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Many referrals to our mental health of learning disability service focus on concerns about behaviours that present risks to the referred person and to those around them, including support workers. If the referred person has good verbal ability, psychological therapy may be requested and offered, but the person may find it too difficult to engage for a number of reasons. Even when they do engage in therapy, the authors recognise the importance of helping staff better understand their attachment needs. This paper aims to demonstrate an innovative approach to helping staff provide Trauma-Informed Care (TIC).

The authors developed a training programme for support workers using psychodynamic concepts, such as splitting, transference and counter-transference, to help them develop insight into the processes that get enacted during their work. In this paper the authors have generally used the term “care staff”, recognising that an important aspect of the role of those staff is to provide care within an attachment framework; as well as support to maximise independence.

The feedback from staff who have attended has been very positive, both at the time and later. Staff who have attended have talked to multidisciplinary colleagues about the impact their learning has had on their ability to work with service users who present great challenges, in the context of their trauma histories.

The importance of providing TIC is gaining traction across varied settings. The authors are in the process of developing both qualitative and quantitative research programmes to evaluate this approach to increasing TIC for adults with learning disabilities, reducing staff burn out and placement breakdown.

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) are due to be implemented imminently. This legislation serves as an extension of the Mental Capacity Act designed to close the ‘Bournewood Gap’ and is of particular relevance to learning disability services. This article discusses the DoLS from a legal, philosophical and ethical perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to share and report on practice development.

A description of a joint neuropsychiatric clinic, including demographics of patients seen, is provided.

The paper expresses the opinion that the experience of running a joint clinic for complex cases with neurological and psychiatric pathology was professionally rewarding and that clinicians found it a more effective way of delivering care.

This is the first description of such a clinic to the authors' knowledge. Development of similar services may be of value.

This paper aims to summarise research to determine if a framework for assessing the subjectivity and objectivity of information taxonomy work can usefully be applied in practice. Theories proposed by US philosopher Helen Longino formed the basis for the framework, which was used to assess 16 contemporary taxonomy projects.

A qualitative naturalistic enquiry, based on semi-structured interviews conducted with information professionals, was undertaken. The transcripts were coded, scored, statistically analysed, and correlated to identify trends or themes. Participants were invited to comment on and amend all research outputs. Triangulation with external sources was undertaken as far as possible.

Following analysis using the framework, projects were ranked, grouped, and compared to German sociologist Max Weber's characterisation of political hierarchies. This illuminated a number of interesting aspects of practical taxonomy work.

Practical limitations constrained the depth and extent of the study. Creative interpretation of the qualitative data collected was required. Results obtained highlight points of interest rather than offering quantitative comparisons.

Taxonomy practitioners are concerned with usability and accessibility, so a framework for assessing subjectivity and objectivity of taxonomy projects could provide a useful tool, set of heuristics, guide, or checklist.

There has been little research carried out on contemporary taxonomy projects in commercial and corporate environments and how knowledge organisation systems can enhance or constrain an individual's ability to access online content. No similar frameworks appear to have been developed.

This article is intended to stimulate theoretical reflection in international comparative studies in library and information science (comparative LIS).

The need for theory is emphasized and shortcomings in comparative LIS in respect of theory are identified. On the basis of literature from other comparative disciplines, a framework for examining issues of metatheory, methodology and methods is constructed. Against this background the role of theory and metatheory in the literature of comparative LIS is evaluated. General observations are illustrated using examples selected from comparative studies in LIS.

Much of the literature of comparative LIS is atheoretical and based on assumptions that reflect naive empiricism. Most comparativists in LIS fail to link their work to that of colleagues, so that no body of theory is built up. Insufficient use is made of theory from other social science disciplines. There is a little evidence of awareness of metatheoretical assumptions in the sociological, teleological, ontological, epistemological and ethical dimensions.

While general observations are presented about the literature of comparative LIS, this is not a bibliometric study. Issues of methodology and method are not dealt with.

Recommendations are made for improving teaching and research in comparative LIS. Concepts presented here are of value to the wider LIS community, particularly in internationally oriented research and practice.

Since the 1980s there has been very little conceptual and methodological reflection on comparative LIS. This article alerts the LIS profession to new thinking in other comparative disciplines.

This study compared different types of full-time caregiver (e.g., children, older adults, COVID-19 patients) and subgroups (e.g., disability, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation) in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic for potentially meaningful distinctions.

Data from the 9,854 full-time caregivers identified in Phase 3.2 (July 21–October 11, 2021) of the US Census Household Pulse Survey (HPS) were analyzed in this study using multinomial logistic regression to examine relationships between caregiver types, marginalized subgroups, generation, and vaccination status.

The prevalence of caregiving was low, but the type of full-time caregiving performed varied by demographic group (i.e., disability, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, generation, and vaccination status). The relative risk of being a COVID-19 caregiver remained significant for being a member of each of the marginalized groups examined after all adjustments.

To date, the HPS has not been analyzed to predict the type of full-time informal caregiving performed during the COVID-19 pandemic or their characteristics. Research limitations of this analysis include the cross-sectional, experimental dataset employed, as well as some variable measurement issues.

Prior informal caregiver research has often focused on the experiences of those caring for older adults or children with special healthcare needs. It may be instructive to learn whether and how informal caregivers excluded from paid employment during infectious disease outbreaks vary in meaningful ways from those engaged in other full-time caregiving. Because COVID-19 magnified equity concerns, examining demographic differences may also facilitate customization of pathways to post-caregiving workforce integration.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the European Business Review is split into six sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Top management issues; Marketing and distribution; Personnel and training; Information management and technology; Operations and production management; Accounting and finance.