"To question ever deeper who we were and who we are as a people and as a nation": A discourse analysis of public meaning-making about the Tuam babies in Letters to the Editors of The Irish Times

The Republic of Ireland had the highest rates of institutionalisation per capita outside of the Soviet Union in the twentieth century. Institutions such as Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries, Residential Schools acted as a form of identity management, in which those with a ‘spoiled identity’ were concealed from the front stage of Irish life. This included unmarried women and illegitimate children. Smith (2007) and others illustrate that institutionalisation was part of a collective identity project, in which the identity of the collective became more important than the fate of the individual who had deviated from the idealised version of morally Catholic citizenship. While approximately 23,000 babies were born in Mother and Baby Homes and tens of thousands of women resided within them to conceal pregnancies, the enduring legacy of concealment remains with few publicly speaking about their experiences. In 2014, this silence, which had long been relegated as taboo, was publicly highlighted by the reporting of 796 babies buried in a septic tank at a former mother and baby home. This paper explores through discourse analysis of data from Letters to the Editor of the Irish Times how public meaning-making about this past negotiates collective identity dilemmas, through the rhetorical strategies of interpretative repertoire of collective responsibility or togetherness, used in conjunction with affective rhetorical strategies. We discuss implications for the narrative identity of the Irish collective

Being Safe, Being Me: Results of the Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey

Cette étude a été financée par la subvention no MOP119472 des Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada, Institut de la santé des femmes et des hommes.Disponible en français dans EDUQ.info sous le titre "Être en sécurité, être soi-même : résultats de l’enquête canadienne sur la santé des jeunes trans".A national study by SARAVYC showed that while Canada’s transgender youth face significant physical and mental health issues, strong family, school and community connections help many of them navigate these challenges. The study, funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research and completed in collaboration with universities and health researchers across Canada, was the first and largest of its kind in Canada, with 923 individuals participating between the ages 14-25. They answered a range of questions in English or French on their home and school life, physical and mental health, access to health care, and gender identity. The report called for measures to improve the well-being of trans youth, including: improved support for families, so they can better understand and support their transgender children; developing safer, more inclusive schools; retooling health care to provide gender-affirming services for trans youth; and reducing health care disparities between provinces

Être en sécurité, être soi-même : résultats de l’enquête canadienne sur la santé des jeunes trans

Cette étude a été financée par la subvention no MOP119472 des Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada, Institut de la santé des femmes et des hommes.Disponible en anglais dans EDUQ.info sous le titre "Being Safe, Being Me: Results of the Canadian Trans Youth Health Survey

Long term outcome of cognitive behavior therapy for body dysmorphic disorder: a naturalistic case series of 1 to 4 years after a controlled trial

Background: There is some evidence for the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) after 1-6 months but none in the long-term. Aims: The aim of this study was to follow-up the participants in a randomized controlled trial of CBT versus anxiety management to determine whether or not the treatment gains were maintained over time. Method: Thirty of the original 39 participants who had CBT were followed up over 1-4 years and assessed using a number of clinician and self-report measures, which included the primary outcome measure of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale modified for BDD. Results: Outcome scores generally maintained over time from end of treatment to long-term follow-up. There was a slight deterioration from n=20 (51.3%) to n=18 (46.2%) who met improvement criteria at long-term follow-up. Eleven (28.2%) were in full remission and 22 (56.4%) were in partial remission. Conclusions: The gains made were generally maintained at long-term follow-up. However, there were a significant number of participants who maintained chronic symptoms after treatment and may need a longer-term or more complex intervention and active medication management

Pharmacists detecting atrial fibrillation in general practice: a qualitative focus group study

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects up to 10% of people aged ≥65 years, yet a third of all cases remain undetected. Practice-based pharmacists are in an ideal position to facilitate opportunistic AF screening, while increasing general practice capacity at a time of workforce crisis. Aim: To explore the perspectives of three stakeholder groups involved in the ‘Pharmacists Detecting Atrial Fibrillation’ (PDAF) study to elucidate the facilitators and barriers to pharmacist-led AF screening in general practice. Design & setting: A qualitative study took place, comprising homogeneous focus groups with stakeholders in Kent, UK. Method: The stakeholder groups — patients, general practice staff (GPS), and clinical pharmacists (CPs) — were recruited using convenience sampling. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed using a deductive Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) approach. Results: Twenty-five patients, four pharmacists, and nine practice staff participated in six focus groups. Three main themes were identified: knowledge and awareness; prioritisation of resources; and environmental considerations. The public’s lack of awareness of AF-related risks and pharmacist-led screening services was highlighted. Practice-based pharmacists were perceived as an underutilised educational resource which, together with novel electrocardiogram devices, enabled convenient access to screening while reducing GPs’ workload. Participants agreed that AF screening should be incorporated into personalised health checks and at-risk groups should be prioritised, such as care home residents. Patients favoured the general practice environment over the community pharmacy where concerns of privacy, staffing, and commercialisation were raised. Conclusion: The findings of this study support the introduction of pharmacist-led AF screening programmes in general practice surgeries. Commissioners should consider the added value of utilising CPs and focus on the delivery of AF screening within an integrated service

Selecting committee witnesses: experts back the call for a more even gender balance

Democratic Audit recently published a new report which analysed the identity of select committee witnesses in view of their increasing prominence and influence. Our research found that there was a substantial gender imbalance between those who speak in front of committees. We asked a number of democracy experts to give their views on the research, the reasons for this disparity, the consequences for women’s role in public life and what, if anything, can be done to address the problem

The Effect of Self-Focused Attention and Mood on Appearance Dissatisfaction after Mirror-Gazing: An Experimental Study

Background and objectives: Self-focused attention is hypothesized to be a maintenance factor in body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The aim of this study was to use an experimental paradigm to test this hypothesis by studying the effect of self-focused attention during mirror-gazing on appearance dissatisfaction. Methods: An experimental group design was used, in which 173 women were randomly allocated to one of three conditions before mirror-gazing for 2 min: (a) external focus of attention, (b) self-focus of attention, and (c) self-focus of attention with a negative mood induction. Results: After mirror-gazing, participants across all groups rated themselves as being more dissatisfied with their appearance. In both the self-focus conditions, there was an increase in sadness from pre to post mirror gazing, and there was a significant difference in focus of attention for participants in the self-focused, mood-induced group from pre to post manipulation, suggesting mood induction had more of an effect than focus of attention. Limitations: (1) there was no condition involving an external focus with a negative mood induction, and (2) due to the level of information provided to patients on the nature of the task, we cannot rule out demand characteristics as an influencing factor on our results. Conclusions: Self-focused attention during mirror-gazing may act indirectly to increase appearance dissatisfaction via the effect of negative mood. Further studies are required to establish the relative contribution of self-focused attention and negative mood to increases in appearance dissatisfaction as a function of mirror-gazing