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1 – 10 of 41Aoife Mahon, Elizabeth Tilley, Gurch Randhawa, Yannis Pappas and Jitka Vseteckova
Individuals with intellectual disability(ies) are living longer contributing to an overall increase in the average age of caregivers. The purpose of this paper is to review the…
Abstract
Purpose
Individuals with intellectual disability(ies) are living longer contributing to an overall increase in the average age of caregivers. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the physical, social and psychological needs of ageing carers of individuals with intellectual disability(ies) in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
A scoping review framework was used to identify literature from eleven databases, the grey literature and the references lists of relevant studies. Only primary research studies that discussed the needs of non-professional carers, aged 65+ years old, of individuals with intellectual disability(ies) in the UK were included. No date restrictions were applied. Thematic analysis was used to narratively synthesise findings.
Findings
Six studies were included. Five key themes were identified: Living with fear, lack of information, rebuilding trust, proactive professional involvement and being ignored. Housing and support information is not communicated well to carers. Professionals require more training on carer needs and trust must be rebuilt between carers and professionals. Proactive approaches would help identify carer needs, reduce marginalisation, help carers feel heard and reduce the risk of care crisis. Greater recognition of mutual caring relationships is needed.
Originality/value
This review highlighted the needs of older caregivers for individuals with intellectual disability(ies) as well as the need for more high-quality research in this field. The information presented in this review may be considered by primary care providers and funding bodies when planning future support for this growing population of carers.
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This paper outlines some of the common failings, failures and abuses in the use of evidence. Evidence is important for the identification of problems for preventative efforts…
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This paper outlines some of the common failings, failures and abuses in the use of evidence. Evidence is important for the identification of problems for preventative efforts, effective decision‐making and implementation of measures but theory and its rigorous testing, is crucial to the intelligent and informed collection and analysis of data.
Alice Jones and Néstor Valero-Silva
English social housing providers are increasingly turning to social impact measurement to assess their social value. This paper aims to understand the contextual factors causing…
Abstract
Purpose
English social housing providers are increasingly turning to social impact measurement to assess their social value. This paper aims to understand the contextual factors causing this rise in the practice, specifically within this sector; the mechanisms that enable it to be effectively implemented within an individual organisation and the outcomes of successful implementation for individual organisations and more widely across the sector and beyond.
Design/methodology/approach
A realist theory-based approach is applied to the study of a small number of social housing organisations and leaders within the sector to explore the use of social impact measurement. The paper addresses three questions: Why is social impact measurement being adopted in this sector? How is it successfully implemented? And what happens (outcomes) when it is successfully implemented? Addressing these questions necessitates deeper insight into the contextual pressures that have brought to the fore social impact measurement within the sector and the beneficial outcomes the practice provides (or is anticipated to provide) to social housing providers. The methodological approach of Realist Evaluation (Pawson and Tilley, 1997, 2004) is used to structure and analyse the empirical data and findings into a programme theory for social impact measurement. Realist Evaluation provides a programme theory perspective, seeking to answer the question “what works, for whom and in what circumstances?”. In this research, the “whom” refers to English social housing providers and the circumstances are the contextual conditions experienced by the sector over the past decade. The programme theory aims to set out the links between the contextual drivers for social impact measurement, the mechanisms that bring about its implementation and the outcomes that occur as a result. Within this, greater detail on the implementation perspective is provided by developing an implementation theory using a Theory of Change approach (Connell et al., 1995; Fulbright-Anderson et al., 1998). The implementation theory is then embedded within the wider programme theory so as to bring the two elements together, thereby creating a refinement of the overall theory for social impact measurement. In turn, this paper demonstrates its importance (the outcomes that it can achieve for organisations and the sector) and how it can effectively be implemented to bring about those outcomes.
Findings
Social housing providers use social impact measurement both internally, to determine their organisational priorities and externally, to demonstrate their value to local and national governments and cross-sector partners then to shape and influence resource allocation. The practice itself is shown to be an open and active programme, rather than a fixed calculative practice.
Research limitations/implications
The intensive nature of the research means that only a limited number of cases were explored. Further research could test theories developed here against evidence collected from a wider range of cases, e.g. other types of providers or non-adopters.
Practical implications
The research makes a strong contribution to practice in the form of a re-conceptualisation of how social impact measurement can be shown to be effective, based on a deeper understanding of causal mechanisms, how they interact and the outcomes that result. This is of value to the sector as such information could help other organisations both to understand the value of social impact measurement and to provide practical guidance on how to implement it effectively.
Social implications
As the practice of impact measurement continues to develop, practitioners will need to be aware of any changes to these contextual factors and consider questions such as: is the context still supportive of impact measurement? Does the practice need to be adjusted to meet the needs of the current context? For instance, the recent tragedy at Grenfell Tower has led to a reconsideration of the role of social housing; a new Green Paper is currently being drafted (Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2018). This may have a number of implications for social impact measurement, such as a rebalancing of emphasis on outcomes relating to environmental improvements, towards outcomes relating to the well-being of tenants.
Originality/value
Existing literature is largely limited to technical guides. This paper links theory-based evaluation to practice contributing to social housing practice.
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Elizabeth Meggetto, Fiona Kent, Bernadette Ward and Helen Keleher
Healthcare systems are increasing in complexity, and to ensure people can use the system effectively, health organizations are increasingly interested in how to take an…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthcare systems are increasing in complexity, and to ensure people can use the system effectively, health organizations are increasingly interested in how to take an organizational health literacy (OHL) approach. OHL is a relatively new concept, and there is little evidence about how to successfully implement organizational health literacy interventions and frameworks. This study, a literature review, aims to explore the operationalization of OHL.
Design/methodology/approach
A realist literature review, using a systems lens, was undertaken to examine how and why the operationalization of OHL contributed to changes in OHL and why interventions were more effective in some contexts than others. Initial scoping was followed by a formal literature search of Medline, CINAHL plus, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase and PsychINFO for original peer-reviewed publications evaluating OHL interventions until March, 2018.
Findings
The search strategy yielded 174 publications; 17 of these were included in the review. Accreditation, policy drivers, executive leadership and cultures of quality improvement provided the context for effective OHL interventions. The dominant mechanisms influencing implementation of OHL interventions included staff knowledge of OHL, internal health literacy expertise, shared responsibility and a systematic approach to implementation.
Research limitations/implications
This study outlines what contexts and mechanisms are required to achieve particular outcomes in OHL operationalization. The context in which OHL implementation occurs is critical, as is the sequence of implementation.
Originality/value
Health services seeking to implement OHL need to understand these mechanisms so they can successfully operationalize OHL. This study advances the concept of OHL operationalization by contributing to the theory underpinning successful implementation of OHL.
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Elizabeth Pérez-Izaguirre, José Miguel Correa Gorospe and Eider Chaves-Gallastegui
This chapter reflects on how ethics was managed in Basque educational ethnographic research. Specifically, it addresses researcher positionality when relating to research…
Abstract
This chapter reflects on how ethics was managed in Basque educational ethnographic research. Specifically, it addresses researcher positionality when relating to research collaborators in an attempt to manage inclusive ethics in situ. Nowadays, most research is evaluated by an ethical review board that ensures adequate research practice. However, unexpected fieldwork events need to be managed in the field, and this chapter addresses the impact of these events on the relationship between researchers and collaborators. Influenced by a post-qualitative stance we posit that research collaborators should be included in the research process. It reflects on the data collected during an ongoing ethnographic study with higher education students. The method used includes several interview meetings between researchers and collaborators, multimodal representations of collaborators' learning, and participants' self-observations. In the interviews, participants' discourses, representations, and self-observations were collaboratively analysed. The ethnographic data from these meetings show how researchers use a collaborative approach to practise ethics. Through such meetings, the knowledge derived from the ethnographic data is co-constructed in a research relationship where participants engage in dialogue and negotiation about the discourse created around them. Based on this relationship, we propose the concept of inclusive ethics as a process requiring an honest, inclusive, and collaborative relationship with the research subject.
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This research aims to explore and theorize the role of embodied practices – orchestrated by service providers – in the social production of servicescapes. It is claimed that the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to explore and theorize the role of embodied practices – orchestrated by service providers – in the social production of servicescapes. It is claimed that the social character of the servicescape is shaped not only by narratives and materialities but also through the body. Bodily physical behaviors like physical movements in space, gestures, facial expressions, postures and tactile engagements with the surrounding materiality constitute a body language that conveys information and expresses meanings. In this kinetic capacity, the body becomes a building agent in the social constitution of the servicescape. As the author empirically demonstrates in the context of city tourism with diverse experiential opportunities, it is due to the body’s discriminatory orientation, walking, looking, pointing and acting in selective ways that the city emerges as a servicescape of particular kind.
Design/methodology/approach
Market-oriented ethnography was conducted in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where the author observed the guiding practices of tour guides leading international tourists during two-day city excursions.
Findings
This research identifies and unpacks three clusters of embodied practices deployed by service providers as they guide customers at the servicescape: spatializing, emplacing and regulating. The role of the body and its association with narratives and materialities is identified in each cluster.
Practical implications
A number of embodied practices are provided for use by contact employees as they guide customers in the servicescape. Specific guidelines are also offered to service providers for the strategic employment of body language, their training is navigational skills and the coordination of body, narratives and materialities.
Originality/value
This study extends current materialistic and communicative approaches on the construction of servicescapes by claiming that the servicescape in not only a physical and narrative construction but something that is also configured through the body; provides three clusters of embodied practices deployed by service providers; theorizes the intertwined nature of narratives, materiality and the body; defines servicescapes as dynamic socio-spatial entities emerging from the constant {narrative-material-body} arrangements orchestrated by service providers; and sheds light on the mediating role of the body in the social production of servicescapes.
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