Supported work experience and its impact on young people with intellectual disabilities, their families and employers

Purpose – The Real Opportunities project set out to implement a number of the approaches identified through research that can assist transition to adulthood in nine local authority areas in Wales. Supported work experience was delivered by small job coaching teams in each area. The purpose of this paper is to establish the impact of the work experience and employment teams by describing the placements provided, any change in the skills of young people, and the responses to the placements by employers, young people and their families. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected over 24 months by participating employment services. Questionnaires were administered to employers. Interviews were carried out with a sub-sample of young people (24) participating and a family member (25). Findings – Over a 24-month period 297 young people received supported work experience. In total, 262 young people had an intellectual disability, 35 an autistic spectrum disorder. Up to three placements were delivered to each person, averaging five weeks per placement, with 405 placements in total. In total, 62 per cent of those with two placements had a different category of second work placement to their first. These numbers demonstrated that work experience in community placements is possible with support. Young people improved work skills significantly between first and second placements. Employers reported high satisfaction rates with the young person’s work in a range of key performance areas and company benefits from participation for other staff, company image and customer relations. Interviews with 24 young people and 25 of their family members reported satisfaction with support and placements. Six young people had paid work now, and 33 per cent said they would get a job at some future time. Families reported changes in young person’s outlook but their view of prospects of employment remained pessimistic due to the external environment. Research limitations/implications – Implications for future research are discussed. Practical implications – Implications for transition are discussed. Originality/value – The paper provides new insight into the impact of a large number of supported work experience placements

The mentally healthy society: The report of the taskforce on mental health in society

The Taskforce on Mental Health in Society is an independent taskforce that met from Spring 2013 to Autumn 2014. The Chair was Sir Stephen O’Brien and the Deputy Chair was Liz Meek. The Taskforce was established by Ed Miliband in his speech to the Royal College of Psychiatrists in late 2012, and was asked to set out a roadmap for how society needs to change to prevent mental health problems and promote good mental health and to look at how we can support fuller integration into the wider community of those affected by or recovering from mental health problems

Experimental approaches to establish rat embryonic stem cells

The rat has been an established experimental animal model within many areas of biological investigation for over one hundred years due to its size, breeding characteristics, and knowledge of its physiology and behaviour. In recent years its status as a leading biomedical model has been somewhat surpassed by the mouse. This is largely the result of the isolation and application of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. Mouse ES cells have the capacity for unlimited self-renew in vitro whilst maintaining pluripotency and germline competence, and most importantly are amenable to sophisticated reverse genetics strategies such as gene targeting, which have provided a route to germ line modification. Thus far, the derivation of rat ES cells has proved elusive. The generation of rat ES cells would therefore facilitate equivalent applications to rat genetics and significantly strengthen the rat as an experimental model system. Previous attempts to derive rat ES cells led to the isolation of rat ES-like cells. However, whilst these cells exhibit extensive self-renew in vitro, it was known that they fail to maintain significant levels of the key functional ES cell marker Oct4 and do not contribute to chimeras. Rather, these cells express the trophectoderm markers Cdx2 and CyclinD3, and have been termed ExS cells due to their probable extra-embryonic nature. In the work described in this thesis, further investigation of ExS cells revealed the absence of expression of the key pluripotency gene Nanog, although the expression pattern of Nanog in the rat embryo was shown to be similar to that of mouse. It was hypothesised that expression of exogenous Oct4 and Nanog or Sox2 genes could facilitate reprogramming of ExS cells into a 'true' ES cell state. Initial work described in this thesis demonstrated that it was possible to introduce transgenes into rat ExS cells and obtain stable transformants with long term transgene expression. On this basis Oct 4, Nanog and Sox2 transgene expression vectors were constructed and stably integrated into ExS cells, and transgene expression verified. However, no reactivation of an endogenous gene expression profile, characteristic of a true ES cell-like state, was observed in any of the transgenic lines produced. Concurrent with work on ExS cells, investigations by others using chemically defined, serum-free medium containing small molecule inhibitors of MEK and GSK3 (called 3i/2i medium) had demonstrated that it was possible to readily isolate mouse ES cells, even from strains known to be refractory to ES cell isolation. Therefore, the ability of this culture system to facilitate rat ES cell derivation was investigated. Rat 3i/2i cell lines were established from ICM outgrowths of Fischer, DA and Sprague Dawley E4.5 rat embryos. These cells maintained expression of Oct4 and Nanog and could generate complex teratomas consisting of all three germ layers. They were distinct from epiblast stem cells (EpiSC) in that they expressed Klf4, Rex1 and Stella and most importantly, they could contribute to the formation of adult chimaeras and demonstrated germline competency. Isolation of these authentic rat ES cells paves the way for gene targeting in the rat, a development that should greatly facilitate new biomedical discoveries

UK local authority attitudes to Park and Ride

Although the implementation activity within UK local government would suggest that bus-based Park and Ride (P&R) is considered popular, little evidence exists which tests this assumption empirically or explores the constituent elements of this popularity. In addition, a growing body of evidence indicates that P&R may increase the vehicle miles travelled (VMT) of its users. This paper reports on a recent survey of UK local authorities, both with and without current P&R provision, to understand the reasons behind its popularity and the level of recognition of its effectiveness in reducing car use. Particular consideration is given to the relationship between P&R and conventional public transport (particularly bus) services, as the transfer of passengers from these has a significant impact on the effectiveness of P&R. The potential future growth of P&R is also considered. The results suggest a number of divergences with the empirical evidence, particularly with regards the traffic effects of P&R. It is strongly predicted to grow but there is support for implementing P&R in ways that may increase its effectiveness

The role of bus-based Park and Ride in the UK : a temporal and evaluative review

The number of bus-based Park and Ride schemes in the UK has grown substantially over the past 40 years as a result of its encouragement by the Government as a tool to deal with increasing traffic congestion and traffic-related pollution. The aim of this paper is to analyse the degree to which Park and Ride is effective in the contemporary policy context. The authors identify phases of development of Park and Ride since its emergence as a local solution to transport capacity constraints in historic towns. Policy goals are identified against which a review of literature is used to highlight its effectiveness. It is concluded that Park and Ride may increase the distance travelled by its users due to low load factors on dedicated buses, public transport abstraction and trip generation, although it is highlighted that there are areas in which further research is required to clarify its impacts

Evaluating alternative concepts of bus-based park and ride

Whilst it has been used since the 1960s, the UK government have promoted bus-based Park and Ride (P&R) particularly heavily over the last 20 years as a tool to deal with traffic congestion and air pollution. There has long since been a view however that P&R in its current guise may actually be exacerbating the problems of traffic congestion, fuel use and emissions instead of mitigating them. This paper aims to reconsider this proposition whilst also testing a range of alternative forms of car–bus interchange in the context of traffic reduction, drawing on evidence from a large survey of P&R users in Cambridge, UK. Overall the results suggest that while current P&R significantly increases the vehicle miles travelled by its users, some of the alternative models presented potentially offer considerable improvements

Stakeholder perspectives on the current and future roles of UK bus-based Park and Ride

UK bus-based Park and Ride (P&R) has increased significantly in popularity over the past 40 years although there are doubts over its role in reducing car use. This paper presents the findings from interviews with eight key stakeholders involved in UK P&R, which sought to provide insights into the popularity of P&R, particularly at the local government level, its success, and how the concept of P&R can be developed in the future to improve its role in reducing car use whilst maintaining its popularity. It is suggested that there are a range of goals for the use of P&R which extend beyond traffic reduction. It is discussed how there may be potential to develop the concept, particularly by decentralising P&R sites and developing their role as interchanges for public transport

Park and ride: Lessons from the UK experience

Park and Ride schemes using dedicated bus services have become particularly popular over the last 40 years with UK policymakers. This popularity can largely be attributed to the UK policy context and the advocating of Park and Ride to tackle increasing car use, congestion and traffic-related emissions. The aim of this paper is to use existing evidence on the degree to which this has been achieved and provide lessons on how bus-based Park and Ride can be used effectively. From this, lessons are provided that will benefit stakeholders internationally on the use of dedicated link-mode Park and Ride schemes operating at the edge of urban areas. It is found that although Park and Ride has been popular amongst motorists, it has also attracted users of existing public transport services and has generated additional trips, resulting in a counter-productive effect. It is concluded that for Park and Ride to be successful, it should be implemented in tandem with other supply-side measures and alongside sufficiently rigorous restraint instruments. Also, despite the use of frequent and dedicated bus-link services providing a key feature that attracts motorists who would not otherwise use public transport, their use needs to be carefully monitored to avoid low load-factors decreasing levels of efficiency