Children of Prisoners: Their Situation and Role in Long-Term Crime Prevention

Studies suggest that maintaining family ties can help reduce the likelihood of reoffending, and that while parental imprisonment can increase a child’s likelihood to offend, positive responses to the situation can aid the children’s well-being, attitude and attainment. Drawing on findings from the recently completed EU-funded COPING Project on the mental health of children of prisoners, this chapter explores the factors that aid a child’s ability to cope with parental imprisonment and the actions that different stakeholders can take to support them. It identifies some of the mental health impacts at different stages of parental imprisonment, the roles played by non-imprisoned parents/carers and by schools, and suggests options for further clarifying the factors that help and hinder children of prisoners in the short and long term

A stakeholder co-design approach for developing a community pharmacy service to enhance screening and management of atrial fibrillation

The authors would like to thank all participants in this research for their valuable input into the co-design process.Background: Community pharmacies provide a suitable setting to promote self-screening programs aimed at enhancing the early detection of atrial fibrillation (AF). Developing and implementing novel community pharmacy services (CPSs) is a complex and acknowledged challenge, which requires comprehensive planning and the participation of relevant stakeholders. Co-design processes are participatory research approaches that can enhance the development, evaluation and implementation of health services. The aim of this study was to co-design a pharmacist-led CPS aimed at enhancing self-monitoring/screening of AF. Methods: A 3-step co-design process was conducted using qualitative methods: (1) interviews and focus group with potential service users (n = 8) to identify key needs and concerns; (2) focus group with a mixed group of stakeholders (n = 8) to generate a preliminary model of the service; and (3) focus group with community pharmacy owners and managers (n = 4) to explore the feasibility and appropriateness of the model. Data were analysed qualitatively to identify themes and intersections between themes. The JeMa2 model to conceptualize pharmacybased health programs was used to build a theoretical model of the service. Results: Stakeholders delineated: a clear target population (i.e., individuals ≥65 years old, with hypertension, with or without previous AF or stroke); the components of the service (i.e., patient education; self-monitoring at home; results evaluation, referral and follow-up); and a set of circumstances that may influence the implementation of the service (e.g., quality of the service, competency of the pharmacist, inter-professional relationships, etc.). A number of strategies were recommended to enable implementation (e.g.,. endorsement by leading cardiovascular organizations, appropriate communication methods and channels between the pharmacy and the general medical practice settings, etc.). Conclusion: A novel and preliminary model of a CPS aimed at enhancing the management of AF was generated from this participatory process. This model can be used to inform decision making processes aimed at adopting and piloting of the service. It is expected the co-designed service has been adapted to suit existing needs of patients and current care practices, which, in turn, may increase the feasibility and acceptance of the service when it is implemented into a real setting.This work was funded by Covidien Pty Ltd. (Medtronic Australasia Pty Ltd) [UTS Project code: PRO16–0688], which is the company that has the rights to distribute the device Microlife BP A200 AFIB in Australia. Also, funding for this research has been provided by a UTS Chancellor’s postdoctoral fellowship awarded to the first author of this article (ID number: 2013001605)

Children’s Experiences of Contact with Imprisoned Parents: A Comparison between Four European Countries

Across the European Union an increasing number of children are experiencing parental imprisonment and the adverse emotional, behavioural and social outcomes that it entails. Separation due to imprisonment also places strain on parent-child relationships, with children reporting feelings of abandonment and alienation, and difficulties communicating with their imprisoned parent. This paper presents findings from interviews with a total of 135 families in the UK, Germany, Romania and Sweden. There were noticeable country differences in the practical and financial barriers to maintaining contact and the suitability of prison visiting environments. This had important implications for children’s emotional health and the extent to which contact was conducive to supporting parent-child relationships

Spark plasma sintering of commercial and development titanium alloy powders

Emerging lower cost titanium metal powder produced via an electrolytic method has been fully consolidated using spark plasma sintering (SPS) generating microstructures comparable to those observed in Ti–6Al–4V PM product. This is the first time powder from an alternative titanium extraction method has been processed via SPS and it is benchmarked with commercial alloys (CP–Ti, Ti–6Al–4V, and Ti–5Al–5V–5Mo–3Cr). The effect of powder feedstock size, morphology, and alloy chemistry on the consolidated density and microstructure is presented. Through a design of experiments (DoE) type approach the effect of SPS processing conditions on these alloy powders, including maximum sintering temperature, pressure, heating rate, and dwell time were investigated. The SPS process is found to be largely insensitive to feedstock size and morphology, although very large or highly porous powder particles are more difficult to fully consolidate. The maximum sintering temperature and pressure have the largest contribution to achieving full consolidation, with higher pressures and temperatures increasing the final density. Increasing heating rate increases the final grain size, despite less time being spent at the higher temperature and it is thought this is due to bypassing the traditional first phase of sintering. This paper shows that SPS is a viable step for a low-cost manufacturing route, for example to produce preform billets to be finished with a one-step forging operation, especially when combined with the possibility of lower cost powder. In the long-term, SPS will allow a significant reduction in the processing cost, contributing to an increased usage of titanium powder feedstock for a range of applications. This is reinforced by the successful large scale production of a 5 kg SPS Ti-6-4 billet, demonstrating the potential industrial scalability of the process, particularly for the aerospace industry