Does the Culture and Practice of Allotment Holding within Oxford help to build a Sustainable Local Economy?

An allotment is defined as a piece of land usually about 250m² in size, which can be rented from the council in order to grow fruit and vegetables for you and your family. The study examines the culture and practice of allotment holding in Oxford and to assess if this element of self-sufficiency could benefit the community and to what extent allotments can help to build a sustainable local economy. Furthermore the study looks at the inclusion of allotments into Agenda 21 and rates Oxford City allotments using the Governments Sustainable Development Indicators. The research was based on ten face-to-face interviews with councillors and allotment holders as well as a survey of one hundred local plot holders. The findings from these interviews indicate that allotments within Oxford can be classified as sustainable when ranked against the Sustainable Development Indicators. Further to this, the study highlighted a new trend in allotment holding with a younger generation of people taking up the pastime. Due to the small sample size these findings cannot be classed as representative of the whole of Oxford, consequently generalisations cannot be made. Never the less the study provides useful insights into allotment holding and its role within sustainable development

A qualitative study into people’s experiences of interventions and support for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI): Stigma, shame, and society

This qualitative study used semi structured interviews to gain an in-depth knowledge of individual’s experiences of interventions/support on their journey to ceasing non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Twelve adults from the community participated and their interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Four main themes were generated from the data. Experiences of professional support, Experiences of informal support, Identity: Impact on sense of self, and Importance of relationships. Participants spoke about the unhelpful, detrimental interactions when attending accident & emergency (A&E) and spells on the mental health wards. They also spoke about their fear of reaching out as they feared the consequences of doing so. On the whole participants found therapy to be beneficial except for those aspects of interventions where support was withdrawn following NSSI. Participants valued informal support such as self- help, family and support from the community. It was evident the detrimental impact on sense of self that unhelpful interventions/support afforded. The opposite effect was evident when positive and helpful interactions had occurred. Participants shared the importance of consistency and connection when forming relationships enabling feelings of safety and trust to ensue. Implications of these findings highlight the need for professionals and the community to reflect on how they respond to people presenting with NSSI and adjust their responses accordingly. It also highlights the need for more education, training and supervision

Minority Pregnant Women Perspective on Health Disparities and Health-Related Outcomes

Health agencies have recognized persistent health care disparities as the primary causes of mortality among minority populations. The emphasis of published studies on the health of minority women in the United States has revealed a knowledge gap in prioritizing prenatal care (PNC). The purpose of this narrative descriptive study was to explore access disparities in PNC and the effect the overall experience had on first-time pregnant minority women in receipt of PNC. The health services utilization framework provided the theoretical lens to analyze and interpret the findings of this study. The key research questions explored how the self-reported experiences of first-time pregnant minority women when seeking PNC affect the overall process to achieve positive pregnancy outcomes. Twelve first-time pregnant minority women living in the northeast metropolitan region of the United States participated in semistructured interview that generated data used in this study. NVivo 12 was used to manage data, enabling the use of thematic analysis to create the study findings. Key study findings revealed several interrelated themes such as racial/ethnic discrimination, health insurance status, and income status in the process of seeking care defined access disparities that negatively affect the PNC experiences. The positive social change implications from the results of this study include guidance for the implementation of targeted health care policy that includes public health professionals (PHPs) as stakeholders. A partnership between the PHPs and health care reform legislators could be the catalyst for improved outcomes, transparency, trust, accountability, and opportunities to create targeted approaches and sustainable interventions to influence positive pregnancy outcomes for these women

Magical realism in Ovid's Metamorphoses

This thesis explores aspects of magical realism in Ovid's Metamorphoses . It uses the Cien anos de soledad of Gabriel Garcia Marquez as a comparative tool, examining narrative devices common to both texts; each chapter analyses an important feature of magical realist theory or technique. The first chapter studies the narrative methods that create magical realism, such as anachronism, hybridism and use of internal narrators. In the second chapter, the theory that magical realism arises from a clash of cultures is explored by analysing magical realist episodes in each text from a cultural perspective. The third chapter focuses exclusively on magical realism's connection to Latin America, while the fourth chapter uses case studies of characters from each text to examine how effectively the mode depicts reality. The final chapter investigates the representation of artists and creativity in each work. By exploring Ovid's poem using a modern critical theory, this thesis provides fresh insight into magical aspects of Metamorphoses and broadens the scope of magical realism as a literary term

Pre-therapy as a therapeutic task : a workshop for EFT practitioners

This workshop introduces Pre-Therapy as a way of working therapeutically with hard to reach clients. Initially, developed by American Psychologist Garry Prouty, to work with clients who are out of psychological contact or who drop in and out of contact with the world, self or others. This workshop present, for the first time, a new Pre-Therapy EFT task, developed by Carrick and Robinson. We will present a blend of theory, practice and live demonstration, focusing on how Pre-Therapy is an essential EFT therapeutic task. We propose that this task will extend and develop the EFT approach to new client populations who experience contact difficulties and who have poor or limited access to their emotion compass

Bridging the theory and practice of eliciting the voices of young children::findings from the Look Who’s Talking Project

To foster children and young people’s skills, dispositions and understanding that underpin a voice agenda, practices need to be developed that support this from the earliest age. This article explores issues relating to this complex, challenging and under-researched area from the perspective of practitioners working with children aged from birth to seven. Using vignettes of practice, we explore practical and pedagogical examples and take the opportunity to deepen our understanding of the elicitation of voice through the lens of the eight factors previously identified in the Look Who’s Talking Project. Through this approach we highlight practices that elicit voice as a key element of children’s rights in a localised way, and exemplify productive connections between theory and practice

Practitioner experience of the impact of humanistic methods on autism practice : a preliminary study

Purpose: Autistic people are subject to having their behaviour shaped from a variety of practitioners predominantly using behaviourist methodologies. Little is known about how learning alternative humanistic methodologies impacts practitioner experiences of relational encounters with autistic people. This paper aims to develop an understanding of practitioner experiences of using person-centred counselling (PCC) skills and contact reflections (CR) when engaging with autistic people. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative study used an interpretive approach to help elucidate perceptions of changing practice. It involved a framework analysis of 20 practitioner’s experiential case study accounts. Findings: An overarching theme emerged: subtle transformations resulted from shifting practice paradigms. Four broad themes were identified: “A different way of being”; “Opening heightened channels of receptivity”; “Trust in self-actualising growth” and “Expanding relational ripples”. The findings suggest that PCC and CRs skills training shows promise in providing practitioners with a different way of being with autistic people that enhances their capacity towards neurotypical-neurodivergent intersubjectivity. Social implications: The authors speculate on the power dynamics of care relationships and those who may identify as possessing autism expertise. The authors are curious as to whether this humanistic skills training can truly penetrate practitioner core values and see this as a fundamental issue which requires further investigation. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to provide a qualitative account of autism practitioner reflections following training in humanistic methodologies. It challenges the concept of autism expertise, guided by a pathologiSing model, focused on fixing a problem located in the person, which conceals the removal of personhood

Education, Health and Care plans: A qualitative investigation into service user experiences of the planning process

An Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan sets out the education, health and care support that is to be provided to a child or young person aged 0-25 years who has Special Educational Needs or a Disability (SEND). It is drawn up by the local authority after an EHC needs assessment of the child or young person, in consultation with relevant partner agencies, parents and the child or young person themselves. EHC plans, and the needs assessment process through which they are created, were introduced as part of the Children and Families Act 2014. The Act, and an accompanying SEND Code of Practice, sets out how local authorities must deliver EHC plans. In 2016, a national survey commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) found variations in how EHC plan recipients experienced the EHC planning process across different local authorities.1 Based on these results, DfE commissioned two further research projects: a multivariate analysis of factors affecting satisfaction with the EHC planning process, and this qualitative investigation of user experiences of the EHC planning process. The qualitative investigation consisted of two distinct exercises: • Twenty-five face-to-face in-depth interviews with parents involved in the 2016 survey, with the aim of better understanding factors that lead to satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the EHC plan process. Thirteen interviews were conducted in local authorities with above average satisfaction, and 12 were conducted in local authority areas with below average satisfaction. • An evaluation of EHC plan quality focussing on plans provided by 18 of the 25 parents interviewed. The evaluation was conducted by a panel of 10 SEND experts with wide experience as SEND policy advisors, strategic leaders in LAs, specialist advisory teachers, officers in SEN statutory services, Special Needs Co-ordinators, teachers in special and mainstream schools and lecturers. There was little evidence of a link between families’ satisfaction with the process of getting the EHC plan and experts’ evaluations of the quality of the plan: this report therefore discusses these two strands of research separately.Department for Educatio

Experiences of Education, Health and Care plans: A survey of parents and young people

An Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan) sets out the education, health and care support that is to be provided to a child or young person aged 0-25 years who has Special Educational Needs (SEN) or a disability (SEND). It is drawn up by the local authority after an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment of the child or young person has determined that an EHC plan is necessary, and after consultation with relevant partner agencies and with children, young people and parents. EHC plans, and the needs assessment process through which these are made, were introduced as part of the Children and Families Act 2014. The Act, and an accompanying SEND Code of Practice1, sets out how local authorities must deliver these, including:• Developing and maintaining these collaboratively with children, young people and parents; • Supporting children, young people and parents to participate fully; • Focusing on securing the best possible outcomes for the child/young person; • Enabling participation by relevant partner agencies, to enable joined-up provision.The SEND accountability framework established in 20152 sets out an approach for assessing SEND provision in conjunction with the Act and SEND Code of Practice. The framework provides structure for improving outcomes and experiences for children, young people and their families and, when applied, seeks to show how the system is performing, hold partners to account and support self-improvement. The framework applies at the local and national levels and to independent assessments of the EHC plan process – such as those carried out by Ofsted. In this context, the Department for Education commissioned a survey of parents and young people with an EHC plan, in order to build a representative national (and, where the data allows, local) picture of how parents and young people in England were experiencing the EHC needs assessment and planning process and the resultant EHC plans. The aim was to assess whether delivery of the EHC needs assessments and planning process and the resultant EHC plans reflected the intentions set out in the Children and Families Act 2014 and the accompanying SEND Code of Practice. The findings would help inform the SEND accountability framework.To achieve these aims the survey sought to answer the following questions: • To what extent do children, young people and families experience the EHC needs assessment and planning process as they are intended to be experienced; • How satisfied are children, young people and families with the EHC needs assessment and planning process and the resultant EHC plan; and • To what extent does this vary by local authority and by groups with different characteristics? The findings presented here and throughout the main report explore parents’ and young people’s responses to the survey questions. The report also explores where experiences of the EHC needs assessment and planning process varied for groups with different characteristics, applying a bivariate analysis approach3. The report only highlights such differences where these are statistically significant4.Department for Educatio

Exploring the costs and outcomes of sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening interventions targeting men in football club settings: preliminary cost-consequence analysis of the SPORTSMART pilot randomised controlled trial

Background: The objective of this study was to compare the costs and outcomes of two sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening interventions targeted at men in football club settings in England, including screening promoted by team captains. Methods: A comparison of costs and outcomes was undertaken alongside a pilot cluster randomised control trial involving three trial arms: (1) captain-led and poster STI screening promotion; (2) sexual health advisor-led and poster STI screening promotion and (3) poster-only STI screening promotion (control/comparator). For all study arms, resource use and cost data were collected prospectively. Results: There was considerable variation in uptake rates between clubs, but results were broadly comparable across study arms with 50% of men accepting the screening offer in the captain-led arm, 67% in the sexual health advisor-led arm and 61% in the poster-only control arm. The overall costs associated with the intervention arms were similar. The average cost per player tested was comparable, with the average cost per player tested for the captain-led promotion estimated to be £88.99 compared with £88.33 for the sexual health advisor-led promotion and £81.87 for the poster-only (control) arm. Conclusions: Costs and outcomes were similar across intervention arms. The target sample size was not achieved, and we found a greater than anticipated variability between clubs in the acceptability of screening, which limited our ability to estimate acceptability for intervention arms. Further evidence is needed about the public health benefits associated with screening interventions in non-clinical settings so that their cost-effectiveness can be fully evaluated