outbreak and high-level policy changes at WHO including development of the forthcoming Global Vector Control Response should galvanise support for vector control and reorientation of programmes towards an IVM approach. IVM can be implemented if there is additional and sustained financing for vector control, an investment in human resources and infrastructure, and more commitment to working across sectors. It is important to grasp this opportunity in order to exploit fully the potential of vector control to control and eliminate VBDs in the future

Optimisation and characterisation of human corneal stromal models

The native corneal structure is highly organised and unified in architecture with structural and functional integration which mediates its transparency and mechanical strength. Two of the most demanding challenges in corneal tissue engineering are the replication of the native corneal stromal architecture and the preservation of stromal cell phenotype which prevents scar-like tissue formation. A concerted effort in this thesis has been devoted to the generation of a functional human corneal stromal model by the manipulation of chemical, topographical and cellular cues. To achieve this, previously built non-destructive, online, real-time monitoring techniques, micro-indentation and optical coherence tomography (OCT), which allow for the mechanical and contraction properties of corneal equivalents to be monitored, have been improved. These macroscopic parameters have been cross-validated by histological, imunohistochemical, morphological and genetic expression analysis

Children with congenital heart defects : the impact of Down Syndrome on emotional and behavioural adjustment, participation in health related behaviours and parental beliefs

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of Down syndrome* on children (6-15 years old) with Congenital Heart Defects (CUD) Emotional and behavioural adjustment, participation in health related behaviour and parental beliefs were examined in a group of 15 children with CHD and Down syndrome. A comparison group of 15 children with CHD, without Down syndrome, were also recruited. Standardised questionnaires were used to investigate emotional and behavioural adjustment, a checklist was devised in order to assess participation in health related behaviours, and a knowledge and belief interview was conducted in order to elicit parental beliefs about CHD.Results showed that no significant differences were found between children with CHD, and children with CHD and Down syndrome in the areas of emotional and behavioural adjustment and participation in health related behaviours. Children without Down syndrome tended to demonstrate more emotional and behavioural problems, although not at a statistically significant level A significant relationship between emotional and behavioural adjustment, and participation in health related behaviours was not observed. An examination of parental beliefs revealed that there was no significant association between the presence of Down syndrome and parental beliefs across four of the five illness representations, based on Leventhal’s model of self regulatory behaviour (Leventhal & Nerenz, 1985), The clinical implications of the findings are discussed