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The spirituality of people with learning disabilities is under‐researched and frequently misunderstood. Despite evidence to suggest that a focus on the spiritual aspect of the lives of people with learning disabilities can be health‐bringing and life‐enhancing, this dimension of people's lives is often overlooked or considered irrelevant. This paper seeks to explore some significant aspects of the ‘forgotten dimension’ of spirituality and to show that both the available research evidence and the experiences of people with learning disabilities suggest that it is an aspect of life which should be taken seriously. Neglect of this dimension has significant moral, legal and interpersonal consequences, which service providers are often unaware of but which are central to genuinely person‐centred and holistic support. The paper offers some insights and pointers that will enable service providers to begin to understand and incorporate spirituality into the lives of people with learning disabilities.

For many people with mental health problems, spirituality is an essential part of their recovery. This is something that mental health services are beginning to recognise. Peter Gilbert and Natalie Watts outline the role and aims of the NIMHE spirituality project and the issues it aims to address.

There are intense current debates about the place of belief systems in a secular society, and also whether the mechanistic approach to mental health care is sufficient for human beings. This paper aims to describe the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation NHS Trust (BSMHFT) spirituality and mental health research programme within that context.

The research studies are placed within a discourse of current debates, but also within the specific context of the city of Birmingham. Birmingham is England's second city to London, and is an increasingly multi‐ethnic and multi‐cultural environment.

Those who use mental health services increasingly state that they wish to have the spiritual dimension of their lives attended to by professionals. The BSMHFT project reinforces this message and demonstrates the merits of close working with faith communities and engaging with staff in their understanding of spirituality.

The research by Professor Koenig et al. in the USA has demonstrated the physical and mental health benefits of belonging to a supportive faith community. The BSMHFT project is a rare UK example of research in this area and comes at a time of intense debate in England over the nature of society.

‘We are all born into a particular tribal culture. Beginning life as part of a tribe, we become connected to our tribal consciousness and collective willpower by absorbing its strengths and weaknesses, beliefs, superstitions and fears. Through our interactions with family and other groups, we learn the power of sharing with other people. We learn how painful it can be to be excluded from a group and its energy. We also learn the power of sharing a moral and ethical code handed down from generation to generation.’ (Myss, 1997)We are all aware that, since time immemorial, there has been world‐wide stigma and discrimination against those unfortunate enough to suffer from mental ill health. Governments, as well as their electorates, have stigmatised and discriminated against those who suffer most.Many of those who have been entrusted with the care and support of mentally ill people have all too often taken a discriminatory line in their approach, which has not aided patients' recovery. Clergy of all faiths and beliefs have very often been at the forefront, receiving calls for help from families in despair, unable to cope with a son, daughter, husband or wife suffering from a mental illness. Yet they are often ill‐equipped and untrained in how to respond appropriately.

People go into employment for a range of reasons. One of those is usually to find a sense of meaning, as humans are meaning‐seeking animals.In the public sector there is even more likelihood of some kind of ‘calling’. This may not be a religious call, or even an overtly spiritual one, but there will usually be some sense in which the role and the individual reach out to one another.In a time of recession and strain on public finances and services, leaders need to work in a way that appeals to the spirit, the vocation in each person and the team.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on “Spirituality and learning disability: a review of UK Government guidance” by Sango and Forrester-Jones.

The commentary examines the interplay between spirituality and health care in caring for people with a learning disability from a personal perspective and considers the reasons why healthcare professionals and caregivers may not facilitate expression of spirituality in this group.

Carers with a religious affiliation of their own are more likely to engage people with learning disability in exploration of religion and spirituality than those with no religious affiliation. Although government policy in this area is limited, spirituality is an integral part of holistic care and should be addressed by all healthcare professionals and paid carers.

This paper explores reasons why carers may find it hard to talk about spirituality and provides guidance and resources for talking about spirituality to people with learning disability.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a programme of workshops facilitated on inpatient wards in NSFT which promote recovery through the discussion of spiritual themes.

An introduction to the design principles of the workshops followed by service user narrative.

The contributions by service users demonstrate how addressing their spirituality promotes recovery.

This is the first time workshops on spirituality have been given a structure in a linked series of topics and then evaluated by service users.

Because economics is increasing in importance in the high school curriculum, it is critically important that it is taught well by well-trained teachers. We offer suggestions for teaching high school economics in the areas of content, methodology, materials, and professional development. We address what content to include, the use of textbooks and supplementary materials, and innovative approaches for teaching economics. The use of literature, film, music, and activity-based lessons are discussed. Teachers are encouraged to seek out professional development opportunities through the Council for Economic Education and networking opportunities through the Global Association of Teachers of Economics. Although teaching high school economics can be challenging, there are many helpful materials and resources available.

Global warming has been a well recognized environmental issue in the United States for the past ten years, even though scientists had identified it as a potential problem years before in 1896. We find debate about the issue in the United States media coverage while controversy among the majority of scientists is rare. The role that media plays in constructing the norms and ideas in society is researched to understand how they socially construct global warming and other environmental issues. To identify if the U.S. Media presents a biased view of global warming, the following are discussed (1) the theoretical perspective of media and the environment; (2) scientific overview and history of global warming; (3) media coverage of global warming, and (4) research findings from the content analysis of three countries’ newspaper articles and two international scientific journals produced in 2000 with comparison of these countries economies, industries, and environments. In conclusion, our research demonstrates that the U.S. with differing industries, predominantly dominated by the fossil fuel industry, in comparison to New Zealand and Finland has a significant impact on the media coverage of global warming. The U.S’s media states that global warming is controversial and theoretical, yet the other two countries portray the story that is commonly found in the international scientific journals. Therefore, media, acting as one driving force, is providing citizens with piecemeal information that is necessary to assess the social, environmental and political conditions of the country and world.