A hierarchy of personal agency for people with life-limiting illness

The purpose of the study was to discover how individuals diagnosed with a life-limiting illness experienced themselves as agents, even in the face of death. In this qualitative, multiple case study design four female outpatient hospice patients with terminal illnesses received humanistic counselling to explore their experiences of themselves and their illness. A graded set of 8 levels of personal agency emerged from analyses of the texts of their sessions, ranging from a passive, objectified Non-agentic mode to an active, autonomous Fully Agentic mode, with multiple subcategories representing further gradations within levels. Our results are consistent with guidelines for supportive and palliative care with advanced cancer, which specify that dying patients’ needs be assessed and that they be involved in decisions about their care

Assessment in senior secondary physical education. Questions of judgement

The ways in which various aspects of senior physical education courses should be assessed and whether some can, or indeed should be incorporated in external examinations, are matters of longstanding professional debate across Australia and internationally. Differences in current practice across Australasia reflect an ongoing lack of consensus about how assessment requirements and arrangements and particularly, examinations in senior physical education, can best address concerns to ensure validity, reliability, equity and feasibility. An issue never far from such debates is that of ‘professional judgement’ and more specifically, whether and how professional judgement does and/or should ‘come into play’ in assessment. This paper reports on research that has explored new approaches to examination assessment and marking in senior physical education, using digital technologies. It focuses specifically on the ways in which ‘professional judgement’ can be deemed to be inherent to two contrasting methods of assessment used in the project: ‘analytical standardsbased’ assessment and ‘comparative pairs’ assessment. Details of each method of assessment are presented. Data arising directly from assessors’ comments and from analysis which explored intermarker reliability for each method of assessment and compared results generated by internal teacher assessment, standards-based and comparative pairs assessment, is reported. Discussion explores whether the data arising can be seen as lending weight to arguments for (i) more faith to be placed in professional judgement and (ii) for the comparative pairs methods to be more widely employed in examination assessment in senior physical education

Share and share alike: Encouraging the reuse of academic resources through the Scottish electronic staff development library

This paper reports on the findings of a consultancy procedure conducted within the Scottish Higher Education staff development community and focusing on the reuse and sharing of communications and information technology resources for teaching and learning. While this consultancy was conducted primarily to inform the development of the Scottish electronic Staff Development Library (SeSDL), its findings, will be of relevance to colleagues working in the fields of staff development and C&IT and all those involved in the creation of shared teaching and learning resources. The consultancy identified general staff development demands, specific pedagogical requirements, and concerns relating to the provision, reuse and sharing of staff development resources. The SeSDL Project will attempt to address these demands through the development of a Web‐based resource centre, which will facilitate the reuse and sharing of high‐quality staff development resources. Library materials are stored in the form of granules which are branded with IMS compatible metadata and which are classified using a controlled educational taxonomy. Staff developers will be able to assemble these granular components to build customized lessons tailored to meet the needs of their own departments and institutions

High intensity interval training for people with Multiple Sclerosis: a systematic review

Background: Aerobic High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is safe in the general population and more efficient in improving fitness than continuous moderate intensity training. The body of literature examining HIIT in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is expanding but to date a systematic review has not been conducted. The aim of this review was to investigate the efficacy and safety of HIIT in people with MS. Methods: A systematic search was carried out in September 2017 in EMBASE, MEDline, PEDro, CENTRAL and Web of Science Core collections using appropriate keywords and MeSH descriptors. Reference lists of relevant articles were also searched. Articles were eligible for inclusion if they were published in English, used HIIT, and included participants with MS. Quality was assessed using the PEDro scale. The following data were extracted using a standardised form: study design and characteristics, outcome measures, significant results, drop-outs, and adverse events. Results: Seven studies (described by 11 articles) were identified: four randomised controlled trials, one randomised cross-over trial and two cohort studies. PEDro scores ranged from 3-8. Included participants (n=249) were predominantly mildly disabled; one study included only people with progressive MS. Six studies used cycle ergometry and one used arm ergometry to deliver HIIT. One study reported six adverse events, four which could be attributed to the intervention. The other six reported that there were no adverse events. Six studies reported improvements in at least one outcome measure, however there were 60 different outcome measures in the seven studies. The most commonly measured domain was fitness, which improved in five of the six studies measuring aspects of fitness. The only trial not to report positive results included people with progressive and a more severe level of disability (Extended Disability Status Scale 6.0-8.0). Conclusion: HIIT appears to be safe and effective in increasing fitness in people with MS and low levels of disability. Further research is required to explore the effectiveness of HIIT in people with progressive MS and in those with higher levels of disability

Principle and practice : an analysis of nineteenth and twentieth century euthanasia debates (1854-1969)

Such is the powerful, emotive nature of the subject of euthanasia that its reach stretches beyond the pages of specialised medical journals or the conference rooms of an interested few. Despite this, investigation into the historical origins of current euthanasia debates has, until very recently, been a neglected area of academic interest. Contemporary euthanasia debates are often presented in a manner where the values at stake are viewed as essentially a historical and my thesis seeks to address this imbalance.Beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing throughout the twentieth century, the medical profession and lay writers in Britain mobilised an array of philosophical and technical arguments in order either to support or oppose euthanasia. My thesis elucidates and explores these arguments, tracing them through two centuries of changing attitudes towards death, suffering and pain. The thesis starts by examining how powerful pain-relieving drugs that rendered the patient unconscious were adopted into the repertoire of nineteenth-century medical practice. Then, with the position of this new form of pain relief consolidated, the first lay demands for euthanasia surfaced in the form of proposals that the incurable, suffering patient be made irrevocably unconscious so as to secure a medically-managed, painless death.Moving into the twentieth century, the official line of the medical profession was one that defended the use of pain relief that potentially shortened life but contested any suggestion that death be brought about at the patient's request. However, by the middle of the twentieth century, support for legalised euthanasia was more sustained and organised. The question of pain - whether it could be relieved and how it was to be managed - was now entrenched in the debate over euthanasia. It was in this context that the hospice movement emerged, where sophisticated pain-relieving technologies were harnessed with a distinct ideology that rejected legalised euthanasia. As I explore at the end of my thesis, this provided an institutional 'solution' to the problem of how to care for the dying patient in pain as well as a template for an 'ideal' form of death that stood as an alternative to legalised euthanasia.Informed by the methodological approaches of history and sociology, my analysis incorporates close readings of unpublished archive literature, set alongside wider surveys of pertinent primary and secondary sources. I focus on the process of how the values and ideas connected with arguments over euthanasia were articulated, placing particular emphasis on the way in which the negotiation and interpretation of medical practice fed into debates about the management of death. Throughout the thesis, I examine how the concept of 'natural' death was mobilised in a variety of ways, serving as part of the rhetorical strategies used by those on both sides of the debate. I conclude that the medical profession's commitment to the Hippocratic principle, that the physician should not kill, involved the accommodation of medical interventions in order to relieve pain in the dying patient. At the same time, however, this tended to exclude any notion that such interventions disrupted the concept of 'natural' death. This negotiation between principle and practice, I contend, is central to understanding historical arguments over euthanasia and, indeed, remains an ongoing process underpinning the construction of current debates

Access, delivery and perceived efficacy of physiotherapy and use of complementary and alternative therapies by people with progressive multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom: an online survey

Introduction: All people with progressive MS in the United Kingdom should have access to physiotherapy through the National Health Service (NHS). However levels of access and delivery are unknown. Furthermore there is no research on perceived efficacy of physiotherapy or the use of complementary and alternative medicine in people with progressive MS in the United Kingdom. Methods: An online survey was carried out via the UK MS Register. Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of progressive MS, a member of UK MS Register and 18 years or older. The survey asked participants regarding access and delivery of physiotherapy; perceived efficacy of physiotherapy and interventions received; barriers to accessing physiotherapy and use of complementary and alternative medicine. The following additional data were supplied from the UK MS Register: demographics, EQ5D, MSIS-29 physical and psychological sub-scales and geographical data. Results: Total number of respondents was 1,298 from an identified 2,538 potential registrants: 87% could access physiotherapy services, 77% received physiotherapy from the NHS and 32% were currently receiving physiotherapy. The most common interventions received were home exercise programme (86%), exercises with a physiotherapist (74%) and advice/education (67%). 40% had recently used complementary and alternative medicine. Perceived efficacy of physiotherapy was high with 70% reporting it to be either ‘beneficial’ or ‘very beneficial’. Main barriers to accessing physiotherapy were mobility, fatigue, continence, transport issues, requiring someone to go with them and pain. Discussion: Access to physiotherapy was high with most people reporting it as beneficial. However 13% reported not having access indicating a gap in accessibility. Considering some of the barriers reported may allow physiotherapy services to address this gap in accessibility

DCC Digital Curation Manual: Instalment on Learning Object Metadata (LOM)

Instalment on the role of learning object metadata (LOM) within the digital curation life-cycle. Describes the increasingly important role of learning object metadata for the digital curation and re-use of educational resources, provides some practical applications, and describes the topic’s place within an international context

Innovating with Open Knowledge

Free and open access to the outputs of publicly‐funded research provides important social and economic benefits as well as being in line with the Government’s commitment to transparency and open data, and contributing to the global open movement more generally. Since the publication of the Finch report on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings and the Research Councils’ policy on Open Access, universities across the UK have increasingly made the outputs of their publicly funded research freely and openly available through open access journals, repositories and other channels. Open access makes research outputs freely accessible to all. It allows research to be disseminated quickly and widely, the research process to operate more efficiently, and has the potential to increase use and understanding of research by business, government, charities and the wider public. However it is not always easy for those outwith academia to know how to access these outputs, even though they are freely and openly available. In order to address this issue and to foster technology transfer and innovation, an IS Innovation Fund project has created a series of video interviews, case studies and learning resources called Innovating with Open Knowledge. These resources are aimed at creative individuals, private researchers, entrepreneurs and small to medium enterprises to provide guidance on how to find and access the open outputs of Higher Education. The resources focus on developing digital and data literacy skills and search strategies and feature case study interviews with creative individuals and entrepreneurs engaging with the University of Edinburgh’s world class research outputs. Innovating with Open Knowledge demonstrates how to find and use Open Access scholarly works, open research data, archival image collections, maker spaces and open source software, and features interviews about how these resources can be used to support creative writing, visual research, citizen science, community engagement, drug discovery and open architecture. All these resources are released under open licence and the videos can be downloaded for reuse from MediaHopper. A video of this presentation can be viewed at https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/0_omfloqm

Open Education and OER - A guide and call to action for policy makers

Executive Summary ALT has produced this call to action to highlight to education policy makers and professionals how Open Education and OER can expand inclusive and equitable access to education and lifelong learning, widen participation, and create new opportunities for the next generation of teachers and learners, preparing them to become fully engaged digital citizens. Open Education can also promote knowledge transfer while enhancing quality and sustainability, supporting social inclusion and creating a culture of inter-institutional collaboration and sharing. One of ALT’s three strategic aims is to increase the impact of Learning Technology for the wider community and we are issuing this call to action for policy makers to mandate that publicly funded educational resources are released under open licence to ensure that they reside in the public domain and are freely and openly available to all. This will be of wide benefit, but in particular will enable education providers and learning technology professionals to: Keep up to date with the rapid pace of technological innovation Develop critical, informed approaches to the implementation of Learning Technology and the impact on learners Scale up knowledge sharing and its benefits across sectors