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Article
Publication date: 6 August 2024

Paul McCrone, Noreen Tehrani, Romin Tehrani, Alex Horsley and Ian Hesketh

Police officers in the UK frequently experience traumatic events and work pressures, and these can have a detrimental impact on mental health. A psychological surveillance…

Abstract

Purpose

Police officers in the UK frequently experience traumatic events and work pressures, and these can have a detrimental impact on mental health. A psychological surveillance programme has been implemented and clinically evaluated. This paper reports an economic evaluation of the programme.

Design/methodology/approach

A decision analytic model was developed to explore programme costs, outcomes and return on investment for a notional cohort of 1,000 police personnel (officers and staff). The model parameters were obtained from a large data set of sequential psychological surveillance results. Changes in individual work productivity were derived from a workability measure included in the survey.

Findings

The modelled expected total cost incurred to screen 1,000 participants was £84,287 ($106,971). The expected net increase in work productivity for those receiving interventions was valued at £241,672 ($306,713). This result represents a return on investment of 187%. Sensitivity analyses showed that the model was robust to changes in key parameters.

Research limitations/implications

Police personnel experiencing traumatic events may need specialist support from occupational health services or psychological therapy. Screening or surveillance can detect mental health problems, but its cost-effectiveness has been previously unknown.

Practical implications

The value for money of providing surveillance within the police force to detect mental health problems is assessed in this research. The gains in terms of increased work are evident. In similar environmental working conditions, this could extend to emergency services globally.

Social implications

The police are often called upon to deal with the lowest points in people’s lives. The findings have implications for police forces wishing to support officers to be able to provide the best of themselves in these situations.

Originality/value

There have been no previous studies in policing that have concluded that running a psychological surveillance programme in policing is financially viable. Although this requires initial investment, this paper models that the extra costs incurred are more than offset by improved work productivity.

Details

International Journal of Emergency Services, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2047-0894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 September 2024

Faye Horsley, Emily Birrell, Grace Gouldthorp, Danisha Kohli, Faith McLackland and Ellie Taylor

Research indicates that children’s early experience of fire can influence what and how they learn about fire. In turn, early fire-learning can influence how people come to use it…

Abstract

Purpose

Research indicates that children’s early experience of fire can influence what and how they learn about fire. In turn, early fire-learning can influence how people come to use it later in life, including whether they engage in maladaptive use, i.e. firesetting. Little is known about the underlying mechanisms of fire-learning, which was the basis for this study. The research question was: “how do adults educate children about fire in the UK/ Ireland”? The purpose of this study was to explore the child fire education process from an adult perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews was conducted with 21 fire-educators who had regular contact with children. Data was analysed using abbreviated grounded theory. Steps were taken to ensure reliability and validity, including a Cohen’s Kappa calculation, indicating an agreement level of 0.9 between two raters.

Findings

Four core themes were identified: the fire narrative, enabling growth, risk management, and communication, from which the fire-learning process model (F-LPM) was formed.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation is the nature of the sample, in that it was diverse and self-selecting.

Practical implications

The findings are discussed, including how they offer support for social learning theory (SLT) perspectives on fire-learning.

Social implications

The social construction of fire (i.e. the way fire is viewed by society as a whole in the UK/ Ireland) is discussed in depth, and cultural variability is highlighted. Suggestions are made for how the societal view of fire and, consequently, how adults convey this to young people, could be better balanced.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in the UK/ Ireland to consider how adults educate young people about fire from a concurrent perspective. This is important given that research indicates early experiences of fire can impact how people later go on to use it (including maladaptive use in the form of firesetting).

Details

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, vol. 10 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3841

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 November 2024

Michelle Striepe and Antonios Kafa

This scoping review examines the literature on school leadership during the COVID-19 crisis to consolidate knowledge on how school leaders adapted to unprecedented challenges. It…

Abstract

Purpose

This scoping review examines the literature on school leadership during the COVID-19 crisis to consolidate knowledge on how school leaders adapted to unprecedented challenges. It aims to highlight the multifaceted aspects of school leadership during the pandemic, emphasizing the need for distinct approaches in crisis situations.

Design/methodology/approach

Using scoping review methodology, this study analysed empirical work published between January 2020 and May 2023. Using PRISMA-ScR guidelines, it focused on peer-reviewed articles that examined leadership practices and strategies during the health crisis. Key features were distilled through thematic analysis, incorporating both inductive and deductive reasoning from the selected literature.

Findings

The study indicated that school leadership during the COVID-19 crisis involved care, collaboration, communication and quick decision-making. School leaders demonstrated resilience and innovation to ensure continuity of learning and support community well-being. Inclusive leadership, technology integration and personal characteristics like empathy emerged as pivotal aspects. The mapping revealed a prevalence of qualitative methodologies in one context, highlighting the need for diverse methodologies to comprehensively understand school leadership during crisis.

Originality/value

This review contributes to educational leadership by offering a thorough overview of the research on school leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. It emphasises context-specific leadership and the need to frame educational leadership in ways that will equip leaders for future crisis, suggesting considerations for leadership models tailored to crisis circumstances.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 May 2022

Mobolanle Balogun, Festus Opeyemi Dada, Adetola Oladimeji, Uchenna Gwacham-Anisiobi, Adekemi Sekoni and Aduragbemi Banke-Thomas

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disruptive effect on the health system. Health facility leaders were at the forefront of maintaining service delivery and were exposed to varied…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disruptive effect on the health system. Health facility leaders were at the forefront of maintaining service delivery and were exposed to varied stressors in the early phase of the pandemic. This study aims to explore the leadership experiences of health facility leaders during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria’s epicentre.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted an exploratory descriptive qualitative study. To achieve this, 33 health facility leaders of different cadres across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of the public health care system in Lagos, Nigeria, were remotely interviewed. The key informant interviews were transcribed verbatim and were analysed by using thematic analysis.

Findings

The health facility leaders experienced heightened levels of fear, anxiety and stressors during the early phase of the pandemic. They also had genuine concerns about exposing their family members to the virus and had to manage some health-care workers who were afraid for their lives and reluctant. Coping mechanisms included psychological and social support, innovative hygiene measures at health facility and at home, training and staff welfare in more ways than usual. They were motivated to continue rendering services during the crisis because of their passion, their calling, the Hippocratic oath and support from the State government.

Originality/value

The experiences of health facility leaders from different parts of the world have been documented. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies that specifically report multi-layer leadership experiences of health facility leaders during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Details

Leadership in Health Services, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1879

Keywords

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