Transnational Hindu law adoptions: recognition and treatment in Britain

Publisher version: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=5915788&jid=IJC&volumeId=5&issueId=02&aid=5915780This article examines how the adoption of children under Hindu law in India is regarded by British private international law and immigration law. Through an analysis of case law, it focuses particularly on how British judges regard the legitimacy of exclusion by the British immigration control system of children who have been adopted under a ‘foreign’ legal system which essentially permits private adoption arrangements. Examining the background to the regime of Indian Hindu law adoptions (which applies to Sikhs as well as Hindus), and the private international law and immigration rules which apply to such adoptees in the UK, the article finds some evidence in the judicial decisions of a more activist, human-rights-based, plurality-conscious position being taken. However, tracking the case law further, the article concludes that such activism has not been followed through in more recent decisions leaving the conflictual position between transnational adopters and British legal systems largely unresolved

Health visiting - the end of a UK wide service?

In 1997 Health Visiting was deemed by New Labour to be an important player in reducing health inequalities. It was acknowledged that if Health Visiting was to fulfill this vision it would have to work out with its traditional child health role and also engage with groups, communities and populations to tackle the determinants of ill health. Twelve years on, external factors such as, NHS cut backs, recent changes to how Health Visitors are regulated throughout the UK and devolved Health Visiting policy making structures have led to the rapid demise in status and legitimacy of Health Visiting and its wider public health role. This article argues that the unintended consequences of devolved Health Visiting policy has resulted in 3 recent community nursing and health-visiting reviews in Scotland and England which have made divergent policy recommendations about the role of the Health Visitor in tackling health inequalities. The recommendations outlined in the Scottish review in particular threatened to jeopardise the very future provision of a UK wide Health Visiting service. If Health Visiting is to survive as a UK wide entity, a radical independent rethink as to its future direction and its public health role is urgently required

Injury characteristics and EQ-5D as predictors of personal wellbeing after injury

Objectives:A longitudinal study examined the relationships of injury severity, whether the injury was accidental or was caused by an assault, and self-reported EQ-5D soon after injury, with long-term personal wellbeing among participants with a range of injury types and severity.Methods:Interviews with participants recruited in the Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study (POIS) were conducted up to four time points in the 24 months after injury. Key explanatory variables were New Injury Severity Score (NISS), whether the injury was accidental or resulted from assault, and self-reported health status (five EQ-5D questions and a similar question about cognition) reported at three months. The main outcome measure at 24 months was the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) (PWI <70=‘low’ wellbeing). Univariate and multivariable analyses examined relationships between explanatory variables and low PWI.Results:Even in a group of people with injuries traditionally regarded as being of mild or moderate anatomical severity, wellbeing continues to be affected for an appreciable time post-injury, with a quarter (27%) of study participants having a low level of personal wellbeing 24 months after their injury. Neither anatomical injury severity nor hospitalisation were predictive of low personal wellbeing. An increased risk of low personal wellbeing was observed in participants whose injury was caused by an intentional assault (rather than accident), and in those who reported problems three months post-injury with EQ-5D self-care, anxiety/depression or cognitive functioning.Conclusions:Identification of such individuals early after an injury is of particular importance and ensuring adequate support services are put in place that encourage re-integration back into work and social networks could help prevent on-going poor wellbeing

Being a quantitative interviewer: qualitatively exploring interviewers' experiences in a longitudinal cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many studies of health outcomes rely on data collected by interviewers administering highly-structured (quantitative) questionnaires to participants. Little appears to be known about the experiences of such interviewers. This paper explores interviewer experiences of working on a longitudinal study in New Zealand (the Prospective Outcomes of injury Study - POIS). Interviewers administer highly-structured questionnaires to participants, usually by telephone, and enter data into a secure computer program. The research team had expectations of interviewers including: consistent questionnaire administration, timeliness, proportions of potential participants recruited and an empathetic communication style. This paper presents results of a focus group to qualitatively explore with the team of interviewers their experiences, problems encountered, strategies, support systems used and training.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A focus group with interviewers involved in the POIS interviews was held; it was audio-recorded and transcribed. The analytical method was thematic, with output intended to be descriptive and interpretive.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nine interviewers participated in the focus group (average time in interviewer role was 31 months). Key themes were: 1) the positive aspects of the quantitative interviewer role (i.e. relationships and resilience, insights gained, and participants' feedback), 2) difficulties interviewers encountered and solutions identified (i.e. stories lost or incomplete, forgotten appointments, telling the stories, acknowledging distress, stories reflected and debriefing and support), and 3) meeting POIS researcher expectations (i.e. performance standards, time-keeping, dealing exclusively with the participant and maintaining privacy).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Interviewers demonstrated great skill in the way they negotiated research team expectations whilst managing the relationships with participants. Interviewers found it helpful to have a research protocol in place in the event of sensitive situations - this appeared to alleviate the pressure on interviewers to carry the burden of responsibility. Interviewers are employed to scientifically gather quantitative data, yet their effectiveness relies largely on their humanity. We propose that the personal connection generated between the interviewers and participants was important, and enabled successful follow-up rates for the study. The enjoyment of these relationships was crucial to interviewers and helped balance the negative aspects of their role. Our results suggest that experienced quantitative interviewers endeavour, as do many qualitative researchers, to carefully and respectfully negotiate the requirements of the interview within a relationship they form with participants: being sensitive to the needs of participants and respectful of their wishes - and establishing an ethical relationship.</p

A cohort study of short-term functional outcomes following injury: the role of pre-injury socio-demographic and health characteristics, injury and injury-related healthcare

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Injury outcome studies have tended to collect limited pre-injury characteristics, focus on a narrow range of injury types, predictors and outcomes, and be restricted to high threat to life injuries. We sought to identify the role of pre-injury socio-demographic and health characteristics, injury and injury-related healthcare in determining short-term functional outcomes for a wide range of injuries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Study participants (aged 18-64 years inclusive) were those in the Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study, a cohort of 2856 persons who were injured and registered with New Zealand's national no-fault injury insurance agency. All information used in this paper was obtained directly from the participants, primarily by telephone interviews, approximately three months after their injury. The functional outcomes of interest were the five dimensions of the EQ-5D plus a cognitive dimension. We initially examined bivariate relationships between our independent measures and the dependent measures. Our multivariate analyses included adjustment for pre-injury EQ-5D status and time between injury and when information was obtained from participants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Substantial portions of participants continued to have adverse outcomes approximately three months after their injury. Key pervasive factors predicting adverse outcomes were: being female, prior chronic illness, injuries to multiple body regions, being hospitalized for injury, self-perceived threat to life, and difficulty accessing health services.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Future injury outcome studies should include participants whose injuries are considered 'minor', as judged by acute health service utilization, and also consider a wider range of potential predictors of adverse outcomes.</p

Social capital and the political economy of recovery from injury

Published: 2017-10-25Injury has long been recognized as a contributor to disability, but there is little data on how processes related to social capital, may influence the emergence of disability. This article aims to present findings from the qualitative arm of a multi-method Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study (POIS), which was established to examine factors influencing recovery following injury in New Zealand. A maximum diversity sample of nineteen injured people, aged 18-64, was chosen from 2856 participants in the quantitative POIS study (Butler, Derrett & Colhoun, 2009). Participants in the study were all on the New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation's (ACC's) injury entitlement register. Interviews were carried out at six and twelve months after injury, which offered a unique insight into the unfolding impact of the injury on social networks. The findings describe a political economy of social capital that reflects the inverse care law (Hart, 1971). This can be summarised by the observation that those with higher levels of social capital were able to ask for care in ways that maintained the invisibility of the labour involved and also contributed to the growth of social capital. Those with lesser degrees of social capital used strategies to make their needs less visible in order not to lose face and this contributed to the erosion of social capital. The findings indicate the utility of Bourdieu's (1986) conceptualisation of social capital to elucidate the dynamics implicit in the practice of giving and receiving resources following an injury.Mary Butler, Sarah Derret