Search

Orientation: A literature search for studies on the well-being of support staff of higher education institutions (HEIs) produced very little results. Appreciation was then used to identify elements that might enhance the well-being of a selected HEI’s support staff. Research purpose: The aim was to explore the strengths of a selected HEI that might serve as driving forces for enhancing its support staff’s well-being. Motivation for the study: The lack of research on the well-being of support staff motivated the study. A need was identified to explore driving forces that might enhance their well-being. Research design, approach and method: A literature review guided by theoretical perspectives and theories on staff well-being was conducted. Subsequently, a qualitative action research design involving an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) workshop with support staff of an institution was followed. Main findings: The following strengths that might serve as driving forces for enhancing the well-being of the institution’s support services staff were identified: hard-working and dedicated support staff, positive relations among colleagues, a willingness to adapt to change,good remuneration and benefits, job security and a supportive work environment. Appreciative Inquiry was found to be well suited for identifying such strengths, as opposed to methods that focus on identifying problems or weaknesses of an organisation. As a result of this study, the relevant institution might react and build on these identified strengths towards promoting the well-being of its support staff. Practical/managerial implications: Institutions should make an effort to enhance staff well being. The results of the study could also be used to encourage HEIs to use AI to establish optimal staff well-being. Contribution/value add: The study confirmed the power of appreciation to identify the strengths that might serve as driving forces for enhancing the well-being of support staff of an HEI.

Falls with injury are a persistent patient safety challenge in the acute care setting. This article describes the creation and implementation of a Certified Falls Prevention Advocate (CFPA) program on a medical-surgical unit. The program created standardization of nursing support staff involvement in falls prevention and engaged them as members of the interdisciplinary team. The CFPA program was an important element in the unit's improvement in falls with injury rates. The mean falls with injury rate decreased from 1.115 to 0.178 per 1000 patient-days over a 1-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palliative care is increasingly delivered in the community but access to medicines, particularly 'out of hours' remains problematic. This paper describes the experience of developing a model to deliver pharmaceutical palliative care in rural Scotland via the MacMillan Rural Palliative Care Pharmacist Practitioner (MRPP) project. The focus of the service was better integration of the MRPP into different care settings and professional teams, and to develop educational resources for the wider MDT including Care Home and Social Care staff on medicine related issues in palliative care. A variety of integration activities are reported in the paper with advice on how to achieve this. Similarly, many resources were developed, including bespoke training on pharmaceutical matters for Care Home staff. The experience allowed for a three step service and sustainability model for community pharmacy palliative care services to be developed. Moving through the steps, the key roles and responsibilities of the MRPP gradually shift towards the local Community Pharmacist(s), with the MRPP starting from a locality-based hands-on role to a wider supportive facilitating role for local champions. It is acknowledged that successful delivery of the model is dependent on alignment of resources, infrastructure and local community support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The movement of people with intellectual disabilities into the community is increasingly endorsed by public policy. Whilst staff are critical to a successful transition to the community, there is only scattered research on their role in supporting people to move. In this study, 32 staff and the 16 people with intellectual disabilities they supported to move from congregated settings to group homes or personalized living arrangements in the community were interviewed on two occasions, before (time 1) and after (time 2) the move. In congregated settings, staff steered the move to community living, they helped them to settle in community group homes and supported them to increase control over their lives in personalized community arrangements, where they support became increasingly more personalized and geared towards community participation and development of social relationships. Implications for staff training are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staff providing support to children with disabilities in residential disability centres in Oman are exposed to stressful work environments which may put them at an increased risk of burnout. Previous research has examined predictors of stress in disability support staff, but there is little consensus as the findings are inconclusive. Using a cross-sectional design, a short survey examined religious coping styles, meaning and inner sense of peace, attitude to meaning in life, organisational religiousness practices and stress of 142 female disability support staff from community disability centres in Oman. Multiple regression analyses indicated that positive religious coping was more predictive of stress than negative religious coping. There was an association between meaning-making and stress in disability support staff. Religious organisation explained most of the variance in stress scores and was the best predictor of stress in disability support staff. Implications of the study are discussed in relation to the role of both culture and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives This study aims to identify and explore emergent barriers to consumers accessing oseltamivir without prescription following policy change introduced in New Zealand to increase access via community pharmacies. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 community pharmacists immediately following the first season of oseltamivir availability without prescription in October 2007. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using a framework approach to identify themes. Key findings Non-prescription sales of oseltamivir were slow during this period. Participants acknowledged that they may have missed opportunities to recommend oseltamivir and attributed this to a range of reasons. Pharmacy-related barriers identified included limited pharmacist confidence, concerns about efficacy and safety of the product, location of the product in the pharmacy, affordability and the role of support staff. Many pharmacists adopted a 'risk-benefit analysis' that balanced symptom severity with perceived value for money. Consumer barriers included cost, limited awareness of availability and limited ability to correctly self-diagnose and manage influenza. Conclusions Complexity in the factors that influenced pharmacist motivation to supply oseltamivir without prescription highlighted the potential for positive policy change to be hindered by multiple barriers. Greater understanding of such barriers is important for effective transition of medicines from prescription to non-prescription availability to achieve increased consumer access through reclassification. Concerns that pharmacists are influenced by commercial priorities when medicines are newly reclassified were not substantiated in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palliative care is increasingly delivered in the community but access to medicines, particularly ‘out of hours’ remains problematic. This paper describes the experience of developing a model to deliver pharmaceutical palliative care in rural Scotland via the MacMillan Rural Palliative Care Pharmacist Practitioner (MRPP) project. The focus of the service was better integration of the MRPP into different care settings and professional teams, and to develop educational resources for the wider MDT including Care Home and Social Care staff on medicine related issues in palliative care. A variety of integration activities are reported in the paper with advice on how to achieve this. Similarly, many resources were developed, including bespoke training on pharmaceutical matters for Care Home staff. The experience allowed for a three step service and sustainability model for community pharmacy palliative care services to be developed. Moving through the steps, the key roles and responsibilities of the MRPP gradually shift towards the local Community Pharmacist(s), with the MRPP starting from a locality-based hands-on role to a wider supportive facilitating role for local champions. It is acknowledged that successful delivery of the model is dependent on alignment of resources, infrastructure and local community support.

Orientation: After the 1994 democratic elections, South African organisations had to replace discriminatory policies with new policies to integrate all people and to embrace diversity. As a consequence stereotypes may be more prevalent in diverse working environments. Research purpose: The objective of this study was to explore the experience of stereotypes amongst the support staff within a higher education institution. Motivation for this study: Changes within South African working environments, and specifically higher education institutions, resulted in more diverse management teams and a more culturally diverse workforce. With this in mind, the experience of stereotypes may become more prevalent within South African working environments. Many researchers have focused on stereotypes; however, studies on stereotypes within South Africa are limited, especially within higher education institutions. Research approach, design and method: The research approach was qualitative and a case study design was employed. A combination of both quota and convenience sampling was used. The sample consisted of (N = 30) support staff within a higher education institution in South Africa. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Main findings: The results indicated that the participants do experience stereotypes within their workplace and also hold stereotypes of other people within their workplace. The most prevalent stereotypes mentioned by participants were age, gender, racial and occupational stereotypes. There is also an indication that stereotypes have cognitive, emotional and behavioural effects on the stereotyped. Practical/managerial implications: Organisations should do away with stereotyping by embracing and managing diversity and dealing with stereotypes, specifically within higher education institutions. When managers are aware of stereotypes and the effects thereof in the organisation, they can make every effort to eradicate the stereotypes and address the impact thereof. Contribution: In an environment where there is a diverse workforce, stereotyping is more likely to exist. This study will provide useful information about stereotypes within a higher education institution seeing that there are a limited number of studies on this topic within South Africa and within this specific occupation. The results of the study will enlighten the organisation to become more aware of stereotypes and the debilitating impact that they have on the individual and the organisation, thereby providing the organisation with the opportunity to address stereotypes and the impact thereof on employees and the organisation.

This article reports on the author's enrollment in the SuccessfUL Supervisor Series course. As a new distance education library coordinator the author sought out formal supervisor training to address staff misconduct and establish staff training initiatives for distance library service needs. Structured as a case study, the author discusses how the course content was applied using scenarios that detail the supervisory situations that the author was involved in and actions taken in each situation. Focused on communication and problem solving, this article offers practical staff management techniques for librarians that supervise staff in distance education units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate self-medication practices in the support staff of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study in which a self-developed questionnaire was used. Study population consisted of two categories of paramedical staff (Category I: Nurses, Category II: Non nursing staff -- technicians, clerks). Results: It was found that 68% of Cat I and 52% of Cat II subjects practised self-medication. Self-medication with analgesics was the most prevalent. A high percentage of the nursing staff was found to be self-medicating with antibiotics although the awareness levels about antibiotic resistance are high among them. Nearly 50% of the subjects selfmedicated with nutritional supplements and there was a greater tendency to select the nutritional supplement by means of advertisements. Most subjects in both categories stopped taking their medication immediately after cessation of symptoms, reflecting on the inadequacy of knowledge of drug dosages and the importance of completing drug courses. Common sites for obtaining drugs were the wards and OPDs of the hospital and the local pharmacies. ~75% of the nursing staff would be confident of prescribing drugs based on their experience -- as compared to the ~15% of non-nursing staff who would. In conclusion, nursing staff are found to be self-medicating more and with higher confidence. There should be sensitization at time of recruitment of staff and conducting CMEs, hence making self-medication a more rational and effective tool of self-care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research suggests that it is through providing direct support to citizens that public servants gain a source of meaning in their work; and affirm their public service identities. This article explores how employees who work in a public service support function and receive little, if any, direct feedback from citizens may maintain their public service identity during their back office work. The study finds, against much previous empirical research, that these back office employees achieve positive identity affirmation through bureaucratic work. The findings also show that they affirm their caring and community focused public service identity by noting their superiority in this regard when compared with colleagues. However, this augmented self-narrative results in many experiencing feelings of isolation. The article discusses how these findings extend the understanding of identity affirmation among back office public servants and may improve our ability to effectively support these workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the shifting roles of support staff particularly teacher assistants (TAs) in schools providing services in students. It examines the factors that affect the changes as well as the considerations for teachers who are working with support staff. Also included are paraprofessional, learning assistant and education assistant.

In the United States, special education paraeducators constitute a population of educators that provide integral services to our students with special needs. This population of educators is historically and currently poorly trained and supervised; yet, they work with the most challenging conditions and student population. Existing literature has unveiled a dismal state where the paraeducators job demands are increasing while their training and support remain relatively stagnant. An area where research has not highlighted as thoroughly is the impact of the dysfunctional, hierarchical system in which paraeducators operate. In essence, paraeducators are victims of a dysfunctional system that leaves them stagnant in their learning and in a position of marginalization. To begin including and valuing these individuals and thus improving our schools, practitioners must go back to the basics and increase the extent in which we demonstrate our appreciation of paraeducators by acknowledging and including them in more collaborative relationships and providing adequate training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expanding use of collegiate strength and conditioning facilities (SCFs) for athlete development has created a need to research and better understand these facilities. This study was designed to examine the relationship between years of experience of head strength coaches to the quantity of available staff and equipment. An online survey instrument, developed with certified strength and conditioning specialist input, was used to collect data regarding the SCFs in NCAA Division 1 universities (n = 110). Analysis of the impact of the number of years of experience of the full-time strength and conditioning coach yielded a number of significant findings regarding the staffing and organization of the SCF. Years of full-time strength coaching experience was related to the number of full-time strength and conditioning coaches employed (χ2 = 12.23, p ≤ .001) and number of graduate assistants and intern coaches (χ2 = 8.76, p = .003). The experience of the head coach was also significantly related to the number of strength coaches on the floor during peak and nonpeak hours and the number of teams assigned per coach. The number of squat stations in the facility (χ2 = 13.94, p ≤ .001) and bench press stations (χ2 = 4.49, p = .034) was also related to the number of years of head coaching experience. Based upon these results, it appears that the level of experience of the head strength and conditioning coach is related to the availability of both staffing and equipment in collegiate SCFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key word signing (KWS) is a means of augmentative and alternative communication frequently used with adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). Their acquisition of KWS has been described in the literature; however, little is known about the everyday KWS use among adults with ID and their support staff. This study aimed to give an account of the prevalence of KWS and the sign knowledge of adults with ID and their support staff in Flemish residential programs (RPs) and day care programs (DCPs). Communication specialists in all RPs and DCPs for adults with ID in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, were contacted by phone and were asked whether they used KWS, and if so, whether they were willing to fill out a questionnaire about the KWS use of support staff and clients. Findings show that of 347 RPs and DCPs in Flanders, 85% met the inclusion criteria. Half (51.2%) of these programs used KWS. Of these 152 programs, 93 (61.2%) completed our questionnaire. A quarter (26.6%) of their adult clients with ID used KWS.Most of them knew 10-50 signs, whereas most support staff knew fewer than 10 signs. The presence of a speech and language therapist as well as sign knowledge and attitude of support staff were significantly related to the sign knowledge of their clients.Motivational problems for staff to use KWS were quite common. KWS support should be more widespread and more easily accessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined how different patterns of coping influence psychological distress for staff members in programs serving individuals with intellectual disabilities. With a series of path models, we examined the relative usefulness of constructs (i.e., wishful thinking and psychological inflexibility) from two distinct models of coping (i.e., the transactional model and the psychological flexibility models, respectively) as mediators to explain how workplace stressors lead to psychological distress in staff serving individuals with intellectual disabilities. Analyses involved self-report questionnaires from 128 staff members (84% female; 71% African American) from a large, state-funded residential program for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities in the southern United States of America. Cross-sectional path models using bootstrapped standard errors and confidence intervals revealed both wishful thinking and psychological inflexibility mediated the relation between workplace stressors and psychological distress when they were included in separate models. However, when both variables were included in a multiple mediator model, only psychological inflexibility remained a significant mediator. The results suggest psychological inflexibility and the psychological flexibility model may be particularly useful for further investigation on the causes and amelioration of workplace-related stress in ID settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unhealthy lifestyle is giving way to a multifold increase in the need for healthcare industry in India and worldwide. Healthcare has one of the most stressful working environments for the employees. In order to maintain the professional demeanor and care for the terminally ill patients the healthcare professionals are demanded to be available all the time. Emotionally demanding patients adds to the severity of situation. The healthcare professionals are physically, emotionally and psychologically so drained that it results in occupational stress and hence burnout and adopt different ways of coping to work effectively and efficiently. The present study was conducted on a sample of 600 healthcare professionals from the private hospitals of Delhi, NCR. The sample included nursing, support staff (security, pharmacy, front office, housekeeping and dietetics/food and beverages staff) and doctors with equal number of male and female participants. Ways of Coping Scale-Revised (Folkman and Lazarus, 1985) was the assessment tool used in the present study. It was observed that nursing was most severely affected by occupational stress and burnout as compared to doctors and other support staff and the healthcare professionals use different ways of coping to combat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Challenging behaviour of clients influences emotional wellbeing of staff; this in turn affects levels of staff engagement and avoidance within interactions with clients. The main goal of this study was to investigate to what extent levels of staff engagement and staff avoidance are related to challenging and desirable client behaviours and clients' initiatives for contact. Method Participants were 8 support staff and 3 clients. Staff and client behaviours were measured within moments of interaction in natural settings using systematic observational data. Results The results showed that general levels of staff engagement, avoidance, and client behaviours seem to be related. However, individual, sequential analyses do not support these relationships. Conclusions Future research should take a more individual and intrapersonal view of staff behaviour and staff–client interaction into account, in order to obtain a detailed and realistic image of individual patterns in interactions between support staff and clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Just who are ‘administrators’ in UK higher education? The definition of administrators is explored and it is argued that it has changed to become looser. Administrative roles are now much more diverse. Technological changes have created new roles and opportunities with progression opportunities for some staff. The statistical evidence from the Higher Education Statistics Agency is considered. This shows that a large percentage of support staff work in academic cost centres and changes in the numbers and type of staff working in different areas are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to explore how support staff make sense of their experiences of assisting children with additional support needs in mainstream classes. Focussed and productive communication with the class teacher was perceived as being crucial to effective practice. A conclusion of this study is that absence of communication relating to pedagogy and pupil need between class teachers and support staff prevents effective planning on the part of the teacher and effective support practices on the part of the additional supporting adult. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background Increasingly, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) are supported to participate in least-restricted settings in the community. However, little is known about desired community participation choice and control of people with I/DD, nor effective strategies to support full participation. Furthermore, service providers of this population in community and residential settings have unique roles in influencing choice and control in community participation. Research Aim The purpose of this project is to empower adults with I/DD in community participation by collaborating with agency staff and administrators to strategize change in service provision and programming. Methods This article describes the development, imple-mentation and mixed-methods evaluation of a pilot staff intervention. Results Findings indicate staff who participated in pilot intervention report increased confidence in supporting adults with I/DD to participate in their communities. Conclusions Intervention development has implications for staff, administrators and agencies in planning and executing opportunities to support choice and control for community participation for adults with I/DD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies about teams of staff supporting people with intellectual disability have focused on team performance of existing teams. This study aimed to examine important factors in the process of setting up a new team of support staff. Specifically, we considered the process for a team that supports service users with mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning who display severe challenging behaviour from the orthopedagogical perspective (i.e., with a focus on contextual factors)., Method: Three participant groups (service users, support staff, and professionals supporting a team) participated in a concept mapping procedure, including generating statements in interviews and focus groups, sorting, and rating. An expert group interpreted the results., Results: Important factors to one or more groups were: service users and support staff getting acquainted early, team safety, social support, a shared vision, and a positive reputation of the new home., Conclusions: Four core outcomes were addressed that may help service organisations to provide an environment matching the needs of service users who show severe challenging behaviour from the start., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Many primary school children with English as an additional language in the UK receive additional educational support. This article reports on a study comparing withdrawal sessions between teaching assistants (TAs) and specialist teachers. The findings show that the specialist teachers included more personalisation than TAs’ sessions, through the use of referential questions. Initiation, response, feedback (IRF) scripts were more often incomplete in TAs’ interactions and extension of the feedback stage was more common amongst teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Including support staff in practice change initiatives is a promising strategy to successfully implement new reproductive health services. The Resident Training Initiative in Miscarriage Management (RTI-MM) is an intervention designed to facilitate implementation of manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) for management of spontaneous abortion. The purpose of this study was to identify training program components that enhanced interprofessional training and provide lessons learned for engaging support staff in implementing uterine evacuation services.Study Design: We conducted a secondary analysis of qualitative data to identify themes within three broad areas: interprofessional education, the role of support staff, and RTI-MM program components that facilitated support staff engagement in the process of implementing MVA services.Results: We identified three key themes around interprofessional training and the role of support staff: "Training together is rare," "Support staff are crucial to practice change," and "Transparency, peers and champions."Conclusions: We present lessons learned that may be transferrable to other clinic sites: engage site leadership in a commitment to interprofessional training; engage support staff as teachers and learners and in shared values and building professionalism.Implications: This manuscript adds to what is known about how to employ interprofessional education and training to engage support staff in reproductive health services practice change initiatives. Lessons learned may provide guidance to clinical sites interested in interprofessional training, improving service delivery, or implementing new services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To study the effect of minimum nurse staffing requirements on the subsequent employment of nursing home support staff. Data Sources Nursing home data from the Online Survey Certification and Reporting ( OSCAR) System merged with state nurse staffing requirements. Study Design Facility-level housekeeping, food service, and activities staff levels are regressed on nurse staffing requirements and other controls using fixed effect panel regression. Data Extraction Method OSCAR surveys from 1999 to 2004. Principal Findings Increases in state direct care and licensed nurse staffing requirements are associated with decreases in the staffing levels of all types of support staff. Conclusions Increased nursing home nurse staffing requirements lead to input substitution in the form of reduced support staffing levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Professional support for people with intellectual disabilities is increasingly provided remotely. This study explores what support staff of the Dutch remote support service DigiContact experience as distinctive aspects of their job as a remote support professional., Method: Semi-structured interviews were held with 10 DigiContact support workers. The transcripts were analysed through a qualitative content analysis process., Results: Six themes were identified that reflect distinct aspects of the participants' work within the DigiContact remote support context: being encouraged to adopt a solution-oriented coaching support style; being limited in one's support options; facing considerable diversity; providing support as one team; dealing with unpredictability; and navigating the dynamic within work shifts., Conclusions: The way support is organised and delivered can have substantial implications for support professionals. Working at a service like DigiContact seems to call for specific skills, knowledge, affinities and experience, and for appropriate support and facilitation from organisations., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Behaviours that challenge (BtC), such as aggression and self-injury, are manifested by many people with intellectual disabilities (ID). National and international guidelines recommend non-pharmacological psychosocial intervention before considering medication to address BtC. Support staff play a pivotal role in the prescription process. Using coproduction, we developed a training programme for support staff, called SPECTROM, to give them knowledge and empower them to question inappropriate prescriptions and ask for the discontinuation of medication if appropriate and instead look for ways to help people with ID when they are distressed without relying on medication. We have presented data from two focus groups that we conducted during the development of SPECTROM: one that included support staff, and another that had service managers and trainers. In these focus groups, we explored participants' views on the use of medication to address BtC with a particular emphasis on the causes of and alternatives to medication for BtC. Along with the participants' views, we have also presented how we have addressed these issues in the SPECTROM resources.

This article draws on research conducted with HLTAs in the North-West of England over two years and is located in the context of workforce remodelling. The respondents have presented a picture of a role which is developing outside the hegemonic discourse of rationality, testing, accountability and performativity within which the teacher role is being developed. In contrast, they suggest the role of HLTA is developing in an extemporized, contextually contingent manner, based on perceived local priorities and defined predominantly in relation to the disaggregation of the teacher role. This article argues that this situation puts HLTAs at the periphery of current policy and, while offering them some resistance to constraining discourses, ultimately places them at a disadvantage in terms of development of their professional identity. Furthermore, this situation presents a challenge to teachers’ professional status and to educational managers and leaders in terms of developing a coherent school workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The purposes of this study were to investigate the potential predictors of personal burnout among staff working with people with intellectual disabilities and to investigate whether personal burnout is associated with health and work-related outcomes. A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2011 in 30 residential facilities in northern Germany (N =409, response rate 45%). The German standard version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire was used. In a multiple logistic regression analysis, we identified factors which were predictive of personal burnout, such as work–privacy conflict (OR=1.04, 95% CI 1.03, 1.05), emotional demands (OR=1.03, 95% CI 1.01, 1.05), role conflicts (OR=1.02, 95% CI 1.02, 1.03), job insecurity (OR=1.03, 95% CI 1.01, 1.05) and feedback (OR=0.98, 95% CI 0.97, 0.99). These factors explained 49% of the total variance. Higher levels of personal burnout were significantly correlated with higher rates of intention to leave the job and cognitive stress symptoms (p <.01). Low values of personal burnout were associated with greater job satisfaction, good general health, and higher satisfaction with life (p <.01). The present study indicates that improving the psychosocial work environment at the organizational level may reduce personal burnout and may also diminish unfavorable outcomes, such as intention to leave or job dissatisfaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article focuses on young people with disabilities and mainstream physical education in England. Within this context there have been unprecedented levels of funding and resources directed towards physical education in order to support more inclusive physical education experiences for all young people, including those with disabilities. Physical education holds a unique place within the school curriculum; it is a subject area where the physicality of students is publicly exposed to others (including teachers, classmates, and support staff). There are likely to be some tensions around physical education and its relationship with students with disabilities. In particular, it is claimed that physical education was conceived of, and continues to be practiced, in a normative way. By drawing on interview data from three young people with disabilities, non-fictional narratives are used to re-present their identities at the intersections of schooling, physical education and disability. These narratives offer insights about how physical education impacts on various aspects of social life including home, family, friends and other school subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]