Suchergebnisse

Understanding how to better support older people living in care homes is imperative for improving their wellbeing and quality of life. Despite this, little research has explored how support networks are structured and composed for individual residents. This study aimed to explore how, and by whom, residents felt they were supported, and how this support influenced their experiences of social isolation within the care home. The study included 36 residents from seven care homes located in the Scottish central belt in 2018. This article uses egocentric network analysis to analyse the structure and composition of the support networks, while a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews resulted in themes exploring how a resident's support network impacts their social isolation within the care home. Findings indicated that residents' most supportive alters were adult children, while staff members were only nominated as providing support in one third of support networks, despite most residents needing specialised care every day. Ambiguous relationships within residents' support networks lead to feelings of social isolation, as well as adding to residents' isolating behaviour. This suggests that national care frameworks, such as person‐centred care frameworks, which advocate for coordinated support between residents, relatives, and staff are not being implemented effectively and that more needs to be done to break down barriers to inclusion for care home residents.

A university education is often regarded as a means for increasing social mobility, with attendance at a leading university seen as a pathway to an advantaged socio-economic status. However, inequalities are observable in attendance levels at leading UK universities, with children from less advantaged backgrounds less likely to attend the top universities (generally known as the Russell Group institutions). In this paper, we explore the different levels of assistance provided to state school children in preparing for their university applications. Guidance teachers and pupils at a range of Scottish state schools were interviewed. We find that inequalities exist in the cultivation of guidance provided by state schools, with high attainment schools focusing on preparing applicants to be desirable to leading universities, whilst low attainment schools focus on persuading their students that university is desirable.

Gangs became a major concern of law enforcement and the public in the late 1980s and remain so in the first half of the 1990s. One response for addressing the problem has been the development and dissemination of a prevention program called Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT). This program is similar to the popular Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program of the 1980s. No published evaluations exist about GREAT although there have been numerous evaluations of DARE. The latter show that DARE has a very small effect on the drug behavior of children. This research reports an evaluation of GREAT in several sites in the United States that show that it also has a very small effect on children. However, as is the case with DARE, GREAT will continue because of the powerful symbolic political and public relations utility it has for various stakeholders.

Exposure to stressful and potentially traumatic experiences is a risk for military personnel and for some this may increase susceptibility to reduced well-being. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of preventative interventions to promote the well-being of military personnel adjusting to civilian life. Electronic databases were searched including MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, PubMed, PILOTS, PAIS International, CENTRAL, HMIC, Project Cork, in addition to US and UK defence libraries. Nine articles, all conducted in the USA, were included in the review. Articles were synthesised narratively and assessed for bias against established criteria. The studies evaluated the effectiveness of interventions for current and former military personnel. The interventions included expressive writing, anger management, psycho-education, and techniques to promote relaxation, connection in relationships and resilience. Interventions had some significant positive effects mostly for veterans adjusting to civilian life and other family members. There was much heterogeneity in the design and the outcome measures used in the studies reviewed. The review highlights the need for future robust trials examining the effectiveness of well-being interventions in military groups with diverse characteristics; in addition qualitative research to explore a conceptualisation of well-being for this group and the acceptability of interventions which may be perceived as treatment. The results of the review will be of interest to a number of stakeholders in military, public health and mental health settings.

Purpose: Clinicians and fitness professionals are increasingly recommending the use of activity trackers. This study compares commercially available activity tracking devices for step and distance accuracy in common exercise settings. Design: Cross sectional. Setting: Rochester, Minnesota. Participants: Thirty-two men (n = 10) and women (n = 22) participated in the study. Measures: Researchers manually counted steps and measured distance for all trials, while participants wore 6 activity tracking devices that measured steps and distance. Analysis: We computed the difference between the number of steps measured by the device and the actual number of steps recorded by the observers, as well as the distance displayed by the device and the actual distance measured. Results: The analyses showed that both the device and walking trials affected the accuracy of the results (steps or distance, P < .001). Hip-based devices were more accurate and consistent for measuring step count. No significant differences were found among devices or locations for the distance measured. Conclusions: Hip-based activity tracking devices varied in accuracy but performed better than their wrist-based counterparts for step accuracy. Distance measurements for both types of devices were more consistent but lacked accuracy.