Geoff McCombe, Anne Marie Henihan, Jan Klimas, Davina Swan, Dorothy Leahy, Rolande Anderson, Gerard Bury, Colum Dunne, Eamon Keenan, David Meagher, Clodagh O’Gorman, Tom O’Toole, Jean Saunders, Bobby P. Smyth, John S. Lambert, Eileen Kaner and Walter Cullen
Problem alcohol use (PAU) is common and associated with considerable adverse outcomes among patients receiving opioid agonist treatment (OAT). The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Problem alcohol use (PAU) is common and associated with considerable adverse outcomes among patients receiving opioid agonist treatment (OAT). The purpose of this paper is to describe a qualitative feasibility assessment of a primary care-based complex intervention to promote screening and brief intervention for PAU, which also aims to examine acceptability and potential effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 patients and eight general practitioners (GPs) who had been purposively sampled from practices that had participated in the feasibility study. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.
Findings
Six key themes were identified. While all GPs found the intervention informative and feasible, most considered it challenging to incorporate into practice. Barriers included time constraints, and overlooking and underestimating PAU among this cohort of patients. However, the intervention was considered potentially deliverable and acceptable in practice. Patients reported that (in the absence of the intervention) their use of alcohol was rarely discussed with their GP, and were reticent to initiate conversations on their alcohol use for fear of having their methadone dose reduced.
Research limitations/impelications
Although a complex intervention to enhance alcohol screening and brief intervention among primary care patients attending for OAT is likely to be feasible and acceptable, time constraints and patients’ reticence to discuss alcohol as well as GPs underestimating patients’ alcohol problems is a barrier to consistent, regular and accurate screening by GPs. Future research by way of a definitive efficacy trial informed by the findings of this study and the Psychosocial INTerventions for Alcohol quantitative data is a priority.
Originality/value
To the best of the knowledge, this is the first qualitative study to examine the capability of primary care to address PAU among patients receiving OAT.
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Jan Klimas, Kevin Lally, Lisa Murphy, Louise Crowley, Rolande Anderson, David Meagher, Geoff McCombe, Bobby P. Smyth, Gerard Bury and Walter Cullen
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and process evaluation of an educational intervention, designed to help general practitioners (GPs) identify and manage…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and process evaluation of an educational intervention, designed to help general practitioners (GPs) identify and manage problem alcohol use among problem drug users.
Design/methodology/approach
The educational session was developed as part of a complex intervention which was informed by the Medical Research Council framework for complex interventions. A Cochrane review and a modified Delphi-facilitated consensus process formed the theoretical phase of the development. The modelling phase involved qualitative interviews with professionals and patients. The training's learning outcomes included alcohol screening and delivery of brief psychosocial interventions and this was facilitated by demonstration of clinical guidelines, presentation, video, group discussion and/or role play.
Findings
Participants (n=17) from three general practices and local medical school participated in four workshops. They perceived the training as most helpful in improving their ability to perform alcohol screening. Most useful components of the session were the presentation, handout and group discussion with participants appreciating the opportunity to share their ideas with peers.
Originality/value
Training primary healthcare professionals in alcohol screening and brief psychosocial interventions among problem drug users appears feasible. Along with the educational workshops, the implementation strategies should utilise multi-level interventions to support these activities among GPs.
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The confrontational stance of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) against the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) was a central factor in the outbreak of political violence in Northern…
Abstract
The confrontational stance of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) against the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) was a central factor in the outbreak of political violence in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s. The analysis of the RUC officers’ testimonies before the Scarman Tribunal of Inquiry discloses both the police knowledge and the pattern of interaction between police and protesters. The closed political opportunity structure (POS) for the CRM filtered in the police knowledge, proving it to be a thorough indicator of the state's prevailing strategy towards challengers. Yet, even within a state firmly intolerant of mass dissent police can occasionally decide to cooperate with protesters. In Derry, the RUC was often willing to, and in fact did, negotiate with protest leaders, showing at times a remarkably flexible approach. However, the negotiations occurred haphazardly outside institutional channels, with unpredictable outcomes. Consequently, protest-policing styles failed to soften and conflicts to deescalate.
Stephen J. Scanlan, Laurie Cooper Stoll and Kimberly Lumm
Hunger strikes have a long history in efforts to achieve social change but scholars have made few comparative, empirical, or theoretical contributions to understanding their…
Abstract
Hunger strikes have a long history in efforts to achieve social change but scholars have made few comparative, empirical, or theoretical contributions to understanding their dynamics and connections in the social movement and nonviolent action literature. We examine hunger strikes from 1906 to 2004 with a comparative perspective, elaborating on its use as a tactic of nonviolent change. Using data assembled from the New York Times, Keesing's Worldwide Online, and The Economist we analyze how, when, where, and why hunger strikes occur, and by whom they have been utilized to seek change. In general, findings reveal that hunger strikes over the last century have been widespread phenomena that are typically small, brief, and relatively successful tactics against the state. Several themes emerge regarding hunger strikes including their appeal to the powerless and emergence when few political opportunities exist, their significance for third-party mobilization, and the role of emotions in the protest dynamics. Taken together, the power struggle involving the hunger strike is an important example and extension of “political jiu-jitsu” as presented by Sharp (1973).
The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 was the explicit base for the politically shared, though tenuous, internal government of Northern Ireland. This ensuing process has highlighted…
Abstract
The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 was the explicit base for the politically shared, though tenuous, internal government of Northern Ireland. This ensuing process has highlighted the centrality of the national police, as a country or state attempts to shift towards a contemporary, pluralistic democracy. To clarify, the police force, which was previously an instrument of control, must now become an organization that strives for the consent and support of the public. Using Mawby’s models of policing as an organizational framework, this article focuses attention on the policing paradigms of Northern Ireland over the course of its social history. It puts forth the argument that, despite some strategic changes, it is only upon the heels of the Good Friday Agreement and the consequent governmental change that the police force has begun to shift its operational paradigm away from the colonial model toward an Anglo‐Saxon paradigm.
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Babalwa Nonkenge and John Manuel Luiz
This paper aims to examine how distance manifests in terms of air passenger transport links between countries and focuses on the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It asks…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how distance manifests in terms of air passenger transport links between countries and focuses on the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It asks to what extent do existing flight connections reflect economic relations between countries, and if so, do they represent past, current or future relations? It asks whether the impact of distance is similar for all countries and at different stages of development.
Design/methodology/approach
Passenger flight connection data were extracted to generate map images and flight frequencies to observe interrelationships between different locations and to observe emerging patterns. The paper uses ESRI’s ArcGIS software to visualise all these data into maps.
Findings
SSA is poorly connected both intra- and inter-continentally. Cultural and historical ties dominate and elements of historical determinism appear within flight connections in SSA reflecting the biases associated with colonialism. Larger economies in SSA are less dependent on these past ties, and their flight connections reveal a greater level of diversity and interests. SSA has generally been slow to develop flight routings to the new emerging markets.
Originality/value
Its contribution lies not only in examining these flight patterns for an under-researched region but also in aiding future work on SSA and its integration into the global economy and international business networks. It argues that whilst distance matters, how it matters varies.
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DURING much of the Second World War, the affairs of the Library Association were conducted for the Council by an Emergency Committee. The record of its meeting on 10th June 1941…
Abstract
DURING much of the Second World War, the affairs of the Library Association were conducted for the Council by an Emergency Committee. The record of its meeting on 10th June 1941, includes the following: “A resolution having been received suggesting that a committee be formed to consider post‐war reconstruction, it was resolved that by means of a notice in the LIBRARY ASSOCIATION RECORD, Branches and Sections should be invited to formulate suggestions for the consideration of the committee. A draft questionnaire for the purpose of an enquiry into the effects of the war on the public library service was approved”. In July, the Committee reported “further arrangements … for carrying out an exhaustive survey designed to give the necessary data for full and detailed consideration and ultimate recommendation as to the future of public libraries, their administration and their place in the social services”. The promised notice appeared as an editorial in September.
Film provides an alternative medium for assessing our interpretations of cultural icons. This selective list looks at the film and video sources for information on and…
Abstract
Film provides an alternative medium for assessing our interpretations of cultural icons. This selective list looks at the film and video sources for information on and interpretations of the life of Woody Guthrie.
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This article aims to examine the manifestation of coloniality within social studies curricula and explore strategies for rejecting colonial paradigms through teaching praxis. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine the manifestation of coloniality within social studies curricula and explore strategies for rejecting colonial paradigms through teaching praxis. The author presents a curriculum that unveils the narratives of Linnentown, a local Black community, to examine the impacts of colonial legacies on people's everyday lives.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the teaching and learning cycle framework, the author demonstrates the integration of sequenced embodied and multimodal activities. Furthermore, the author utilizes the concept of critical place-based education (CPBE) to demonstrate how critical pedagogies within the context of place can cultivate transformative learning experiences.
Findings
By guiding students to critically analyze the sociopolitical conditions of Linnentown residents, CPBE, paired with multimodal activities, helps challenge dominant narratives and empowers students to become agents of change in their local communities.
Originality/value
This curriculum fosters a nuanced understanding of structural oppression, empowers students to develop critical awareness and social agency and guides youth in confronting settler colonialism within and beyond their communities.