Selfies evaluation : final report

Sheffield Hallam University (Eleanor Formby) and the University of Sunderland (Professor Catherine Donovan), working in collaboration, evaluated the Selfies project, run by Projects Galore (a community interest company based in Newcastle) Selfies was a two year arts-based project that worked with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) young people in the North East to celebrate strong peer relationships, and help them recognise and resist domestic violence, abuse and sexual exploitation Evaluation activities included: a ‘pre-Selfies’ self-completion survey of participants; a ‘pre-Selfies’ focus group with participants in one location; a survey of young people at Newcastle Pride in 2015; a ‘post-Selfies’ self-completion survey of participants; individual interviews with Selfies workers and associated staff; ‘post-Selfies’ interviews with project participants

Pharmacy Placements in General Practice

Description: The role of pharmacists in General Practice has received increasing attention, with the RPS, RCGP and the NHS Alliance all coming out in support and promoting the role that pharmacists can play. However, in order for pharmacists to fulfil this role, it is important that they understand the general practice environment and the needs and opportunities for pharmacists. It is equally important that pharmacists practising in community pharmacy and hospital pharmacy also understand the general practice setting in order that they can optimise how they work with GPs to support transfer of care and enable patients to understand and effectively manage their long term conditions and medication. By understanding the processes and priorities of general practice, pharmacy students entering any sector of practice should be able to better work with general practice as part of a multidisciplinary and cross-care boundary team. At the University of Sunderland, an Academic Practitioner post was created in collaboration with Sunderland CCG, enabling an opportunity for undergraduate professional placements to be delivered in general practice. It was decided that the placement would fit best at Stage 3 of the MPharm programme at the University of Sunderland, linking with clinical topics such as diabetes which are introduced at this stage, and using a clinical topic which had been covered previously, COPD (covered in Stage 2) to introduce the new concept of the Quality and Outcomes Framework and to also contribute to spiral learning. There had been previously been success in using a rotational ‘station’ based model of placement delivery as part of the MPharm programme with other providers and a similar model was adopted for the general practice placements. Students rotated around four ‘stations’ which included: • Exploring the role of a general practice administrator • Observing a practice nurse clinic for chronic conditions • A diabetes case study utilising a general practice clinical system • An introduction to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) Process or Method of Implementation: Requests for general practices to deliver placements were presented at local training events and via email using SCCG networks. A briefing sheet which included the requirements of the practice to deliver the placements was created and distributed to ensure that practices could deliver the placements as designed. The format and materials for placement delivery were designed by the link post, general practices and a primary care medicines optimisation service provider which was procured to support placement delivery. GP practice support pharmacists facilitated the placements. Challenges faced and learning points: Learning points • Protocols can be used to build patient profiles in EMIS Web for case studies • Utilising a medicines optimisation provider enabled smoother and more authentic delivery of placements • Students valued the opportunity to see patients in practice nurse clinics • The opportunity to use a GP clinical system was noted by students as being a useful exercise • Spending time with general practice administration staff provided insight into repeat prescription processes and appointments which they could reconcile with their community pharmacy placement experiences Challenges • Practice nurse clinics did sometimes not often run for long enough to accommodate all rotations of the placement • Accommodating 2 students within a consultation room for observation was sometimes difficult due to space restrictions in rooms • Students were often more proficient than anticipated at working through case studies, so these will be expanded for the next iteration of placements Summary of perceived benefits to patients, pharmacy and the NHS: Pharmacy undergraduates have had an introduction to the general practice environment which will support future multidisciplinary and cross-boundary working regardless of future setting. The placement may increase the number of pharmacists entering general practice based roles following registration

Domestic Violence and Sexuality

This book provides the first detailed discussion of domestic violence and abuse in same sex relationships, offering a unique comparison between this and domestic violence and abuse experienced by heterosexual women and men. It examines how experiences of domestic violence and abuse may be shaped by gender, sexuality and age, including whether and how victims/survivors seek help, and asks, what’s love got to do with it? A pioneering methodology, using both quantitative and qualitative research, provides a reliable and valid approach that challenges the heteronormative model in domestic violence research, policy and practice. The authors develops a new framework of analysis – practices of love – to explore empirical data

Domestic Violence and Sexuality

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence This book provides the first detailed discussion of domestic violence and abuse in same sex relationships, offering a unique comparison between this and domestic violence and abuse experienced by heterosexual women and men. It examines how experiences of domestic violence and abuse may be shaped by gender, sexuality and age, including whether and how victims/survivors seek help, and asks, what’s love got to do with it? A pioneering methodology, using both quantitative and qualitative research, provides a reliable and valid approach that challenges the heteronormative model in domestic violence research, policy and practice. The authors develops a new framework of analysis – practices of love – to explore empirical data. Outlining the implications of the research for practice and service development, the book will be of interest to policy makers and practitioners in the field of domestic violence, especially those who provide services for sexual minorities, as well as students and academics interested in issues of domestic and interpersonal violence

‘I wasn’t aware at the time, I could actually say “no”': intimacy, expectations, and consent in queer relationships

Drawing on interview data collected in three projects exploring domestic abuse in LGB and/or T+ people’s intimate relationships, this chapter examines sexual consent in LGB and/or T+ people’s abusive relationships through a queer lens. Three themes are considered. First, Catherine Donovan and Marianne Hester’s two ‘relationship rules’ underpinning abusive relationships are applied. These determine that the relationship is for the abusive partner and on their terms; and that the victim/survivor is responsible for everything, including their partner’s abusive behaviour. Participants’ accounts show how these relationship rules can delegitimate victim/survivors’ attempts to exercise consent and conversely legitimate non-consensual sex. Second, Carole Pateman’s ‘sexual contract’ is drawn upon to demonstrate how abusive partners mandate sex whenever and however they wish, while victimised partners feel duty-bound to acquiesce. This, it is argued, reproduces cis-heteronormative sexual scripts based on public stories about love and intimacy and conventionally gendered binaries such as initiator/follower. Third, accounts demonstrating how more experienced LGB and/or T+ partners can exercise experiential power to instil norms about sex and intimacy are analysed. It is concluded that these abusive practices frame the context in which sexual victimisation occurs in LGB and/or T+ people’s intimate relationships and inhibit victims/survivors from recognising and naming sexual violence.</p

Nutritional Status and Malaria: An Ancillary Study to the Asembo Bay Cohort Project

Malaria and malnutrition remain major causes of morbidity and mortality among children under five. The associations between 1) malnutrition and subsequent asymptomatic parasitemia or clinical malaria and 2) multiple malaria infections and subsequent growth, were assessed among 18,028 visits from 1,182 children 30 months and younger using data from the Asembo Bay Cohort Project (ABCP). ABCP was a longitudinal study that collected information on children under five from 1992 to 1996 in an intense malaria transmission area of western Kenya. Infants were enrolled at birth and followed until loss to follow up, death, the end of the study, or five years of age. Anthropometric measures and blood specimens were obtained at monthly intervals. Anthropometric measures included calculated Z-scores for height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ) and weight-for-height (WHZ). Clinical malaria (parasitemia with fever) and asymptomatic parasitemia (parasites without fever) were assessed with thick and thin blood films. Multinomial and linear generalized estimating equation models were used to estimate odds ratios for the association between malnutrition and malaria outcomes, and differences in mean Z-score following a one episode increase in cumulative malaria infection. Missing observations were accounted for through a combination of multiple imputation and inverse probability weighting. Stunting and underweight showed a modest association with subsequent asymptomatic parasitemia. The prevalence odds ratios for asymptomatic parasitemia increased from 1.07 (0.89, 1.29) to 1.35 (1.03, 1.76) as stunting severity increased from mild to severe, and the prevalence odds ratio increased from 1.16 (1.02, 1.33) to 1.35 (1.09, 1.66) as underweight increased from mild to moderate. Given the association between malnutrition and asymptomatic parasitemia, testing asymptomatic malnourished children for malaria should be considered. The association between cumulative malaria and malnutrition varied with age. An increase in cumulative malaria was associated with a limited decrease in subsequent mean HAZ and WHZ among children under 18 months. Among children 24-30 months, cumulative malaria was associated with a limited increase in mean HAZ. Multiple malaria infections may lead to consistent diversion and loss of nutrients, resulting in a decrease in subsequent mean HAZ and WAZ in very young children.Doctor of Philosoph

Changes in public health preparedness services provided to local health departments by regional offices in North Carolina: a comparison of two cross-sectional studies

Background: In 2011, seven decentralized Public Health Regional Surveillance Teams (PHRSTs) were restructured into four centralized Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHP&R) regional offices to realign preparedness priorities and essential services with appropriate infrastructure; field-based staff was reduced, saving approximately $1 million. The objective of this study was to understand the impact that restructuring had on services provided to local health departments (LHDs) throughout North Carolina. Methods: A survey to document services that regional offices provide to LHDs in North Carolina was administered by the North Carolina Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center in 2013. The results were compared to a similar survey from 2009, which identified services provided by regional teams prior to restructuring. Results: Of 69 types of assistance, 14 (20%) were received by 50% or more LHDs in 2012. Compared to 2009, there was a significant decrease in the proportion of LHDs receiving 67% (n = 47) of services. The size of the region served by regional offices was shown to inversely impact the proportion of LHDs receiving services for 25% of services. There was a slight significant decline in perceived quality of the services provided by regional teams in 2012 as comparison to 2009. Conclusions: Following a system-wide review of preparedness in North Carolina, the state’s regional teams were reorganized to refine their focus to planning, exercises, and training. Some services, most notably under the functions of epidemiology and surveillance and public health event response, are now provided by other state offices. However, the study results indicate that several services that are still under the domain of the regional offices were received by fewer LHDs in 2012 than 2009. This decrease may be due to the larger number of counties now served by the four regional offices