Margaret Townsend, Jayne Henry and Rachel R. Holt
Knowledge about learning disabilities has found to be limited in both health and social care staff. To improve the treatment of individuals with learning disabilities and mental…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge about learning disabilities has found to be limited in both health and social care staff. To improve the treatment of individuals with learning disabilities and mental health problems within the criminal justice system (CJS), Lord Bradley recommends that professionals receive mental health and learning disability awareness training. However, little is known about the impact of training on the knowledge of professionals in the CJS. This study aims to investigate the impact of a 3-h learning disability training session on the knowledge of probation officers.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a repeated measures design, the impact of a 3-h learning disability training session on the knowledge of 12 probation officers was analysed.
Findings
In support of this study’s hypothesis, a repeated measures t-test revealed a significant difference between participants pre-training and post-training learning disability knowledge questionnaire (LDKQ) scores. Participants scored significantly higher on the LDKQ post-training compared to pre-training. A linear regression revealed that years worked in probation did not significantly predict participant’s difference scores.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of this study and directions for future studies are discussed.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates that learning disability training can significantly improve the knowledge of probation officers.
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Shaw Tearle and Rachel R. Holt
There is a pressing need to develop community forensic support for adults with intellectual disabilities and a high risk to others. Equipping youth to help one another (EQUIP) was…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a pressing need to develop community forensic support for adults with intellectual disabilities and a high risk to others. Equipping youth to help one another (EQUIP) was developed for juvenile offenders in the USA and is used across Europe and North America. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate an adapted community model of EQUIP for men with intellectual disabilities and a history of sexual offending.
Design/methodology/approach
A case series design was used. The adapted EQUIP group ran for one session per week over ten months, with each participant accompanied by a support worker. Six men living in the community with intellectual disabilities and a history of sexual offending completed the programme.
Findings
Analysis of the results suggests that this adapted version of EQUIP produced similar results to the programme delivered in an inpatient setting. Participants’ reasoning and problem-solving abilities were improved post-intervention. Satisfaction levels from participant and their support workers were high. There was no evidence of recidivism during the ten months the group ran.
Research limitations/implications
The case series design utilised only allows the conclusion that the changes above occurred at the same time as the group. Further research is needed to ascertain whether it is likely that the intervention resulted in the changes.
Practical implications
There is a pressing need to develop the evidence base for interventions offered in the community to people with intellectual disabilities and a history of offending. This study provides some evidence that EQUIP can be adapted to suit this population.
Social implications
The availability of community interventions may, over time, decrease the need for detention in inpatient settings. This is in line with the transforming care agenda.
Originality/value
This is the first published research into use of EQUIP in the community with adult participants with intellectual disabilities.
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Shaw Tearle, Sam S. and Rachel R. Holt
There is a need to evaluate an adapted Equipping Youth to help One Another (EQUIP) programme for people with intellectual disabilities and forensic needs. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a need to evaluate an adapted Equipping Youth to help One Another (EQUIP) programme for people with intellectual disabilities and forensic needs. The purpose of this paper is to explore a service user’s experience of completing the intervention as part of their transition into the community.
Design/methodology/approach
A collaborative case report was used. Following hospital discharge and completion of the adapted EQUIP programme, one service user with mild intellectual disability was supported to share their treatment experiences using participatory action research.
Findings
Findings suggest that while the adapted community EQUIP group can support skills acquisition (e.g. problem-solving), discharge processes and community reintegration, professionals need to maintain a person-centred approach mindful of participants’ complex emotional journeys.
Research limitations/implications
The design allows for tentative conclusions to be made about the service user’s journey and is not necessarily generalisable.
Practical implications
There is a pressing need to develop the evidence base for interventions offered in the community to people with intellectual disabilities and a history of offending. This report provides some evidence that EQUIP can be adapted to support this population.
Originality/value
This is the first coproduced publication exploring the experience of a service user with intellectual disability who completed an adapted EQUIP programme.
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Rebecca Schiff and Charles Z. Levkoe
Academic and popular literatures have addressed growing concerns about the ways we produce, harvest, distribute, and consume food; manage fisheries and inputs to agriculture; and…
Abstract
Academic and popular literatures have addressed growing concerns about the ways we produce, harvest, distribute, and consume food; manage fisheries and inputs to agriculture; and deal with waste. Throughout the 20th century, a series of issue-specific frames emerged that explicitly addressed issues of social justice, the environment, and human health in the food system. During the mid-1990s that comprehensive master frames were established in attempts to bring disparate ideas and actions together into a more inclusive food movement. In this chapter, we explore the development of these collective action frames and turn to Canada as a case study to examine the key moments that have brought together diverse actors through collaborative networks to assert their place within a broader social movement. We argue that recognizing the increasing development of food networks and making these relationships visible opens new theoretical and practical possibilities for food system transformation.
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Monica Chaudhary, Alberto Lopez and Rachel Rodriguez
The purpose of this paper is to understand and explore how young children relate to brands. The paper specifically attempts to explore their favourite and everyday brands with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand and explore how young children relate to brands. The paper specifically attempts to explore their favourite and everyday brands with which they interact, understand the phenomenon of intergenerational transfer of brands, and study how child consumers experience and cope with brand transgressions.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative study where 20 in-depth interviews were conducted among young Indian children in the age-group of 8–12 years. For data analysis “iterative method” is used. Inspiration was taken from Spiggle’s (1994), Ereaut’s (2002) and Holt and Thompson (2004).
Findings
Children’s relationships with brands are mainly characterised by four categories: their favourite brands, everyday brands, intergenerational brands and brand transgressions. Children’s favourite brands can be categorised in fantasy, yummy, identity construction, social bonding, technology and trusted brands. Parents have a big influence on kids’ lives leading to intergenerational brand-transfer. Children consumers also reveal having experience brand transgressions, more importantly, they also show signs of brand forgiveness.
Originality/value
This qualitative study has addressed the pressing need to understand child understands of brands. This is one of the very few empirical studies that have investigated child consumer behaviour regarding their association with brands.
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Caroline Wolski, Kathryn Freeman Anderson and Simone Rambotti
Since the development of the COVID-19 vaccinations, questions surrounding race have been prominent in the literature on vaccine uptake. Early in the vaccine rollout, public health…
Abstract
Purpose
Since the development of the COVID-19 vaccinations, questions surrounding race have been prominent in the literature on vaccine uptake. Early in the vaccine rollout, public health officials were concerned with the relatively lower rates of uptake among certain racial/ethnic minority groups. We suggest that this may also be patterned by racial/ethnic residential segregation, which previous work has demonstrated to be an important factor for both health and access to health care.
Methodology/Approach
In this study, we examine county-level vaccination rates, racial/ethnic composition, and residential segregation across the U.S. We compile data from several sources, including the American Community Survey (ACS) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) measured at the county level.
Findings
We find that just looking at the associations between racial/ethnic composition and vaccination rates, both percent Black and percent White are significant and negative, meaning that higher percentages of these groups in a county are associated with lower vaccination rates, whereas the opposite is the case for percent Latino. When we factor in segregation, as measured by the index of dissimilarity, the patterns change somewhat. Dissimilarity itself was not significant in the models across all groups, but when interacted with race/ethnic composition, it moderates the association. For both percent Black and percent White, the interaction with the Black-White dissimilarity index is significant and negative, meaning that it deepens the negative association between composition and the vaccination rate.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis is only limited to county-level measures of racial/ethnic composition and vaccination rates, so we are unable to see at the individual-level who is getting vaccinated.
Originality/Value of Paper
We find that segregation moderates the association between racial/ethnic composition and vaccination rates, suggesting that local race relations in a county helps contextualize the compositional effects of race/ethnicity.
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Shelagh Fisher, Rachel Delbridge and Siân Lambert
A library management system is a significant investment for libraries, but the procurement of a system is an infrequent activity with little opportunity for librarians to build on…
Abstract
A library management system is a significant investment for libraries, but the procurement of a system is an infrequent activity with little opportunity for librarians to build on their experience. The procurement process is also difficult for potential system suppliers who must respond to specifications which are variable in content, format and quality. The HARMONISE project aimed to determine the feasibility of developing a model system specification which could be used to assist libraries in the procurement of library management systems. Specifications collected from libraries which had recently acquired a library management system were analysed. The results demonstrate that the functional requirements specified for each of the core modules had strong similarities both within and across library sectors. A survey of UK system suppliers was also undertaken to determine their views on the specification as a procurement tool. Suppliers expressed frustration with the tendency for specifications to be dominated by lists of functional requirements which were present in all library management systems on the market today. In conclusion, a model specification incorporating basic functions, which can be expected in all library management systems, should be developed.
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This chapter examines the historical development of different conceptions of health among environmental activists in the postwar United States.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter examines the historical development of different conceptions of health among environmental activists in the postwar United States.
Methodology/approach
The historical analysis combines archival research with oral history interviews.
Findings
This study argues that applications of “health” to describe the environment are more diverse than generally acknowledged, and that environmental activists were at the forefront of connecting the two terms within broader public discourse.
Originality/value of chapter
This study provides a historical context for understanding the contemporary diversity of perspectives on the links between ecology and health. It illustrates the cross-fertilization between scientists, philosophers, and environmental activists in the 1970s that led to this contemporary diversity.