Social Media And Health: Implications For Primary Health Care Providers

This report is the second deliverable of the ?Digital Inclusion and Social Knowledge Media for Health: Frameworks and Roadmaps? project. The first discussed the concept of social and digital exclusion whilst this report focuses on the emerging phenomenon of social media. The report outlines current knowledge on the users and usages of social media for health and goes on to discuss social media in the context of a continuing focus (ref. D1.1) on the areas of mental health, smoking cessation and teenage lifestyles. The report concludes with an outline of an approach to a ?social media strategy? and with suggestions for directions for future research

An Evidence-Based Approach To Digital Inclusion for Health

This report is the first deliverable of the ?Digital Inclusion and Social Knowledge Media for Health: Frameworks and Roadmaps? project. It discusses the concept of social and digital exclusion and suggests that a focus on the digital mediation of social processes may provide more purchase for public service providers. This focus leads to the consideration of the way in which digital services might support a range of health-related factors which are both directly and indirectly linked to specific health outcomes. The report discusses some examples in the light of a consideration of the specific (and spatial) health needs and priorities of Solihull Care Trust. The report concludes with suggestions for directions for future research and development

The Process of Psychological Assessment: A Critique of Non-Participatory Observations Within Educational Psychology Practice and the Process of Psychological Assessment

According to the Professional Practice Guidelines for Educational Psychologists (EPs), psychological assessment in education is a continuous process, aiming to improve effective and inclusive education for children and young people (CYP) (British Psychological Society [BPS], 2002). Within this process, information about CYP can be gathered through consultation; curriculum-based assessment; psychometric and dynamic assessment; measures of social, emotional and mental health (SEMH); and observation. Regarding observation specifically, it can be considered that this method of information gathering is frequently used not only by EPs but also by special education teachers, teacher trainers and Ofsted, regarding quality of learning, teaching, and interventions (Bowles et al., 2016). In this sense, it may become necessary for EPs to be mindful of their role in, and purpose for, conducting observations within the process of assessment, not just watching behaviour but formulating and testing hypotheses about why behaviours occur (Hughes & Dexter, 2011). Additionally, while EPs’ frequent use of observations could be considered positive due to various advantages (Tilstone, 2012), it’s prevalence within the profession also makes it necessary to consider and be aware of any potential limitations. This paper will, therefore, evaluate the use of observations within the process of psychological assessment, particularly regarding the legal, ethical and moral principles of EP practice; different observation techniques and related psychological frameworks; and the potential impact of individual differences between professionals

Unequal Perceptions of School Subject Value: Exploring Year Nine Students’ Value Attribution Patterns and the Psychological Impact

The research aimed to explore secondary school students’ perceptions of the ‘value’ of UK curriculum subjects; considering what, how and why specific subject value attribution patterns are important for students, and the psychological impact of this on their wellbeing and self-efficacy beliefs (SEB). The research used a mixed-methods, sequential design, conducted in two stages. Stage 1 explored students’ value attribution for specific subjects; and relationships between attribution patterns, SEB and wellbeing. Stage 2 aimed to further explore and explain Stage 1 findings, and the relationships identified. In stage 1, attainment data and questionnaires were collected from 38 Year 9 students. Thematic analysis explored students’ value attribution for subjects; and Mann-Whitney and t-tests explored the relationships between attribution patterns, SEB and wellbeing. In stage 2, nine participants were interviewed, and relationships identified were thematically analysed. Three master themes (perceived usefulness, external factors and lessons’ characteristics) justified the subject attributed value, wherein English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects were most frequently identified as ‘most important’. Students with strengths in EBacc subjects had significantly higher SEB than those with strengths in non-EBacc subjects; the same results were found for students with strengths in subjects they had identified as ‘important’ versus those with strengths in subjects they had not identified as ‘important’. Wellbeing measures did not yield statistical differences. Stage 2 findings suggested students with strengths in EBacc subjects felt cleverer, as their skills were respected by peers and appreciated by teachers; and EBacc subjects were perceived as more ‘academic’ than non-EBacc subjects. Students also discussed having fewer opportunities to progress in and receive positive feedback for skills in non-EBacc subjects, due to timetabling and the EBacc’s academic value. As previous literature indicates SEB relate to education and employment opportunities, the current research suggests potential future educational and social inequalities for students with strengths in non-EBacc subjects

Discourse Analysis: varieties and methods

This paper presents and analyses six key approaches to discourse analysis, including political discourse theory, rhetorical political analysis, the discourse historical approach in critical discourse analysis, interpretive policy analysis, discursive psychology and Q methodology. It highlights differences and similarities between the approaches along three distinctive dimensions, namely, ontology, focus and purpose. Our analysis reveals the difficulty of arriving at a fundamental matrix of dimensions which would satisfactorily allow one to organize all approaches in a coherent theoretical framework. However, it does not preclude various theoretical articulations between the different approaches, provided one takes a problem-driven approach to social science as one?s starting-point

Uncovering recovery: The resistible rise of recovery and resilience

Discourses of recovery and resilience have risen to positions of dominance in the mental health field. Models of recovery and resilience enjoy purchase, in both policy and practice, across a range of settings from self-described psychiatric survivors through to mental health charities through to statutory mental health service providers. Despite this ubiquity, there is confusion about what recovery means. In this article we problematize notions of recovery and resilience, and consider what, if anything, should be recovered from these concepts. We focus on three key issues, i) individualization, ii) the persistence of a deficit model, and iii) collective approaches to recovery. Through documentary analysis we consider these issues across third sector organizations, and public and mental health policy. Firstly, definitional debates about recovery reflect wider ideological debates about the nature of mental health. The vagueness of these concepts and implicit assumptions inherent in dominant recovery and resilience discourses render them problematic because they individualize what are social problems. Secondly, these discourses, despite being seen as inherently liberatory are conceptually dependent on a notion of deficit in that talk of “positives” and “strengths” requires the existence of “negatives” and “weaknesses” for these concepts to make sense. We argue that this does little to substantially transform dominant understandings of psychological distress. Thirdly, these issues combine to impact upon the progressive potential of recovery. It comes to be seen as an individualistic experiential narrative accompaniment to medical understandings where the structural causes of distress are obscured. This in turn impacts upon the potential for recovery to be used to explore more collective, political aspects of emotional distress. Drawing on the work of Fraser, we use this critique to characterize “recovery” as a “struggle for recognition,” founded on a model of identity politics which displaces and marginalizes the need for social, political and economic redistribution to address many of the underlying causes of emotional distress. We conclude by stating that it is only when the collective, structural experiences of inequality and injustice are explicitly linked to processes of emotional distress that recovery will be possible

Technology enhanced learning as transformative innovation: a note on the enduring myth of TEL

The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical insight into the ubiquity of technology enhanced learning. The use of technology in higher education is underpinned by a promise that technology will enhance teaching and learning despite an apparent lack of systematic evidence. This raises questions of how this enhancement agenda persists, and of how technology has established a position of dominance within higher education. This orthodoxy is evident across a range of relevant actors, from commercial interests, universities, government, academics, and technologists. This paper utilises a critical logics approach, which problematises the competing interests of these different actors, exploring ways in which the social, political and fantasmatic practices between these actors contribute to the ubiquity and dominance of technology enhanced learning. This paper argues that the technology enhanced project resists in-depth critique, with the repeated failure of technology to transform education attributed towards academics, students and institutions

Wide temperature range fiber optic cable: Cable design study

Factors considered in the design and fabrication of a single fiber optic cable intended for spacecraft applications in an environment of temperature extremes from -160 C to 125 C include: abrasion resistance, low temperature flexibility, small size, low weight, and overall temperature stability. Specific requirements were identified for fiber core and overall diameters, fiber loss and NA, and cable tensile load. The single fiber cable will be fabricated by using a chemical vapor step index fiber of .125 mm coated to .3 mm with RTV silicone and then extruded with a jacket of Teflon PFA to a diameter of .5 mm. Six yarns of 1420 denier unimpregnated Kevlar 49 with a helical lay of 1.3 inches will surround the jacketed fiber under an extrusion of PFA. The finished cable diameter will measure 1.8 mm, and the weight of one kilometer length will be approximately 4350grams

'Because You're Worth It': A discourse analysis of the gendered rhetoric of the ADHD woman, Qualitative Research in Psychology.

Drawing on the traditions of discursive psychology and critical discourse analysis this study examined the presentation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in women in a sample of the most commonly identified online YouTube videos on this topic. The video material selected represented a combination of first-person testimonies from the ?sufferer? and the sharing of ?expertise? by ?professionals.? Analysis involved the identification of common rhetorical devices and evaluation of the role of these devices in conveying various key meanings or themes. The categories generated by this method told a story of the construction of an ?ADHD product? presented to women by other women, and unproblematically positioned within the biomedical discourse. Stimulant medication was endorsed for its ability to improve performance at work and in the domestic sphere. Women sufferers in the videos appear as ?active consumers? promoting the ADHD diagnosis for its ability to enable them to fulfil the ?superwoman? ideal. The medicalisation of underperformance witnessed in the videos is discussed in relation to literature on modern-day ?discourses of femininity.