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Background: Online knowledge translation (KT) approaches are becoming increasingly prevalent within healthcare due to their accessibility and facilitation of international support networks. Online platforms enable timely and far‐reaching dissemination of current evidence and best‐practice recommendations. Although there is potential to improve the uptake of rehabilitation guidelines, it is essential to consider the acceptability of online approaches to healthcare professionals to ensure their successful integration within everyday clinical settings. Aims: To establish the prospective acceptability of a theoretically informed online intervention for speech pathologists, Aphasia Nexus: Connecting Evidence to Practice, that aims to facilitate the implementation of aphasia best practice. Methods & Procedures: A mixed‐methods multinational electronic survey based on the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) completed by aphasia researchers and clinicians. Outcomes & Results: A total of 43 participants completed the survey with 91% (n = 39) indicating that they would use Aphasia Nexus. Understanding the intervention and how it works (intervention coherence as per the TFA) was the key factor influencing the likelihood of integration within everyday clinical practice. Participants identified potential areas where the intervention could influence service change and also recommended further design and content changes to improve the intervention. Conclusions & Implications: Aphasia Nexus is an acceptable platform for further feasibility testing in the form of a pilot trial within an Australian‐based health service. The study progresses the theory of TFA as it was a valuable framework facilitating the identification of prominent factors influencing acceptability. The study also informs further intervention refinements in preparation for the next stage of research. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject: Online strategies have the potential to enhance KT and promote the uptake of rehabilitation guidelines. An online intervention, however, can only be effective if implemented well. For this reason, it is essential to establish the acceptability of online interventions to the intended recipients and therefore increase the likelihood of successful implementation. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: This study used a theoretically based framework to establish the acceptability of an online implementation intervention, Aphasia Nexus, to multinational aphasia clinicians and researchers. It demonstrated the value in identifying the prominent factors influencing acceptability to inform further intervention refinements and warrant continuing research. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Speech pathologists should use online platforms to drive the implementation of best practice on an international scale. It is important for clinicians to have an in‐depth understanding of online interventions and how they work to enhance their successful uptake into routine clinical practice. Aphasia Nexus is an acceptable online platform for implementing best practice in aphasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is increasing recognition of the impact that dementia has upon swallowing and at mealtimes, and the significant effect this can have on people with dementia's health and well‐being. However, there remains a paucity of evidence for assessment and intervention practices for dysphagia and mealtime difficulties. Furthermore, there is a limited understanding of how speech and language therapists (SLTs) support people with these dementia‐related issues and what are the barriers and facilitators to practice. Further research is therefore needed to guide policy as well as service guideline and delivery development. Aims: To establish the current practices of SLTs managing dementia‐related dysphagia and mealtime difficulties in the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI), and to establish their opinions and experiences of what challenges or supports to practice they have encountered. Methods & Procedures: An anonymous, cross‐sectional web‐based survey was developed and distributed to SLTs working in the UK and ROI. Respondents completed a questionnaire that consisted of open and closed questions across nine topic areas. Closed responses were evaluated using descriptive statistics; open‐ended questions were analysed using conventional content analysis. Outcomes & Results: A total of 310 people accessed the survey, and 125 respondents completed it fully. While respondents agreed on their role in dysphagia management, they varied in their views on the extent of their role in managing mealtime difficulties. Additionally, their self‐rated knowledge of mealtime difficulties in dementia was lower than their dysphagia knowledge. The respondents predominantly based their management decisions on their clinical experience of working with people with dementia. They primarily used compensatory strategies and frequently cited the need for family and care staff training. Respondents also highlighted barriers to effective management and training provision such as inefficient referral systems, a lack of carer knowledge and lack of SLT resources. Conclusions & Implications: The results provide valuable insight into the issues facing SLTs practising in this area. The SLTs surveyed considered dysphagia a core part of their role when supporting people with dementia; however, respondents' views on mealtime difficulties varied. This highlights the need to establish consensus guidelines on the SLT's role in order to avoid variations in service delivery that could negatively impact the health and well‐being of people with dementia. Moreover, further research to develop efficient and effective training for care staff supporting mealtime difficulties and dysphagia is essential. What this paper addsWhat is already known on the subjectResearch indicates that people with dementia develop dysphagia and mealtime difficulties as dementia progresses. SLTs often manage these, but there is no research on the effective assessment and management procedures, or guidance on best practice.What this paper adds to existing knowledgeThis paper provides an understanding of the variation in practice across the UK and ROI. Respondents described barriers to delivering an effective service and frequently linked these to the SLTs' resources as well as service constraints.What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?These findings support the need for future research to develop guidelines for SLT practice in this area. They also support the need to examine resource allocation and workforce management to enable SLTs to manage dementia‐related dysphagia and mealtime difficulties effectively. [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]

Background/aim The successful development and maintenance of professional identity is associated with professional development and retention in the health workforce. This paper explores students' perspectives on the ways pre-entry experiences and curricula content shape professional identity. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was sent to students enrolled in the final year of entry-level programmes in five countries. Descriptive statistical analyses of data were completed. Results The results reflect the perceptions of 319 respondents from five countries. Respondents identified professional education (98%) and professional socialisation during placement (92%) as curricula components with the greatest influence on professional identity formation. Discipline-specific knowledge such as, occupation-focussed models and occupational science were ranked lower than these aspects of practice. The students' length of programme and level of entry-level programme did not impact on these results. Conclusion When designing curricula educators need to be mindful that students perceive practice education and professional socialisation have the greatest affect on professional identity formation. The findings reinforce the need for curricula to provide students with a range of practice experiences, which allow the observation and application of occupation-based practices. It highlights a need for educators to provide university-based curricula activities, which better prepare students for a potential dissonance between explicit occupation-based curricula and observed practice education experiences. The study indicates the need for further research into the role curricula content, and in particular practice education, plays in the multidimensional formation of professional development within entry-level programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant care workers make a substantial contribution to older adult care in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK). However, little is known about the relational aspects of care involving migrant care workers and older people. Given that the care relationship is closely linked to quality of care, and that the Irish and UK sectors are increasingly restricted by economic austerity measures, this lack of information is a concern for care practice and policy. Our paper explores the relationship between migrant care workers and older people in Ireland and the UK and draws on data collected in both countries, including focus groups with older people (N = 41), interviews with migrant care workers (N = 90) and data from a survey of and interviews with employers. The findings illustrate the complexity of the migrant care worker–older person relationship; the prevalence of need orientated, friendship and familial-like, reciprocal, and discriminatory interlinking themes; and the role of individual, structural and temporal factors in shaping these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Objectives: This paper compares two indirect prevalence estimation methods that offer protection beyond anonymity and are suitable for self-administration, for investigating the epidemiology of transgressive or socially sensitive behaviours. Design: In this self-report study, 513 participants (58.7% male) from sports clubs across the UK and southern Ireland were asked to complete an anonymous survey containing the recently developed Single Sample Count (SSC), along with a comparative method Unrelated Question Model (UQM), using prohibited performance-enhancing drugs/substances (PED) as sensitive and hormone-boosting herbal supplements (HS) as non-sensitive control questions. Method: The survey comprised of sections of SSC, UQM, social projection and simple network scale up methods. Respondents were asked to indicate whether they preferred the SSC or UQM for more protection and ease of completion. Results: A large discrepancy was observed in prevalence estimates for PED using the UQM (58.4%) and SSC (19.8%), but not for HS (54.9% and 54.0%, respectively). The SSC prevalence estimate for PED was in keeping with the results from social projection (13.8% in own sport; 26.1% in all sports) and network scale up (19.3% for known and suspected doping combined). A clear preference was logged for SSC. Conclusion: SSC, but not UQM, showed good concurrent validity with social projection and personal networks for PED; and good discriminant validity with HS. The observed discrepancy could be explained by strategic responding which can inflate the proportion of ‘yes’ answers in the UQM. Adaptation of the UQM for self-administration may lead to an unwanted upward response distortion via strategic responding. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of the paper is to assess open disclosure in Ireland following clinical adverse events in healthcare. A number of areas were examined from the patient's and healthcare team's perspectives. The barriers/constraints to open disclosure, the extent of policies, procedures or guidelines that are available for staff to consult with, inclusive of how they are implemented, harvested valuable insight. The supports available for healthcare staff following an adverse event and patients' expectations after such an event are also encompassed to include the relationship open disclosure has on concerns regarding litigious intent. The questionnaire was disseminated to a multidisciplinary healthcare group. The questions were numbered 1-9, with a mixture of open and closed questions. A five-point Likert format was used with three questions in attitudinal/ opinion statements, regarding supports available for staff following an adverse event. A Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to assist with the interpretation of data. This study was directed at the multidisciplinary healthcare team and senior management within the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Voluntary sectors. The oldest hospitals in Ireland are voluntary public hospitals some of them originating from the 18th century, having been established by charities and religious orders. Voluntary hospitals are partly funded by the HSE, specifically having their own governance structure. There was a response rate of 67% (n ¼ 192). A total 56.5% of respondents stated their organization did not have an open disclosure policy, procedure or guideline in place however, 16% of the attendees stated there was one in place. A total of 54.4% (104) acknowledged barriers/concerns surrounding open disclosure, with fear of litigious intent noted by 24% of respondents. A total of 52.3% (101) identified support availability to staff following an adverse event, 38.9% (10) felt there was little/no follow-up support, with 11.1.% (2) stating they were made to feel guilty, and associated it with being "on trial". Findings demonstrate an unstructured approach to disclosure of adverse events in Ireland, with fear of litigation a major concern for healthcare professionals. Error awareness among the general public, the introduction of protective legislation and implementation of a national standard on open disclosure in conjunction with practical training and education will all positively and practically influence open disclosure of adverse events in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]