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Livestreaming and filming death rites and funeral ceremonies to enable remote engagement proliferated rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many expect these options to remain prevalent going forward. This paper draws on interviews with a diverse UK sample of 68 bereaved people, funeral directors, officiants and celebrants. It illustrates how, and explains why, people's experiences and evaluations of hybrid funerals can vary. In a context when in-person gatherings were limited, hybridisation played a valuable role in enabling more people to engage with funerals. However, virtual attendance was often considered less satisfying than in-person attendance because it did not enable people to participate well in the funeral activities that mattered to them or to participate with others as they would in person. Scope for participation was partly contingent on the functionality and use made of technology, including whether and which steps were taken to facilitate engagement and a sense of connection for those joining online. People's evaluations of hybrid funerals could also reflect their relationships to the deceased and their frames of reference – for example, whether they were comparing virtual attendance to attending in person, or to being unable to attend at all, or to an overwhelmingly large funeral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2023, the UK Government published its long-awaited reform strategy for England's children's social care system. Whilst the strategy set out planned reforms for several aspects of the wider system, an area requiring particular 'priority' was the purported workforce instability seen within child protection social work. However, the strategy has subsequently faced criticism on the basis that the suggested reforms were not satisfactorily informed by the testimonies of practicing social workers. This paper draws from a mixed-method study to report on the lived experiences of a sample of 201 child protection social workers practicing across England, in the context of better understanding the factors which they believed were impacting on workforce stability within England's child protection system. Implications that emerge are the need for an increase in the monetary commitment offered by the UK Government (especially in the context of tackling high caseloads, and improving local authority pay scales to reduce the allure of agency work); a targeted emphasis on challenging local cultures preoccupied with evidencing compliance over time spent with children; and the Government taking a more assertive role in tackling the often-counterproductive commentary perpetuated by politicians and media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol marketing influences drinking practices, and this helps shape how gender identities are constructed. This paper presents research exploring how women who are sober manage and negotiate their non-drinking and sober identities in neo-liberal contexts that market alcohol products and consumption as a defining feature of feminine identities. Semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 15) and online content produced by sober women active in the positive sobriety community on the social media platform Instagram were analysed using thematic analysis. Women negotiated marketing messages within their everyday experiences of sobriety, with associations between drinking and motherhood, female friendship and empowerment, discussed as impacting their drinking, lived experience and sense of self. They negotiated such messages, and created alternative ways of 'doing femininity' as sober women, through distancing themselves from their previous drinking identities; rejecting, reworking and countering marketing that links alcohol use to femininity; and alternative consumption practices. Instagram allowed women to publicly critique and counter marketing messages in ways that unlinked alcohol use, but not consumption more generally, from femininity, in traditional and news ways. Marketing regulation should consider how those experiencing problematic alcohol use may be particularly vulnerable to marketing messages, in ways that are gendered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Talking about death and dying is promoted in UK health policy and practice, from a perception that to do so encourages people to plan for their end of life and so increase their likelihood of experiencing a good death. This encouragement occurs alongside a belief that members of the public are reluctant to talk about death, although surveys suggest this is not the case. This paper describes findings from a research study in which people participated in deliberative discussion groups during which they talked about a range of topics related to death, including talking about death, the good death, choice and planning and compassionate communities. Here we report what they had to say in relation to talking about death and dying. We identified three themes: 1. The difference between talking about death as an abstract concept and confronting the certainty of death, 2. how death and dying presents issues for planning and responsibility, and 3. approaches to normalising death within society. For our participants, planning was considered most appropriate in relation to wills and funerals, while dying was considered too unpredictable to be easy to plan for; they had complex ideas about the value of talking about death and dying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moral thinking and communication are critical competencies for confronting social dilemmas in a challenging world. We examined these moral competencies in 70 college students and graduates from Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Participants were assessed through semi-structured written interviews, Facebook group discussions, and a questionnaire. In this paper, we describe the similarities and differences across cultural groupings in (1) the social issues of greatest importance to the participants; (2) the factors influencing their approaches to thinking about social issues and communicating with others; and (3) the characteristics of their moral functioning in terms of moral awareness, moral judgment, moral discourse, and moral decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper presents qualitative research findings from the evaluation of a Parkinson's Dance well-being venture in the UK. Methods: Qualitative data was gathered to see how bespoke dancing sessions helped people with Parkinson's (PwP) to manage their conditions and improve their lives and prospects. Principles of a participatory approach were incorporated and methods included semi-structured interviewing, researchers participant observation and an elicitation-based activity. Nineteen PwP, six carers, four dance artists and seven helpers participated in the study. Results: Participating in Parkinson's Dance sessions meant that PwP could experience the possibilities to dance, develop a "can do" attitude, experience fun, enjoyment, social connection, exercise, movement to music, improvement and/or maintenance of their balance, suppleness, coordination and confidence with movement, symptoms being pushed back and ability to learn new things. Conclusions: Our findings add to the evidence-base about the benefits of dance for people experiencing Parkinson's and through novel application of the Life-world based well-being framework of K. T. Galvin and Todres (2011) we propose a theoretical basis for Parkinson's Dance as a resource for well-being. There is scope to consider application of the well-being framework to other arts activities and as the basis of an arts and well-being evaluation tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an innovative interprofessional education (IPE) initiative conducted in three care homes across Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom (UK). Students from a variety of professions including nursing, physiotherapy, social work, podiatry, counseling, and sports rehabilitation worked collaboratively in the homes to address the residents' individual goals. We found that care homes provided students with many opportunities for interprofessional working and learning. Through better understanding the dimensions of different perspectives and approaches, students improved their education and transformed their perceptions of aged care. Having a diverse range of professionals allowed staff to gain insight into the latest evidence-based practice and address the multiple needs of the residents more holistically. Residents gained an enriched sense of meaning and purpose in their daily life by engaging in fulfilling and meaningful activities. The complexities of undertaking an IPE initiative in this setting are also considered and we conclude by proposing important avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is often referred to as a complex problem embedded in a complex system. Despite this insight, interventions in AMR, and in particular in antibiotic prescribing, tend to be narrowly focused on the behaviour of individual prescribers using the tools of performance monitoring and management rather than attempting to bring about more systemic change. In this paper, we aim to elucidate the nature of the local antibiotic prescribing 'system' based on 71 semi-structured interviews undertaken in six local areas across the United Kingdom (UK). We applied complex systems theory and systems mapping methods to our qualitative data to deepen our understanding of the interactions among antibiotic prescribing interventions and the wider health system. We found that a complex and interacting set of proximal and distal factors can have unpredictable effects in different local systems in the UK. Ultimately, enacting performance management-based interventions in the absence of in-depth contextual understandings about other pressures prescribers face is a recipe for temporary solutions, waning intervention effectiveness, and unintended consequences. We hope our insights will enable policy makers and academics to devise and evaluate interventions in future in a manner that better reflects and responds to the dynamics of complex local prescribing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use a UK case study to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health (emotional, psychological, social wellbeing) of farmers. We outline the drivers of poor farming mental health, the manifold impacts of the pandemic at a time of policy and environmental change, and identify lessons that can be learned to develop resilience in farming communities against future shocks. We undertook a survey answered by 207 farmers across the UK, focusing on drivers of poor mental health and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also conducted 22 in-depth interviews with individuals in England, Scotland and Wales who provide mental health support to farmers. These explored how and why the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health of farmers. These interviews were supplemented by 93 survey responses from a similar group of support providers (UK-wide). We found that the pandemic exacerbated underlying drivers of poor mental health and wellbeing in farming communities. 67% of farmers surveyed reported feeling more stressed, 63% felt more anxious, 38% felt more depressed, and 12% felt more suicidal. The primary drivers of poor mental health identified by farmers during the pandemic included decreased social contact and loneliness, issues with the general public on private land, and moving online for social events. Support providers also highlighted relationship and financial issues, illness, and government inspections as drivers of poor mental health. Some farmers, conversely, outlined positive impacts of the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is just one of many potential stressors associated with poor farming mental health and its impacts are likely to be long-lasting and delayed. Multiple stressors affecting farmers at the same time can create a tipping point. Therefore, there is a need for long-term support and ongoing evaluation of the drivers of poor mental health in farming families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of major social security reform on mental health claimants by analysing the transition to Personal Independence Payment in the UK. Personal Independence Payment was introduced in April 2013, replacing Disability Living Allowance as the main non-means tested disability benefit intended to assist with the additional costs associated with disability or long-term health conditions. It is important to gain a better understanding of how people with mental health problems have experienced this reform. Twelve service users were interviewed for this qualitative research. Analysis identified three main themes: problems with the Personal Independence Payment claims process; problems conveying mental health problems during the assessment process; and positive experiences associated with the transition to Personal Independence Payment. This research demonstrates that major changes in benefit policy are challenging for people with mental health problems, particularly when delivered in a climate of austerity. The UK Government has changed the main disability benefit for disabled adults. From April 2013, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) has been phased out and replaced by Personal Independence Payment (PIP). This research found that this significant change caused difficulties for people with mental health problems. Everyone who took part reported increased anxiety, problems with claiming PIP, communicating with benefit officials and the medical assessment. It is important to learn from these problems so that future benefit changes, both in the UK and in other countries, can be developed and rolled-out in ways which are more appropriate for people with mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how, in the midst of changing political times, some characteristics of HIV activism are changing, and suggests the relevance of these shifts for other fields of health activism. Despite the UK achieving UNAIDS's '90–90-90ʹ testing and treatment goals, many in the UK lack up-to-date HIV knowledge and retain stigmatising attitudes, and some areas of testing failure remain. In response, people with HIV and HIV organisations are generating imaginative, collaborative projects that indicate effective contemporary forms of health activism may, as other critical health research suggests, be decentred, participatory, multimodal, affective, and implicit. The paper describes a 2016 HIV NGO-run comedy event directed at HIV awareness which was researched via qualitative pre- and post-measures, and two-month follow-up interviews. Findings pointed to strong effects of comedy, as enjoyment and 'break' in HIV thinking, feeling, and action; of a one-off event's emotionality and particularity; and of performance in generating collectivity and HIV citizenship. The paper discusses the potential transferability of these findings to other health activisms, particularly around stigmatised conditions. It argues that such strategies of emotionality, multi-modality, and solidarity in a performance event can work as implicit activism for changing times, generating social change via a doubled politics of resistance and alterity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many migrant groups, particularly those that are politically and economically marginalised, such as asylum seekers and refugees (ASRs), face inequities in access to health care as well as poorer physical and mental health outcomes. The role of post-arrival experiences in contributing to these inequities is increasingly being explored, and it is suggested that being a migrant is itself a determinant of health outcomes. Drawing on the theoretical concept of structural vulnerability, this paper explores ASRs' experiences of health, wellbeing, and health practices in the context of their lived realities in Scotland. 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with ASRs from Sub-Saharan Africa between January and December 2015. Data were explored using thematic analysis. Experience of the UK asylum system, both alone and in conjunction with other sources of vulnerability including racism, poverty, and language barriers had a negative and ongoing impact on the physical and mental health of ASRs. These impacts continued, even once refugee status was obtained. Efforts to engage ASRs in preventive health programmes and practices must take into account the ways in which the asylum system acts as a determinant of health, affecting both what it means to be healthy and what capacity individuals have to engage with their health. Political choices in how the asylum process is enacted have far-reaching implications for individual and population health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the usability and acceptability of the Mental Capacity Assessment Support Toolkit (MCAST) in healthcare settings and whether its use was associated with increased legal compliance and assessor confidence. A mixed methods convergence triangulation model was used. Multidisciplinary professionals used the MCAST during mental capacity assessments for UK hospital patients with diagnoses of stroke or acute or chronic cognitive impairment. Changes in legal compliance were investigated by comparing scores on case note audits before and after implementation of the MCAST. Changes in assessor confidence and professionals' perceptions of the MCAST's usability and acceptability were explored using surveys. Patients' and family members' views on acceptability were determined using semi-structured interviews. Data were integrated using triangulation. Twenty-one professionals, 17 patients and two family members participated. Use of the MCAST was associated with significant increases in legal compliance and assessor confidence. Most professionals found the MCAST easy to use and beneficial to their practice and patients. Patients and family members found the MCAST materials acceptable. The MCAST is the first toolkit to support the needs of individuals with communication disabilities during mental capacity assessments. It enables assessors to deliver high quality, legally compliant and confident practice. Mental capacity assessment practice needs to be improved to maximise patient autonomy, safety and well-being. The MCAST is a paper-based toolkit designed to facilitate and improve mental capacity practice in England and Wales. This study suggests the MCAST would be easy and acceptable to use in healthcare settings and could lead to improvements in assessment quality and assessor confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Complexity' is theorised as a characteristic of modern food systems that poses a challenge to improving population diets. This paper seeks to explore the discursive deployment of 'complexity' in the context of public health. Doing so helps inform a more critical assessment of commercial and political determinants of health, and of 'complexity' as a prevailing frame for public health issues. Qualitative methods were used to explore 'responsibility' for healthy eating in the food system in the United Kingdom. Discourse analysis was conducted on corporate and government documents, and interviews with industry and government stakeholders. The aim was to examine the implications of 'complexity' within discourses of dietary public health. 'Complexity' was used not only to characterise dietary public health problems but also as a rhetorical device in public health narratives. It performed two main discursive functions: firstly, to represent diet-health problems as so multi-layered and difficult that they are intractable. Secondly, and despite this acknowledged complexity, to deflect from food system actions for improving diet to 'simpler' and non-food interventions, by industry and government. These uses of 'complexity' serve to attribute primary responsibility to individuals for dietary choice and to obscure inaction by government and industry, who have most control over the determinants of those choices. In short, 'complexity' can be used discursively to generate a smokescreen masking policy inaction in addressing public health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global health donors increasingly embrace international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) as partners, often relying on them to conduct political advocacy in recipient countries, especially in controversial policy domains like reproductive health. Although INGOs are the primary recipients of donor funding, they are expected to work through national affiliates or counterparts to enable 'locally-led' change. Using prospective policy analysis and ethnographic evidence, this paper examines how donor-funded INGOs have influenced the restrictive policy environments for safe abortion and family planning in South Sudan and Malawi. While external actors themselves emphasise the technical nature of their involvement, the paper analyses them as instrumental political actors who strategically broker alliances and resources to shape policy, often working 'behind the scenes' to manage the challenging circumstances they operate under. Consequently, their agency and power are hidden through various practices of effacement or concealment. These practices may be necessary to rationalise the tensions inherent in delivering a global programme with the goal of inducing locally-led change in a highly controversial policy domain, but they also risk inciting suspicion and foreign-national tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) programmes promoted via healthcare settings worldwide may not currently meet the needs of many patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs). This paper describes the outcomes of a qualitative enquiry into the perspectives of patients and professionals from multiple healthcare services regarding the role of PA. 19 patients and 22 HCPs were purposively recruited from physiotherapy, podiatry, chronic pain, diabetes and continence services at a community-based healthcare clinic in the United Kingdom. Participants' views were explored using semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Results identified five themes: differences between the social and medical rationales underpinning PA promotion; the impact of the patient-professional relationship on patient activation, self-management and PA; a risk culture surrounding PA; challenges to meet variation in patients' needs and preferences; and lack of formal role for PA as a core part of routine healthcare. The study highlights tensions between needs and aspirations, and the reality of delivering advice and support for PA. Challenges resonated with patients and HCPs across different care groups and were not condition-specific. This highlights a need for sharing good practice across healthcare services and system-level interventions to address organisational barriers to the promotion of PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the findings of an ESRC-funded Knowledge Exchange project designed to explore the contribution of an innovative approach to supervision to social work practitioner's assessment and decision-making practices. The Cognitive and Affective Supervisory Approach (CASA) is informed by cognitive interviewing techniques originally designed to elicit best evidence from witnesses and victims of crime. Adapted here for use in childcare social work supervision contexts, this model is designed to enhance the quantity and quality of information available for decision-making. Facilitating the reporting of both 'event information' and 'emotion information', it allows a more detailed picture to emerge of events, as recalled by the individual involved and the meaning they give to them. Practice supervisors from Children's Services in two local authorities undertook to introduce the CASA into supervision sessions and were supported in this through the provision of regular reflective group discussions. The project findings highlight the challenges for practitioners of 'detailed looking' and for supervisors of 'active listening'. The paper concludes by acknowledging that the CASA's successful contribution to decision-making is contingent on both the motivation and confidence of supervisors to develop their skills and an organisational commitment to, and resourcing of, reflective supervisory practices and spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people's sexting is an area of increasing concern amongst parents, educationalists and policy makers, yet little research has been conducted with young people themselves to explore their perspectives on the support they need to navigate relationships in the new digital media landscape. To address this absence, an inter-disciplinary team of researchers undertook a participatory study with students, aged 13 to 15, in a UK secondary school. This paper outlines key study findings, including young people's views on sexting, their recommendations for improved education around sexting in schools, their preferred sources of support, and their perspectives on the way adults should respond to young people's sexting. Findings indicate that sexting education needs to be developed within the context of wider relationship issues, such as gender, power dynamics and trust between peers, and improved communication between students and teachers or other responsible adults. Findings may be used to consider ways of designing and communicating messages around sexting to young people within and beyond educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The telehealthcare sector has been expanding steadily in the UK. However, confusing, complex and unwieldy designs of telehealthcare devices are at best, less effective than they could be, at worst, they are potentially dangerous to the users. Method: This study investigated the factors within the new product development process that hindered satisfactory product design outcomes, through working collaboratively with a leading provider based in the UK. Results: This study identified that there are too many costly late-stage design changes; a critical and persistent problem area ripe for improvement. The findings from analyzing 30 recent devices, interviewing key stakeholders and observing on-going projects further revealed that one major cause of the issue was poor practice in defining and communicating the product design criteria and requirements. Conclusions: Addressing the characteristics of the telehealthcare industry, such as multiple design commissioners and frequent deployment of design subcontracts, this paper argues that undertaking a robust process of creating the product design brief is the key to improving the outcomes of telehealthcare device design, particularly for the small and medium-sized enterprises dominating the sector. Implications for rehabilitation: Product design criteria and requirements are frequently ill-defined and ineffectively communicated to the designers within the processes of developing new telehealthcare devices. The absence of a (robust) process of creating the design brief is the root cause of the identified issues in defining and communicating the design task. Deploying a formal process of creating the product design brief is particularly important for the telehealthcare sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the nature of reflective writing through the experience of the researchers in running a series of writing workshops with a group of higher education practitioners working in a UK further education college. The focus here is on reflective writing, which was chosen to start the sequence of workshops, as it was perceived as a form of writing with which the participants would be familiar, given its role in the education and development of teachers within the sector. Our assumption was that this familiarity would facilitate the writing process and participants would readily respond by engaging in reflective writing. However, in practice this proved not to be the case, despite being introduced to a variety of different forms of writing over a series of workshops, it took the participants longer than we expected to begin to write. This led us to question our assumptions about the starting point for the writing workshops and what they might achieve. The paper draws on field notes made during the writing initiative and data gathered through focus groups and interviews with the participants, as well as extracts of their writing to examine their experiences. Different conceptualisations of reflective writing are identified and their implications are explored in relation to the participants’ engagement with writing and their experience of professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within homelessness services recent policy developments have highlighted the need for integration and improved collaborative working and also, the need for 'Psychologically Informed Environments' (PIES) in which workers are better equipped to manage the 'complex trauma' associated with homelessness. Drawing on the findings of an evaluation of a multi-site development programme, this paper demonstrates how both these policy aspirations might be implemented through a single delivery vehicle (a community of practice). The paper describes how organizational, educational and psychosocial theory was used to inform programme design and reflects on the utility of these approaches in the light of the evaluation findings. It is reported that communities of practice can deliver significant performance gains in terms of building collaborative relationships and opening-up opportunities for interprofessional education and learning. Filling an important knowledge gap, it also suggested how (professional) participation in a community of practice might work to improve outcomes for service users. Most likely we see those outcomes as being linked to tackling exclusion by sustaining the workforce itself, that is in motivating workers to remain engaged and thinking positively in what is an emotionally challenging and stressful job role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an introduction of a newly developed, avatar-based virtual reality therapy, as an addition to the therapeutic programme, within a therapeutic community prison in the UK. The participants had six group sessions facilitated by a counsellor. The aim of the project was to investigate whether this approach would improve mental health outcomes for the prisoners, interpersonal relationships within the prison and facilitate the achievement of personal goals for the prisoners. The sample size (n = 4) was insufficient to make firm conclusions about the mental health outcomes. However, the qualitative analysis showed a strong engagement with the programme in addressing personal issues, the development of insight and empathy, and improvements in relationships within the participants and with the counsellor. Further research with a larger sample is needed to establish efficacy of this type of therapy with the prison population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Health care within the home setting is a vital and growing component of pressure injury (PI) prevention and management. Objectives: To describe the use of health services and pressure-redistributing devices in community dwelling patients with PI's. Design: Mixedmethods collective case study of a defined, diverse geographic postcode area in the United Kingdom. Methods: Quantitative retrospective analysis of electronic and paper medical records of adult PI patients from 2015 district nursing reports. Qualitative semi-structured interviews of community dwelling adult patients receiving, or received, treatment for PI in 2016. Results: Mandatory reports (n = 103) revealed that 90 patients were supplied with a variety of pressure-redistributing devices but only one-third of patients used the equipment as recommended. Qualitative interviews (n = 12), reported to COREQ guidelines, revealed that patients felt reliant on community health services, and were concerned about the consistency of their care. Conclusions: Authentic patient involvement is required to provide care and interventions that are acceptable to PI patients and can be incorporated into self-care strategies and effectively monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In this paper, we apply psychological agency theory to women's interviews of their breastfeeding experiences to understand the role of agency in relation to breastfeeding initiation, maintenance and duration. Design: Qualitative, video interviews were collected from 49 women in the UK from a wide range of ethnic, religious, educational and employment backgrounds about their breastfeeding experiences. We undertook secondary analysis of the data focusing on their accounts of vulnerability and agency. Findings: Women's agency was impacted by a variety of factors including their own vulnerability, knowledge, expectations and experience, the feeding environment and the support of health professionals in sharing decision-making and dealing with uncertainty. Conclusion: Health professionals as co-agents with women are well positioned to maintain, enhance or restore women's sense of agency. Breastfeeding goals should be included in women's birth plans. Training related to agency, continuity of care, and staffing and workload management supported by national breastfeeding policies could improve breastfeeding rates and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:Very little is known about how older people from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups caring for someone after a stroke access and engage with social care services. This paper explores both the experiences of carers whose relative was receiving social care services in their own home and the value of a theory of humanising care to understand and explain these experiences. Method:Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 50 carers from five different ethnic groups: Asian Indian, Asian Pakistani, Black African, Black Caribbean and White British. Data were thematically analysed within a phenomenological framework. Results:Five interacting themes emerged: communication and bureaucracy; time and timing; communication and rapport building; trust and safety; humanity and the human dimensions of care. Many of the experiences could be interpreted within a conceptual framework of humanising care underpinned by eight interacting dimensions of what it means to be treated as an individual and a human. Conclusions:Carers from BME and White British groups share many experiences of homecare although language and cultural difference may exacerbate common pressures and stresses. The framework for humanising care is a useful tool to evaluate aspects of homecare that are responsive to dignity and diversity.Implications for RehabilitationExplicitly identifying, describing and valuing the human dimensions of care may support services in responding appropriately to homecare users from black minority ethnic communities as well as those from white majority groups.Unresponsive services and poor communication may lead to loss of trust with care agencies and undermine BME carers’ sense of entitlement and competence in engaging with homecare services.Care worker continuity investing time in building relationships and care worker familiarity is important to many families who access social care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psychiatric ward design may make an important contribution to patient outcomes and well-being. However, research is hampered by an inability to assess its effects robustly. This paper reports on a study which deployed innovative methods to capture service user and staff perceptions of ward design. Method: User generated measures of the impact of ward design were developed and tested on four acute adult wards using participatory methodology. Additionally, inpatients took photographs to illustrate their experience of the space in two wards. Data were compared across wards. Results: Satisfactory reliability indices emerged based on both service user and staff responses. Black and minority ethnic (BME) service users and those with a psychosis spectrum diagnosis have more positive views of the ward layout and fixtures. Staff members have more positive views than service users, while priorities of staff and service users differ. Inpatient photographs prioritise hygiene, privacy and control and address symbolic aspects of the ward environment. Conclusions: Participatory and visual methodologies can provide robust tools for an evaluation of the impact of psychiatric ward design on users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine why risk-based policy instruments have failed to improve the proportionality, effectiveness, and legitimacy of healthcare quality regulation in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Rather than trying to prevent all possible harms, risk-based approaches promise to rationalise and manage the inevitable limits of what regulation can hope to achieve by focusing regulatory standard-setting and enforcement activity on the highest priority risks, as determined through formal assessments of their probability and consequences. As such, risk-based approaches have been enthusiastically adopted by healthcare quality regulators over the last decade. However, by drawing on historical policy analysis and in-depth interviews with 15 high-level UK informants in 2013–2015, we identify a series of practical problems in using risk-based policy instruments for defining, assessing, and ensuring compliance with healthcare quality standards. Based on our analysis, we go on to consider why, despite a succession of failures, healthcare regulators remain committed to developing and using risk-based approaches. We conclude by identifying several preconditions for successful risk-based regulation: goals must be clear and trade-offs between them amenable to agreement; regulators must be able to reliably assess the probability and consequences of adverse outcomes; regulators must have a range of enforcement tools that can be deployed in proportion to risk; and there must be political tolerance for adverse outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A task carried out in error creates a latent condition that can result in a future undesirable outcome if the error is not detected later. The paper presents a study of the relatively under-researched phenomenon of post-task latent error detection. Focusing on UK naval aircraft maintenance, it was hypothesised that time, location and systems cues influence individual latent error detection amongst naval air engineers who experience the phenomenon. The systems view of human error is combined with a multi-process approach to post-task latent error research, for which findings suggest that distributed cognition across the entire socio-technical system may be influential in post-task latent error detection. Directions for future research will be of benefit to those interested in furthering safety resilience using a systems approach to minimise the consequences arising from latent error. Relevance to human factors/ergonomics theoryThe nature and extent of post-task latent error detection is explored using a systems approach, for which distributed cognition across the entire socio-technical system appears influential. The aim of current research is to develop interventions to further mitigate for latent errors and thus advance the systems application of ergonomics theory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The qualitative study presented in this paper explored the perspectives of service-users, family members and staff about the impact of travel issues on the lives of mental health in-patients and carers. This topic was chosen because it was prioritised by members of Xplore, a service-user and carer research group, and has received little research attention. Travel problems were a significant issue for many service-users and carers, bound-up with mental health issues and the recovery experience. Travel facilitation through the funding of taxis and the provision of guides was appreciated. A few service-users and carers positively valued distancing from their previous home environment. The meaning of travel issues could only be understood in the context of individuals’ wider lives and relationships. The significance of the findings is discussed in relation to the social model of disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, clinical guidelines for HIV treatment are being altered to reflect new research showing that successful treatment with antiretroviral therapies (ART) can prevent the onward transmission of HIV. As a result, health care services are being challenged to find ways to roll out “treatment as prevention” (TasP) as a public health measure. In theory, TasP requires individuals to start ART as soon as they are diagnosed – for public health reasons – which may be some time before ART for that individual is required for clinical reasons. There is currently little research on the acceptability of TasP from a patient or provider perspective. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that sought to explore UK nurses' views and experiences of TasP in HIV care. Ten HIV specialist nurses, purposively selected from across the country, were interviewed. Results suggest that, although positive about TasP in principle, nurses hold several reservations about its implementation in practice. Perceived benefits of TasP include reassurance for patients that their loved ones are protected and that immediate care is available. Concerns include the possibility of sexual dis-inhibition or coercion within sexual relationships. In the UK context, decisions around TasP are still being made on a highly individualised patient by patient basis, within a philosophy of holistic care and partnership working. As such, the research participants called for more resources to support information giving, risk assessment and decision-making. The results show that translating a public health treatment approach into individual patient care is complex, potentially time-consuming and may alter traditional provider–patient dynamics. The findings from this study suggest that in-depth research is needed to understand better the patient, community and provider experience as TasP becomes more widely rolled out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]