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Death Café is a not-for-profit international social franchise founded in 2011 in London. This paper is based on the most extensive empirical research of Death Cafés to date, examining the content of Death Café conversations. I interrogate the finding that, alongside talking directly about death and dying, people at a Death Café consistently talk about the value of being at a Death Café and about the value of talking about death. I introduce three main ways that talking about the value of conversations about death appears in a Death Café and, most importantly, I argue that talking about the value of conversations about death is an enjoyable part of the conversation in its own right. I use neo-tribal theory and its concept of aesthetics as ‘a way of feeling in common’ and ‘a means of recognising ourselves’ to examine this further. When talking about the value of conversations about death, Death Café participants reflexively consider the activity they are engaging in= together, which strengthens the feeling of collectivity, and bonds them into a neo-tribe. This paper demonstrates that Death Café is a valued form of social interaction, moving it away from the current academic attempts to discover Death Café’s instrumental utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are multimodal communicators. However, in classroom interactions involving children and staff, achieving mutual understanding and accomplishing task-oriented goals by attending to the child's unaided AAC can be challenging. This study draws on excerpts of video recordings of interactions in a classroom for 6–9-year-old children who used AAC to explore how three child participants used the range of multimodal resources available to them – vocal, movement-based, and gestural, technological, temporal – to shape (and to some degree, co-control) classroom interactions. Our research was concerned with examining achievements and problems in establishing a sense of common ground and the realization of child agency. Through detailed multimodal analysis, this paper renders visible different types of practices rejecting a request for clarification, drawing new parties into a conversation, disrupting whole-class teacher talk-through which the children in the study voiced themselves in persuasive ways. It concludes by suggesting that multimodal accounts paint a more nuanced picture of children's resourcefulness and conversational asymmetry that highlights children's agency amidst material, semiotic, and institutional constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the current crisis in education research and how we might confront it. It begins by arguing that the 'coming crisis' facing empirical sociology identified by Savage and Burrows (2007) applies equally – if not more so – to empirical education research. Education researchers can no longer lay claim to specialist expertise in the analysis of social institutions and our 'tools of the trade' are increasingly unviable. These developments are compounded by the dominance of the 'cultural turn' within British education research which has made it difficult for education researchers to develop a cumulative evidence base, leading to a lack of traction with policymakers and a privileging of cultural inequalities in education over economic inequalities. The paper discusses how the education research community might respond to the challenges and considers whether we might do worse than follow the suggestion offered to sociologists that they should take 'a descriptive turn'. Taking such a turn will not be easy, but the alternative may be that education research in the UK will be even more marginalised as it becomes increasingly out-of-step with the developments in data, evidence and analysis being fostered outside the academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to effectively model the potential impacts of future climate change, there is a requirement for climate data inputs which (a) are of high spatial and temporal resolution, (b) explore a range of future climate change scenarios, (c) are consistent with historical observations in the historical period, and (d) provide an exploration of climate model uncertainty. This paper presents a suite of climate projections for the United Kingdom that conform to these requirements: CHESS-SCAPE. CHESS-SCAPE is a 1 km resolution dataset containing 11 near-surface meteorological variables that can be used to as input to many different impact models. The variables are available at several time resolutions, from daily to decadal means, for the years 1980–2080. It was derived from the state-of-the art regional climate projections in the United Kingdom Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18) regional climate model (RCM) 12 km ensemble, downscaled to 1 km using a combination of physical and empirical methods to account for local topographic effects. CHESS-SCAPE has four ensemble members, which were chosen to span the range of temperature and precipitation change in the UKCP18 ensemble, representing the ensemble climate model uncertainty. CHESS-SCAPE consists of projections for four emissions scenarios, given by the Representative Concentration Pathways 2.6, 4.5, 6.0 and 8.5, which were derived from the UKCP18 RCM RCP8.5 scenarios using time shifting and pattern scaling. These correspond to UK annual warming projections of between 0.9–1.9 K for RCP2.6 up to 2.8–4.3 K for RCP8.5 between 1980–2000 and 2060–2080. Little change in annual precipitation is projected, but larger changes in seasonal precipitation are seen with some scenarios projecting large increases in precipitation in the winter (up to 22 %) and large decreases in the summer (up to - 39 %). All four RCP scenarios and ensemble members are also provided with bias correction, using the CHESS-met historical gridded dataset as a baseline. With high spatial and temporal resolution, an extensive range of warming scenarios and multiple ensemble members, CHESS-SCAPE provides a comprehensive data resource for modellers of climate change impacts in the UK. The CHESS-SCAPE data are available for download from the NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis: 10.5285/8194b416cbee482b89e0dfbe17c5786c. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elite donors are a crucial and sought-after source of funding for many nonprofit organisations, but there is a dearth of substantive empirical studies presenting primary data on such donors' motivations, experiences and perspectives. There are challenges for social scientists in conducting interviews with elites, notably: gaining access to elite donors; developing sufficient rapport to discuss a topic that involves money and morals; and making sense of data without being dazzled by striking surface differences between elites and non-elites. These barriers have resulted in a long-standing over-reliance on secondary sources and on interviews with proxies such as foundation staff and wealth advisers. This paper reviews the small body of work that presents findings from interviews with elite donors and draws on my experience of conducting interviews with 46 wealthy UK donors, in order to critically analyse the implementation of this research design. This paper adds to the literature by extending understanding of elite donors' reasons for agreeing to be interviewed and contributes to advancing third sector research by highlighting strategies to overcome challenges in conducting elite interviews in order to gain a less mediated understanding of the contexts, cultures and subjectivities of their focus of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This is the second of two papers conceptualizing emotional labour in the emergency department (ED). This paper aims to understand the environmental 'moderators' of ED nurses' emotional labour. Design: Ethnography, through an interpretivist philosophy, enabled immersion in the ED setting, gathering the lived experiences and narratives of the ED nurses. Methods: Observation and semi‐structured interviews over a 6‐month period. Two hospital sites (one district general and one major trauma centre based in the United Kingdom. Results: Over 200 h of observation plus 18 formal/semi‐structured interviews were completed. Environmental, institutional and organizational dynamics of the emergency department instrumented the emotional labour undertaken by the nursing team. Time and space were found to be 'moderators' of ED nurses' emotional labour. This paper focusses on the relevance of space and in particular, 'excessive visibility' with little respite for the nurses from their intense emotional performance. Conclusion: Emotional labour is critical to staff well‐being and the way in which healthcare spaces are designed has an impact on emotional labour. Understanding how emotional labour is moderated in different clinical settings can inform organizational, environmental and workforce‐related decision‐making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to effectively model the potential impacts of future climate change, there is a requirement for climate data inputs which are a) high spatial and temporal resolution; b) explore a range of future climate change scenarios; c) are consistent with historical observations in the historical period; and d) provide an exploration of climate model uncertainty. This paper presents a suite of climate projections for the United Kingdom that conform to these requirements: CHESS-SCAPE. CHESS-SCAPE is a 1 km resolution dataset containing eleven near-surface meteorological variables that can be used to as input to many different impacts models. The variables are available at several time resolutions, from daily to decadal means, for the years 1980-2080. It was derived from the state-of the art regional climate projections in the United Kingdom Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18) Regional Climate Model (RCM) UKCP18 12 km ensemble, downscaled to 1 km using a combination of physical and empirical methods to account for local topographic effects. CHESS-SCAPE has four ensemble members, which were chosen to span the range of temperature and precipitation change in the UKCP18 ensemble, representing the ensemble climate model uncertainty. CHESS-SCAPE consists of projections for four emissions scenarios, given by the Representative Concentration Pathways: RCP2.6, 4.5, 6.0 and 8.5, which were derived from the UKCP18 RCM RCP8.5 scenarios using time shifting and pattern scaling. These correspond to UK annual warming projections of between 0.9-1.9 K for RCP2.6 up to 2.8-4.3 K for RCP8.5 between 1980-2000 and 2060-2080. Little change in annual precipitation is projected, but larger changes in seasonal precipitation are seen with some scenarios projecting large increases in precipitation in the winter (up to 22 %) and large decreases in the summer (up to -39 %). All four RCP scenarios and ensemble members are also provided with bias-correction, using the CHESS-met historical gridded dataset as a baseline. With high spatial and temporal resolution, extensive range of warming scenarios and multiple ensemble members, CHESS-SCAPE provides a comprehensive data resource for modellers of climate change impacts in the UK. The CHESS-SCAPE data are available for download from the NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis: http://dx.doi.org/10.5285/8194b416cbee482b89e0dfbe17c5786c (Robinson et al., 2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I will share findings from a qualitative study that offers a thematic analysis of 76 interviews with Muslim patients and families as well as doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, chaplains and community faith leaders across the United Kingdom. The data show that for many Muslims, Islam—its texts and lived practice—is of central importance when they are deliberating about death and dying. Central to these deliberations are virtues rooted within Islamic theology and ethics, the traditions of adab (virtue) and aqhlaq (proper conduct). Themes analysed include theological and moral understandings around the virtues of hope and acceptance. The study provides an analysis of these themes in relation to the experiences of Muslim patients and families arriving at meaning making around death and dying and how this interfaces with their interaction with biomedicine and healthcare. The study shows that the juxtaposition of different values and moral frameworks require careful negotiation when Muslim patients and families encounter the healthcare system. The study also describes how healthcare professionals and staff of other faiths and no faith encounter Muslim beliefs and practices, and the challenges they face in interpreting virtues and values rooted in faith, especially when these are perceived to be mutually opposed or inconsistent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasts predict a growing shortage of skilled nursing staff in countries worldwide. Nurse migration is already a common strategy used to address nursing workforce needs. Germany, the UK, and Australia are reviewed here as examples of destination countries for nurse migrants. Agreements exist between countries to facilitate nurse migration; however, it is not evident how nurse migrants have contributed to data on which these arrangements are based. We examined existing primary research on nurse migration, including educational needs and initiatives to support policymakers', stakeholders', and health professions educators' decisions on measures for ethical and sustainable nurse migration. We conducted a rapid evidence assessment to review available empirical research data which involved, was developed with, or considered migrant nurses to address the research question: what are the findings of research that directly involves migrant nurses in producing primary research data? A total of 56 papers were included. Four main themes were identified in this research data: Research does not clearly define what is meant by the term migrant nurses; discrimination is often reported by migrant nurses; language and communication competencies are important; and structured integration programs are highly valued by migrant nurses and destination healthcare employers. Migrant nurses continue to experience discrimination and reduced career opportunities and therefore should be included in research about them to better inform policy. Structured integration programs can improve the experience of migrant nurses by providing language support (if necessary), a country-specific bridging program and help with organisational hurdles. Not only researching migrant nurses but making them active partners in research is of great importance for successful, ethical, and sustainable migration policies. A broader evidence base, especially with regard to the views and experiences of migrant nurses and their educational support needs, should be promoted to make future immigration policy more needs-based, sustainable and ethically acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Signs of Safety is a strengths-based approach to work with children and families where there are concerns about abuse or neglect. Signs of Safety is widely used in the UK and internationally, and there is a growing range of empirical research exploring its use within statutory children's social work. However, there is little research exploring how, and to what effect, Signs of Safety is being used by other childcare professionals. This paper reports on an independent evaluation of the use of Signs of Safety by an early help agency in the South West of England. At time of evaluation, the agency was commissioned by the local authority to support children and families with multiple and complex needs who did not meet the threshold for statutory children's social care involvement. The study was multiple methods with two strands. To better understand the work that the agency did, data were collected from case files, to develop a profile of families engaging with the agency. Interviews were undertaken with five practitioners about their experiences of using Signs of Safety. Saliency analysis was used to explore the qualitative data. Overall practitioners felt that Signs of Safety was accessible, supported clear communication with children and families and aided critical reflection. However, existing tensions—relating to statutory threshold decisions and multi-agency relationships—were reflected and magnified via the Signs of Safety tools. The implications of these findings are discussed, providing original insights about an issue highly relevant to national and international audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is now no doubt that current global production-consumption-disposal systems are threatening the fundamental conditions of existence on this planet. In response, the pressing need for total system transformation has gained civic and political traction, feeding into long-standing debates and interventions that are aimed at recalibrating prevailing economic and social practices. One such debate and intervention is that of the circular economy (CE). Here, advocates argue that current linear resource and energy use systems must be reconfigured into loops of re-use, repair, refurbishment, and recycling, displacing primary production and lessening greenhouse gas emissions in the process. This agenda has potentially profound implications for aspects of daily social practices. Yet, to date, little attention has been paid (politically and in research) to how the CE does and will interact with everyday habits, norms, and meanings. In response, this paper explores some of the conceptual assumptions underlying the CE 'consumer'. It argues that mainstream CE debates are underscored by an impoverished view of our relationships with complex material cultures, which in turn is creating barriers to transformation. Drawing on empirical research into responses to the CE in the UK and the Netherlands, this paper contrasts the challenges of inciting consumers to take up new, resource-efficient business models in contexts of hyper-consumerism, with a more hopeful 'small story' of overt, small-scale circular spaces, that nevertheless embed the CE and its underlying impetuses more clearly into the everyday. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experience of politicians leaving elected office is under-researched. This paper examines the experience of leaving political office drawing on empirical research in the United Kingdom with 30 elected politicians, including 20 who had left office, either having been defeated in election or having chosen not to stand for election, and where possible their partners. The sample also included 10 interviews with current politicians about their expectations of transition from elected office. The paper considers the findings from a psychological and a sociological perspective and suggests features that predict a problematic adjustment to the loss of political office. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest issue of Rural Theology includes a review of a book that advocates for a research-based approach to rural ministry. The review highlights the relevance of this approach for further reflection in the UK. The issue also features three papers that explore the impact of empirical studies on specific areas of ministry and mission. These papers examine the relationship between fostering a relational culture and faith development, the contribution of rural church schools to a sense of belonging, and the attraction of intuitive types to rural churches shaped in the Catholic tradition. Additionally, the issue includes a discussion of the Christian poetry of Andrew Young and its place in the tradition of rural parson poets. [Extracted from the article]

Dual or multiple earnership has been considered an important factor to prevent in-work poverty. The aim of this paper is to quantify the impact of second earnership on the risk of in-work poverty and the role of the tax-benefit system in moderating this risk. Our analysis refers to 2014 and employs EUROMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model for the European Union and the United Kingdom. In order to assess the role of second earners in preventing in-work poverty we simulate a counterfactual scenario where second earners become unemployed. Our results show that the effect of net replacement rates (i.e. the ratio of household income before and after the transition of second earners to unemployment) on the probability of in-work poverty is negative and statistically significant, but in relative terms it appears to be small compared to the effects of individual labour market characteristics, such as low pay and part-time employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), used widely in England, is an important tool for social need and inequality identification. It summarises deprivation across seven dimensions (income, employment, health, education, housing and services, environment, and crime) to measure an area's multidimensional deprivation. The IMD aggregates the dimensions that are differentially weighted using expert judgement. In this paper, we test how close these weights are to society's preferences about the relative importance of each dimension to overall deprivation. There is not agreement in the literature on how to do this. This paper, therefore, develops and compares three empirical methods for estimating preference-based weights. We find the weights are similar across the methods, and between our empirical methods and the current IMD, but our findings suggest a change to two of the weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores home materialities and home imaginaries in later life, to provide insight into the dialectical relation between the spatial processes of ageing and migration. The paper draws on empirical research with British return migrants in older age. The analysis purposively selects four participants from among a wider sample of interviewees to highlight some of the diversity among British returnees and their varied experiences of remaking home on return. The paper explores both the privilege and vulnerabilities of all British returnees as the meaning of home transforms in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the nature of the discipline, it might be assumed that clinical psychology is an ethical profession, within which effective ethical decision-making is integral. How then, does this ethical decision-making occur? This paper describes a systematic review of empirical research addressing this question. The paucity of evidence related to this question meant that the scope was broadened to include other professions who deliver talking therapies. This review could support reflective practice about what may be taken into account when making ethical decisions and highlight areas for future research. Using academic search databases, original research articles were identified from peer-reviewed journals. Articles using qualitative (n = 3), quantitative (n = 8) and mixed methods (n = 2) were included. Two theoretical models of aspects of ethical decision-making were identified. Areas of agreement and debate are described in relation to factors linked to the professional, which impacted ethical decision-making. Factors relating to ethical dilemmas, which impacted ethical decision-making, are discussed. Articles were appraised by two independent raters, using quality assessment criteria, which suggested areas of methodological strengths and weaknesses. Comparison and synthesis of results revealed that the research did not generally pertain to current clinical practice of talking therapies or the particular socio-political context of the UK healthcare system. There was limited research into ethical decision-making amongst specific professions, including clinical psychology. Generalisability was limited due to methodological issues, indicating avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between domestic violence and rurality through the theoretical lens of intimate war. It argues for a geopolitical perspective that foregrounds issues of space and scale and emphasises the 'entwined geographies of corporality and violence'. Drawing on recent empirical research in the UK, I explore the ways in which the body is contained and controlled both physically and emotionally through intimate war. In doing so I focus on three key aspects of domestic violence: hidden geographies, tactics of entrapment and surveillance and the wounding of the body. The context of rurality provides a set of spatial and social characteristics that need to be taken into consideration in understandings of the experience of domestic violence and the responses by agencies and professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is to consider how disability studies and migration studies may be brought into further conversation with one another. While their experiences overlap and intersect in many ways, the lives of disabled people and migrants have rarely been considered together and this is an omission we address through a discussion on points of intersection and departure between migration studies and disability studies. We argue that migrants and disabled people are among the most marginalised individuals today whilst a Global North neoliberal rhetoric has pushed them further to the margins. We draw on Bauman's theorisation of 'wasted lives' to bring disability studies and migration studies in dialogue with one another. Through this analysis, we highlight how bringing both disciplines together may help to inform debates focused on social justice and rights to dignity for some of world's most marginalised communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a policy shift towards personalisation of adult social care in England, much attention has focused on individualised support for older people with care needs. This article reports the findings of a scoping review of United Kingdom (UK) and non-UK literature, published in English from 2005 to 2017, about day centres for older people without dementia and highlights the gaps in evidence. This review, undertaken to inform new empirical research, covered the perceptions, benefits and purposes of day centres. Searches, undertaken in October/November 2014 and updated in August 2017, of electronic databases, libraries, websites, research repositories and journals, identified 77 relevant papers, mostly non-UK. Day centres were found to play a variety of roles for individuals and in care systems. The largest body of evidence concerned social and preventive outcomes. Centre attendance and participation in interventions within them impacted positively on older people's mental health, social contacts, physical function and quality of life. Evidence about outcomes is mainly non-UK. Day centres for older people without dementia are under-researched generally, particularly in the UK. In addition to not being studied as whole services, there are considerable evidence gaps about how day centres are perceived, their outcomes, what they offer, to whom and their wider stakeholders, including family carers, volunteers, staff and professionals who are funding, recommending or referring older people to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the association between youth and older workers' employment participation in the United Kingdom using yearly data provided by the Labor Force Survey. Presenting a short state of the art, the paper shows that, with few exceptions, empirical analyses usually assume that increasing the labor market participation of the older workers does not affect negatively youth employment. Nevertheless, testing several variables and three different statistical models, the empirical part of the article nuances this evidence. The association between youth employment participation and older workers' employment participation tends to be significantly after controlling for public policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is increasing support to include people who use drugs (PWUD) into debates about drug policy reform in order to improve policy legitimacy and outcomes. The aim of this paper is thus to critically analyse the perspectives of PWUD on UK drug policy and the law. This is the first empirical study to apply the four philosophical positions that underpin drug policy debates: Millian liberalism, legal moralism, strict libertarianism and paternalism (MacCoun and Reuter, 2001) to understand opinions and ideology.Methods: Forty interviews were conducted with PWUD about the meaning of and motivation for their substance consumption and about their opinions on drug policy and the law. The responses were analysed using the sociocognitive approach pioneered by van Dijk 2014; 2015 from the field of critical discourse studies. The analysis involved connecting personal experiences, knowledge and opinions to broader values, attitudes and ideology, specifically the analysis focused upon the extent to which participants challenged or supported prohibitionist ideology.Results: The opinions of those PWUD studied were diverse and complex. There was some support for prohibition, but overwhelmingly there was resistance and challenge to it. We theorise the challenge to prohibitionist ideology on a continuum from anti-prohibition to pro-reform. Key themes from the analysis included: knowledge gaps regarding terminology; uncertainty about and lack of consideration of policy and reform; political dissonance; apprehension about public attitudes and behaviours; reform rooted in social welfare and human rights ideology; and apathy through counter-culture.Conclusion: The findings demonstrate a lack of clarity amongst some PWUD regarding drug policy and reform. Educational initiatives outlining the different reform approaches would therefore provide PWUD with invaluable knowledge and help facilitate their enagement into reform debates. Despite a lack of clarity and consistency within opinions, participants were united in their discussion of human rights, health, economics and education; therefore these topics could help frame future approaches that seek to include PWUD into debates about drug policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the political position of academic librarianship in the context of recent changes in English Higher Education. The neoliberalisation of academic librarianship, both as an academic discipline and profession, is considered. The emergence of the Radical Librarians Collective is examined as a potential site through which to counter these developments and foster radical alternatives.Design/methodology/approach The paper draws upon Gramsci’s concepts of hegemony and praxis, and post-structural critiques of neoliberalism, as a theoretical framework to guide data collection and analysis, and observe developments within academic librarianship vis-à-vis broader processes of neoliberalisation. Empirical data collected through interviews and participant observation are analysed using thematic and critical discourse analysis.Findings The research finds that academic librarianship as a discipline and practice is undergoing a process of neoliberalisation. An umbrella organisation of activist librarians, Radical Librarians Collective, is found to be resisting these developments and has some potential to become a space through which radical alternatives to neoliberal hegemony can be explored and fostered.Research limitations/implications The research demonstrates the utility of a Gramscian theoretical framework as a lens through which to observe developments in the field of library and information studies (LIS). Further empirical work would deepen the authors’ understanding of such developments across a range of institutions and locales.Originality/value The research makes an original contribution to critical research on the struggles around the neoliberalisation of academic librarianship in the UK. The theoretically informed analysis provides original insights into these processes, and makes a methodological contribution to LIS research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade the number of rail passenger journeys in Great Britain has increased by half and car trips per person are down by a tenth. Meanwhile there has been significant growth in internet use and ownership of smartphones. Travel patterns are changing in tandem with adoption of digital age innovations. At a time when Britain is also poised to invest tens of billions of pounds in high speed rail, this paper examines how the experience of rail passengers has changed from 2004 to 2014. It draws upon questions concerning travel time use designed by its first two authors that have been included in the National Rail Passenger Survey waves conducted in Autumn 2004, 2010 and 2014, yielding over 80,000 survey responses in total. The data reveal an ongoing decline of paper-based materials accompanying travellers in the face of increasing adoption of digital alternatives. The latter can, for many, make their journey time experience better. However, the significant increase from 2004 to 2010 in the proportion of passengers considering their time use to have been very worthwhile has not continued on to 2014. This appears to be attributable (in part) to increased crowding and reduced passenger satisfaction associated with rising demand for rail travel. The paper sets out empirical insights, drawing them together in the form of a diagrammatic depiction of the interplay of factors involved in rail passenger experience. This depiction is then used to consider the implications for the future of rail travel. While mobile technologies appear to be placing more control of passenger experience in the hands of the passengers themselves, there remain important imperatives for the rail industry to support positive use of travel time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study summarises research- and practice-based evidence on home-based chemotherapy, and explores existing delivery models. A three-pronged investigation was conducted consisting of a literature review and synthesis of 54 papers, a review of seven home-based chemotherapy programmes spanning four countries, and two case studies within the Canadian province of Ontario. The results support the provision of home-based chemotherapy as a safe and patient-centred alternative to hospital- and outpatient-based service. This paper consolidates information on home-based chemotherapy programmes including services and drugs offered, patient eligibility criteria, patient views and experiences, delivery structures and processes, and common challenges. Fourteen recommendations are also provided for improving the delivery of chemotherapy in patients' homes by prioritising patient-centredness, provider training and teamwork, safety and quality of care, and programme management. The results of this study can be used to inform the development of an evidence-informed model for the delivery of chemotherapy and related care, such as symptom management, in patients' homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public reason criterion is a prominent theme in contemporary political theory. Yet scholars have focused predominantly on conceptual and normative issues at the expense of empirical questions about the language used by actors engaged in political debate. This is a particular problem in the case of religious actors, whose underlying motives for taking part in such debates are frequently driven by theological concerns. This paper explores these issues by analyzing religious opposition to the legalization of assisted dying in Britain. It shows that religious actors have tended toward the use of secular rather than theological modes of argumentation, and that this is consistent with the idea of a strategic shift in response to the increasingly secularized nature of British society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper focuses on the long-term impacts of attending a high school with inadequate sports facilities. We use prospective data from the British National Child Development Study, a continuing panel of a cohort of 17,634 children born in Great Britain during a single week of March 1958. Our empirical approach exploits the educational system they were exposed to: children were sorted by educational ability at age 11, but conditional on educational ability, attended their closest school. This produces quasi-random variation in the quality of the school sports facilities across respondents. We use this variation between cohort members residing within the same local authority area, and focus on outcome measures of physical activity, health, health-related lifestyle activities, and socioeconomic status, collected at ages between 33 and 50 years. We control for any potential links between the inadequacy of sports facilities and inadequacy of other facility types, and test that allocation to school type is random with respect to pre-high school observables. We find that attending a school with inadequate sports facilities led to a statistically significant, modest decrease in the likelihood of physical activity participation during adulthood. In contrast, we find no evidence that inadequate sports facilities worsened adulthood measures of physical and mental health, lifestyle or socioeconomic status. Highlights • Inadequate school sports facilities leads to a decrease in adulthood exercise. • The reduction in exercise is modest. • Inadequate school sports facilities has no long-term health effects. • Inadequate school sports facilities has no long-term socioeconomic effects. [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]

Despite significant national and local efforts over the last decade to stimulate uptake of cycling in the UK, levels of cycling (particularly utility cycling) remain at around 2% of journeys. Understanding of cycling behaviour and subsequent development of interventions has typically been undertaken using an individualist approach, often relying on psychologically based models of behaviour. This paper argues that Social Practice Theory (SPT) may be a valuable addition to practitioner’s toolboxes by providing an alternative means of understanding the complex dynamics between the elements that constitute the practice of utility cycling, allowing it to be considered as a social issue, rather than focusing solely on individual behaviour. This is demonstrated within the paper by the use of SPT to reanalyse quantitative and qualitative datasets that explore views and experiences of both cyclists and non-cyclists. Therein, the practice of utility cycling is described according to its three elements; materials, meaning and competences and the potential benefits of this approach are discussed; particularly its ideological shift away from ‘victim blaming’ and its natural support of interdisciplinary intervention design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There is increasing international interest in universal, health promoting services for pregnancy and the first three years of life and the concept of proportionate universalism. Drawing on a narrative review of literature, this paper explores mechanisms by which such services might contribute to health improvement and reducing health inequalities. Objectives: Through a narrative review of empirical literature, to identify: (1) What are the key components of health visiting practice? (2) How are they reflected in implementing the universal service/provision envisaged in the English Health Visitor Implementation Plan (HVIP)? Design: The paper draws upon a scoping study and narrative review. Review methods: We used three complementary approaches to search the widely dispersed literature: (1) broad, general search, (2) structured search, using topic-specific search terms, (3) seminal paper search. Our key inclusion criterion was information about health visiting practice. We included empirical papers from United Kingdom (UK) from 2004 to February 2012 and older seminal papers identified in search (3), identifying a total of 348 papers for inclusion. A thematic content analysis compared the older (up to 2003) with more recent research (2004 onwards). Results: The analysis revealed health visiting practice as potentially characterized by a particular 'orientation to practice.' This embodied the values, skills and attitudes needed to deliver universal health visiting services through salutogenesis (health creation), person-centredness (human valuing) and viewing the person in situation (human ecology). Research about health visiting actions focuses on home visiting, needs assessment and parent--health visitor relationships. The detailed description of health visitors' skills, attitudes, values, and their application in practice, provides an explanation of how universal provision can potentially help to promote health and shift the social gradient of health inequalities. Conclusions: Identification of needs across an undifferentiated, universal caseload, combined with an outreach style that enhances uptake of needed services and appropriate health or parenting information, creates opportunities for parents who may otherwise have remained unaware of, or unwilling to engage with such provision. There is a lack of evaluative research about health visiting practice, service organization or universal health visiting as potential mechanisms for promoting health and reducing health inequalities. This paper offers a potential foundation for such research in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synopsis This article focuses on Pakistani Muslim women across generations: pioneer migrants who arrived in the 1960s and 70s and their descendants born or brought up in the UK. It traces their lives before and immediately after migration and also explores the present day when the pioneers are in their twilight years, their children have grown up and many have grandchildren in their teens. The paper shows how migration to the UK impacted upon their gendered social and religious norms and charts the changes which have taken place across the generations. Using primary empirical data the paper examines how Pakistani Muslim women negotiated the context of migration and settlement to reproduce and modify traditional gender norms through examining changes in the religious sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been increasing media and political questioning of the national loyalties and identities held by young British Muslims, with a particular focus on those seen to separate themselves through strict and religiously observant dress and lifestyles. This paper draws primarily on research focusing on the meanings of ‘Britishness’ held amongst a group of visibly observant young Muslim adults. Empirical evidence is provided to demonstrate that although these young adults demonstrated an explicit and visible sense of Muslim identity, this co-existed without any conscious conflict with their British identity. The young adults’ acknowledgement of their religious attachment developed from a positive and proactive identification with Islam rather than one in opposition or rebellion against a British identity. Therefore, in a wider context, their lives must not be analysed only through the lens of religion, dress and appearance as this has repercussions in relation to national policy formation and subsequent perceptions of wider society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the convention of allocating donated gametes on a 'first come, first served' basis should be replaced with an allocation system that takes into account more morally relevant criteria than waiting time. This conclusion was developed using an empirical bioethics methodology, which involved a study of the views of 18 staff members from seven U.K. fertility clinics, and 20 academics, policy-makers, representatives of patient groups, and other relevant professionals, on the allocation of donated sperm and eggs. Against these views, we consider some nuanced ways of including criteria in a points allocation system. We argue that such a system is more ethically robust than 'first come, first served', but we acknowledge that our results suggest that a points system will meet with resistance from those working in the field. We conclude that criteria such as a patient's age, potentially damaging substance use, and parental status should be used to allocate points and determine which patients receive treatment and in what order. These and other factors should be applied according to how they bear on considerations like child welfare, patient welfare, and the effectiveness of the proposed treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss critical perspectives on what has become a dominant approach to public sector management and leadership in England and sets out a new conceptual perspective on leadership to improve this situation, namely a relational one. Design/methodology/approach – A review of key literature on the topics discussed. Findings – A new relational perspective on leadership and management is proposed, along with epistemological, ethical and practical considerations. Research limitations/implications – The paper proposes this new approach to leadership and management in the public sector, but no empirical findings are discussed. Practical implications – The perspective proposes that an explicit consideration of relationships and contextual factors should lie at the heart of leadership and management and all its practice. Originality/value – This is the first time that a relational perspective on public sector management and leadership has been explicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the paper "Revisiting ... Spatial planning, devolution, and new planning spaces" which highlights the importance of empirical research for a project about planning across Great Britain in context of devolution. It discusses the link between post-politics and the practices of creating new planning spaces. It states that the paper illustrates how thinking about soft space is based on abstraction as well as empirical observation.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the challenges facing leaders in health care, to explore the impact of these on the choices available to healthcare leaders, and to re-visit the nature of leadership in general. It identifies a distinction between care that is a set of auditable transactions and care that is also a covenant, and suggests that leadership too can be practised in these distinctively different ways. It draws on a three year learning set of senior practitioners in the NHS in England. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on the authors own observations over 25 years of educating and developing clinical leaders, and also on the insights of a learning set of senior NHS practitioners over a three period. Findings – The paper provides empirical insights about how both health care and leadership have changed over the last 30 years, and proposes that treating either of them as a set of auditable transactions in a market place results in dissatisfied leaders as well as practitioners, and that a covenant of both care and leadership needs to be understood and established. Research limitations/implications – Observations have been limited to the NHS in the UK although there are indications that the issues are of wider applicability. Practical implications – The paper includes implications for the behaviours of those leading health care organisations, those being led, and those influencing the context. Originality/value – This paper challenges prevailing definitions of leadership and prevailing explanations for difficulties in health care organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Parking management is a strategy that has been extensively employed by authorities and organisations world-wide in an attempt to address traffic-related congestion and associated environmental impacts at a variety of sites and scales. At airports, parking control and pricing regimes are used to generate revenue and manage traffic demand. On the supply side, within the last few years a new trend in unregulated off-site, predominately residential, car parking provision around UK airports has emerged and quickly grown in popularity. Through a survey of three UK-based self-styled ‘parking marketplace’ websites and an in-depth analysis of one, this paper provides an empirical examination of the growing phenomenon of off-site residential car parking provision around the UK’s 25 busiest passenger airports and discusses the potential implications of this niche but growing phenomenon. Data is provided on the supply and the demand for these alternative spaces, as well as their physical location, attributes, and pricing regimes. The empirical findings indicate that, while this currently represents a relatively small proportion of overall airport parking supply it is experiencing rapid growth and may become significant in the future. The paper concludes by contending that airport operators and local authorities need to be cognisant of the existence of, and the challenges and opportunities associated with, alternative parking provision in order to be able to better plan for, and respond to the planning, environmental, and consumer implications it may create. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper aims to build on similarities and differences in empirical findings and analytical approaches in papers in a special issue of the Transport Reviews journal on peak car. These differences are encapsulated in a new exploratory tool, which gives transparent future scenarios, at the aggregate national level. The model is based on age cohorts, with some degree of behavioural inertia, as the means of incorporating the most frequently noted age-related feature of the new trends. This is modified by different readings of the differential effects of population growth and location, immigration, and policy effects. Account is also taken of different assessments of the future track of Western Economies and of the impacts that economic factors have on travel behaviour, this being one of the core distinctions between peak car research and traditional models. Using UK data the suggestion is of a base projection for overall car use per person which is broadly stable for the next 20 years or so, falling slightly by 2036. The conclusion is that the combined effects of findings reported in this Issue are big enough to affect future transport conditions to a much more substantial extent than has been traditionally assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vulnerability of deafblind people is considered axiomatic; they are seen not only as a vulnerable group but also as one of the most vulnerable. This paper aims to synthesise existing knowledge to determine what is known about such vulnerability. A comprehensive literature search was undertaken between April 2013 and May 2014. The review method was informed by systematic review principles. An approach based on a 'hierarchy of evidence' would have reduced the amount of literature reviewed significantly, to the point where synthesis would not be possible. Included material was appraised and an interpretative rather than aggregative approach to synthesis adopted. Drawing on principles of critical interpretive synthesis, rather than being a determiner of whether material should be included or excluded, a critique of the literature is offered within the synthesis. Twenty-eight references were identified for inclusion, originating from the UK, USA, Australia, Continental Europe and the Nordic Countries. No empirical studies specifically examining the experience of vulnerability of deafblind people were found. However, deafblind people describe feelings of vulnerability in studies exploring their experiences more generally, and in personal accounts of living with the impairment. Literature produced by practitioners and specialist organisations also explores the topic. Deafblind people are identified as a population 'at risk' of various adverse outcomes, particularly when compared to the non-deafblind majority, and deafblind people describe being and feeling vulnerable in various situations. The literature largely relates to negative outcomes and includes significantly less exploration of positive risk taking, coping capacity and resilience. Deafblind people do not appear to describe themselves as being vulnerable as a permanent state, suggesting a need for greater exploration of the experience among all sections of this heterogeneous population, with consideration of the concepts of resilience and coping capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alister Hardy’s initiative in starting a programme of empirical research into religious experience in the UK employing the methods of the social sciences continues through the work of the Religious Experience Research Centres. John Greer initiated a similar research tradition through his questionnaire surveys of the incidence and nature of religious experience among children and young people in Northern Ireland. Leslie Francis and Tania ap Siôn replicated Greer’s classic surveys, with ap Siôn extending Greer’s analysis into nine categories of religious experience (Guidance and help, Exam concerns, God’s presence, Answered prayer, Death, Sickness, Conversion, Difficulty of description, and Miscellaneous), while also noting their setting and frequency. This paper develops the Greer tradition further, drawing on more recent data from pupils in the Republic of Ireland, and arguing for a modified analytical process in order to provide a more nuanced understanding of reports of religious experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Motorway merging has been regarded as a major source of conflicts and congestion, but has long been recognised as an area in which modelling has been relatively weak. The current traffic models represent the traffic operations at a merge are based on gap-acceptance approach, with the merging traffic giving-way to traffic on the mainline carriageway and imposing little or no delay to the mainline traffic. The results tend to overestimate delays to the merging traffic, and underestimate delays and interruptions to the mainline traffic. This paper investigates the current practice in modelling motorway merge in the UK and highlights some major conceptual and methodological differences to those in the US and Germany. Studies based on empirical observations and a dynamic, behaviour-based microsimulation modelling were carried out to improve understanding of the factors involved in the performance at merge. The results demonstrate the sensitivity of model predictions – and perhaps policy decisions – to the behavioural assumptions made in traffic models. The paper provides simple, practical recommendations to improve the current practice on modelling merge by the consideration of peak flow profile in the estimation of merge capacity, realistic local and variable pcu values for heavy vehicles, and a more confined merge influence area than currently advised in the UK guidelines. It calls for further empirical and behavioural-based microsimulation analysis and for the explicit consideration of the variability of traffic flows and dynamic congestion effects on merge, to improve the model predictions and provide better investment decisions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use disaggregated data on US-UK trade to investigate the effects of exchange rate depreciation on trade in services both in the short- and long-run. Design/methodology/approach – The paper focuses on the three traditional categories of internationally traded services – travel, passenger fares and other transportation services – and employs the "bounds" testing procedure advanced by Pesaran, Shin and Smith to investigate the J-curve effect. Findings – The results reveal that the real exchange rate has a statistically significant effect on trade in services in at least one of the time periods. The results also provide some support for the J-curve effect. Practical implications – Empirical evidence on the J-curve provides policymakers with valuable information about the effects of currency depreciation on the trade balance. Originality/value – To the best of the author's knowledge this is the first paper to investigate the J-curve effect using data on trade in services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the progress of discourse-analytic approaches in social psychology from the late 1980s to the present day, with a particular focus on the way conceptual and methodological contributions from within the Discourse and Rhetoric Group at Loughborough University have negotiated a positive role for innovative studies of language in the discipline of psychology. Social psychology has become a key site for the accumulation of a series of empirical studies that have seen the flourishing of a distinctive form of 'discursive social psychology' that has succeeded in moving from the margins of the discipline to a more accepted position. The paper traces this trajectory of discourse analysis from the limits to the centre of social psychology attending to five features that now characterise its contribution to psychology; an emphasis on everyday conversation, a concern with interpersonal interaction, explication of formal sequences; an insistence on empirical claims; and fidelity to the ethos of its host discipline. The paper concludes with some comments on the wider context of this new approach inside psychology today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was commissioned by the editors of the seminar series of papers, to provide a commentary on the series. It outlines how the sociology of childhood developed and some key themes: intergenerational relations and intergenerational processes. It discusses the specific character of childhood work in the UK and considers ways forward for theoretical development. Finally it considers what lessons can be learned across the majority and minority worlds to help us in our sociological work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Levels of concentration in the grocery sector have led to concerns about reduced diversity of local retail provision and its potential negative effects on consumer welfare and choice. Using empirical evidence from a study of consumer perceptions of retail choice across nine purposefully sampled neighbourhoods in the city of Worcester in the UK, the paper illuminates consumer satisfaction with local provision and investigates how satisfaction varies with the local mix of grocery stores. The study adopts a stated-preference approach with realistic but hypothetical scenarios being presented to consumers in which the level, form, brand composition, and accessibility of local retail provision is systematically varied to gauge the sensitivity of householders in different types of neighbourhoods to variations in local retail assortments. The contributions of the paper are reflected in three main findings: (1) residents value having a large supermarket close by and reveal that they value diversity of provision rather than overconcentration; (2) consumers in deprived areas overall display greater satisfaction for the same offer than consumers in less deprived areas; and (3) although small stores in a local store assortment significantly contribute to reducing dissatisfaction with the local retail offer, they contribute little to achieving higher levels of consumer satisfaction. The study stresses the need for planners and policy makers to maximise choice and welfare through both the number and the diversity of stores in local neighbourhood areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background and objectives: Public concern about an unsubstantiated link between MMR vaccine and autism stemmed from a 1998 paper by Dr Andrew Wakefield and colleagues, and the substantial media coverage which that work attracted. Though the Wakefield paper is now discredited and an MMR-autism link has never been demonstrated empirically, this concern has manifested in over a decade of suboptimal MMR uptake. Few qualitative studies have explored parents’ MMR decision-making since uptake began to improve in 2004. This study updates and adds methodological rigour to the evidence base. Methods: 24 mothers planning to accept, postpone or decline the first MMR dose (MMR1) for their 11–36 month-old children, described their decision-making in semi-structured interviews. Mothers were recruited via General Practice, parents’ groups/online forums, and chain referral. MMR1 status was obtained from General Practice records 6 months post-interview. Interview transcripts were coded and interpreted using a modified Grounded Theory approach. Results: Five themes were identified: MMR vaccine and controversy; Social and personal consequences of MMR decision; Health professionals and policy; Severity and prevalence of measles, mumps and rubella infections; Information about MMR and alternatives. Results indicated that MMR1 acceptors were sympathetic toward Wakefield as a person, but universally rejected his study which sparked the controversy; parents opting for single vaccines expressed the sense that immune overload is not a consideration but that not all three components of MMR are warranted by disease severity; and MMR1 rejectors openly criticised other parents’ MMR decisions and decision-making. Conclusions: This study corroborated some previous qualitative work but indicated that the shrinking group of parents now rejecting MMR comprises mainly those with more extreme and complex anti-immunisation views, whilst parents opting for single vaccines may use second-hand information about the controversy. In response, policymakers and practitioners should revise their expectations of today''s MMR decision-makers, and their methods for supporting them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The value of travel time savings in part depends upon the disutility of the travel time that is saved and partly on the use to which the time saved is put. It has long been recognised that the disutility of the time spent travelling also depends upon a wide range of factors such as the journey length or the effort, comfort and safety associated with travelling. Hence we might expect the value of motorists’ travel time to vary with the traffic conditions as represented by the degree of congestion, in part to reflect the more difficult driving environment when there are more vehicles, but also a higher sense of frustration, similar to that associated with waiting time and contributing to its premium valuation. In this context, and despite the predominance of car travel in developed countries, the empirical evidence specifically relating to car values of travel time tends to fail to distinguish between different types of time according to the degree of congestion. Thus we are often left unclear as to precisely what type of time has been valued. Moreover, when a distinction is made, it tends to be into a simple dichotomy of congested and uncongested traffic. This paper provides new evidence on the variation in the valuation of motorists’ travel time savings across a finer gradation of types of time than has been hitherto attempted. This is obtained from the same Stated Choice exercise conducted in the United Kingdom and the United States. The paper also provides an extensive account of previous research into how congestion impacts on motorists’ values of time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to consider how the national intelligence model (NIM) of policing in Britain has been affected by changing patterns of mobility, since its inception in 2004. Design/methodology/approach - Conceptually, the paper draws on the "new mobilities paradigm". Empirically, it is based on a small, exploratory study, comprising analysis of investigations carried out over a three-month period in 2007 and 2008, by a serious and organised crime unit in a police force in England, and 11 interviews carried out in three police forces in England. The data are used for illustrative purposes only. Findings - It is argued that increased levels of mobile criminality are impacting significantly on British police forces, placing considerable strain on the practical structures which underpin the NIM, and posing serious challenges to operational efficiency and effectiveness. Originality/value - This paper makes a contribution by linking the social changes documented in the emergent social science field of "mobilities study" with changes in the organisation of criminality, particularly evident in the organisation of mobile criminality, which have presented routine opportunities for organised, transnational as well as "lower level" crime. Examining this phenomenon enables us to see that despite the attention paid to transnational policing in the organised crime literature, the burden of policing both organised and opportunistic crime continues to fall upon local police forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]