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Theory of Change for Plymouth Marjon University employability intervention: Student Colleague scheme
Full text linkThe SC scheme was developed in 2019 in the context of the PMU Access and Participation Plan (APP) which identified gaps in student employability outcomes for students when analysed by POLAR4 quintile and/or disability. The scheme posits that having high quality employment experiences to draw on can benefit graduate prospects for all, yet also acknowledges that student’s access to quality employability experiences can be limited, particularly in cases of disadvantage or disability. The scheme therefore offers a range of university based, paid graduate level employment opportunities open to student applications
Female Heroes in Young Adult Fantasy Fiction: Reframing Myths of Adolescent Girlhood
No full textFemale Heroes considers how the female-heroes of mythopoeic YA are reframing what it means to be an adolescent girl. To name a few of these heroes (and the ones I focus on), I offer Alanna the Lioness, a cross-dressing female-hero emerging from Tamora Pierce’s Tortall Universe. This universe, or imaginary world, has been a part of our consensus reality since the early 1980s, when it kick-started mythopoeic YA, as I discuss in Chapter 2. I also submit Cinder, a cybernetic Cinderella, and Iko, her android friend. These female-heroes emerge from Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles (2012–2015).
This futuristic imaginary world and its female-heroes illustrate mythopoeic YA’s generic flexibility and inclusivity – which are also integral to how female�heroes reframe adolescent girlhood. Finally, I name Daine the Wildmage, a shape-shifting demigoddess who, like Alanna, is from Pierce’s Tortall. Daine’s story takes place after Alanna’s, according to their world’s timeline and ours, although book order does not dictate reading or listening order, a significant intervention in linear, teleological storylines. In distinct yet not unrelated ways, these female-heroes are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a hero, girl and even human. They do so by including the body – fleshy, material, prone to change and capable of producing new bodies – within what it means to be a hero. This inclusion makes it possible for them to disrupt and dismantle one of Western Culture’s most dominant and enduring narratives: the heroic romance, a form of quest myth permeating every layer of Western belief and culture
Public Health Agencies and Policy Implementation in Sport and Physical Activity: Re-thinking partnerships and priorities
No full textThe chapter considers the breadth of public health responsibilities for national and local public health agencies, and the pressure on resources to address population wide public health issues and health inequalities. Central to the consideration of the impact of public health agencies is the recognition of their powerful advocacy of the ‘health agenda’, which transcend health agencies boundaries and influences wider national and local public policy priorities in education, transport, community (local government), and sport. The chapter specifically focuses upon the rationales for promoting physically active lifestyles and physical activity promotion by both public health agencies and a diverse web of wider organisations that contribute to the public health agenda. The mantel of physical activity promotion has been adopted by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Sport England (SE), where the health and wellbeing agenda adds wider legitimacy to traditional rationales for government intervention in sport. In turn SE use their influence and resources to shape the wider health agenda within the sports landscape. The chapter considers the implications of the diffused implementation approaches for PA that transcends sectoral and organisational boundaries of public, private and voluntary sector organisations, and that shared responsibility for physical activity at the interface between health and sport creates hyper-complexity and significant challenges for policy makers and practitioners
The implementation of behaviour change practices in Physical Activity Referral Schemes: a narrative review
Full text linkBackground
Physical activity referral schemes have been used extensively as one pathway to support behaviour change in people with long term conditions. Best practice guidance, across countries, recommend that schemes use behaviour change practices. The effectiveness of these schemes is inconsistent, yet, little is known about the implementation of specific approaches, or what influences practitioner’s delivery. This article provides a narrative review of evidence exploring the implementation of behaviour change practices in physical activity referral schemes.
Methods
An electronic search of three databases (PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar) was undertaken. A menu of iterative techniques was also applied from the CLUSTER approach to increase coverage.
Results
A total of 45 eligible articles was included covering diverse research designs. Enduring issues with the literature pertain to the insufficient emphasis on implementation, a conflation of behaviour change practice, and an inconsistency of scheme components. Against this backdrop, diverse factors within practitioner, attendee, partnership, work environment, and organisational domains influence the implementation of behaviour change practices.
Conclusion
The translation of behaviour change practices to applied physical activity settings must tend to the multilevel factors which have the potential to influence the quality of behaviour change implementation
Development and Reliability of Countermovement Jump Performance in Youth Athletes at Pre-, Circa- and Post-Peak Height Velocity
Full text linkThe purpose of this study was to establish the intrasession reliability of various outcome, propulsion and braking phase countermovement jump (CMJ) variables and to compare the mean differences in youth athletes at different stages of maturity. Thirty male participants, aged 10-16 years, were grouped as either pre-, circa- or post-peak height velocity (PHV) according to their percentage of predicted adult height. All participants performed 3 CMJ trials on a force plate, sampling at 1000 Hz. A one-way ANOVA identified statistically significant differences between maturity groups for all CMJ variables (P<0.05) excluding propulsion peak rate of force development (RFD), braking peak velocity and countermovement depth. Post-hoc analysis revealed that the significant differences in CMJ variables were between the pre- to post- and circa- to post-PHV groups (P <0.05), with moderate to very large effect sizes. Relative and absolute reliability improved with maturity as the post-PHV group demonstrated superior reliability scores (ICC = 0.627-0.984; CV% = 3.25-21.55) compared to circa- (ICC = 0.570-0.998; CV% = 1.82-20.05) and pre-PHV groups (ICC= 0.851-0.988; CV% = 2.16-14.12). In summary, these results suggest that the biggest differences in CMJ performance are observed between preto post- and circa- to post-PHV, and that careful consideration is warranted when selecting variables in youth athletes at pre- and circa-PHV, given the lower reliability scores observed
‘Are We Included?’ A validation of the parental perceptions of Inclusion Climate Scale (ICS)
Full text linkThis study aimed to:
a) validate the Parents’ Perception of Inclusion Climate Scale Inclusion Climate Scale (PPICS) in the context of secondary schools in Plymouth, England b) compare its findings findings with some of the findings of similar efforts, such as Schueler et al. (2014).
The study is important as it assesses the validity and reliability of the scale in the context of Plymouth where it is to be used, with possibly the prospect of piloting it in different schools in England at a later stage. Unfortunately, it was not possible to identify other similar studies, beyond Schueler et al., 2014, in a similar context, with which to compare the findings of our analysis
Public health Agencies and Policy Implementation in Sport and Physical Activity: Re-thinking partnerships and priorities.
No full textThis chapter considers the breadth of public health responsibilities for national and local public health agencies and the pressure on resources to address public health issues and health inequalities. The impact of public health agencies is underpinned by the recognition of their powerful advocacy of the ‘health agenda,’ which transcends health agencies’ boundaries and influences wider national and local public policy priorities in other policy sectors. The chapter focuses upon the rationales for promoting physically active lifestyles by both public health agencies and a diverse web of wider organisations that contribute to the public health agenda. The mantel of physical activity promotion has been adopted by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, wherein the health and well-being agenda adds wider legitimacy to traditional rationales for government intervention in sport. In turn Sport England uses their influence and resources to shape the wider health agenda within the sports landscape. The chapter considers the implications of the diffused implementation approaches for physical activity (PA) that transcends sectoral and organisational boundaries of public, private and voluntary sector organisations and that shared responsibility for physical activity at the interface between health and sport creates hyper-complexity and significant challenges for policymakers and practitioners
Unregulated social care workers: their lived experiences in the workplace and the development of a new conceptual approach to supervision support
Full text linkThis study aimed to explore the lived experiences of unregulated social care workers’ (USCWs) and supervisors’ social care practice and supervision; to explore how individual wellbeing is experienced and managed in the workplace; investigate perceptions of factors affecting engagement with and effectiveness of supervision encounters; and generate ideas for future support and supervision approaches. The health and social care sector workforce is in crisis, impacting on quality of care, worker health and wellbeing, recruitment, retention and service user safety and accessibility. The workforce is exposed to increased risks of harm from workplace violence, abuse, distress, burnout, financial insecurity, and systemic inequality. Yet the beneficial workplace support process of supervision, remains ill-defined, unstructure dand underutilised. The lack of literature pertaining to unregulated social care workers stalls progress toward conceptualising a more effective, responsive, and compassionate organisational wellbeing response. This thesis reports on research which aimed to address this gap in the literature.
An ongoing, iterative comprehensive literature review informed three integrated phases of research. In Phase One, 14 unregulated social care workers from a variety of services participated in semi-structured interviews to explore their everyday lived, and supervision experiences, and how these experiences impact on wellbeing and practice. Results demonstrated that the unregulated social care workforce is commonly exposed to experiences of workplace abuse and violence, exploitation, increased risk and vulnerability, burnout, and exhaustion. They are likely impacted by wider systemic inequalities, detrimental mental health, and wellbeing issues, have lived experience of vulnerability and unmet needs, and are unlikely to have access to effective workplace support and supervision processes.
In Phase Two, nine managers from a variety of social care services and with supervisory responsibilities, took part in semi-structured interviews exploring their experiences with the supervision process. Results demonstrated that managers with supervisory responsibilities found the supervision process ill-defined and inconsistent; were largely unsupported with its effective delivery; lacked specific supervision skills training, and perceived supervision as a beneficial wellbeing and practice support tool that many organisations were unable to take advantage of. Phases One and Two were underpinned by an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach, which complemented the insider/researcher nature of the inquiry. In Phase Three, participants were invited to take part in two online focus groups to discuss the creation of supervision training for supervisees. Phase Three was undertaken as a collaborative reflexive feedback session and this feedback, alongside Phases One and Two, was integrated to inform a new approach to the supervision process and supervision training.
The results from this study provide three recommendations for future research and important advancements around understanding the unique health, wellbeing, and support needs of the unregulated social care workforce. These include: exploring worker wellbeing from a holistic lived experience perspective; uncovering how prior lived experiences can impact on worker ability to tolerate stressful and harmful workplaces; applying a phenomenological lens to the unregulated social care workforce; recommending widening the scope of human factors theory by contributing a psychosocial aspect to the framework; applying a human factors and trauma informed approach to the supervision process; conceptually structuring the unregulated social care supervision process for the first time; and introducing a practical, user-led approach to supervision training for supervisees
Are We Included?’ A validation of the students’ Inclusion Climate Scale (ICS)
Full text linkIn March 2022 Plymouth City Council commissioned Plymouth Marjon University and
the University of Plymouth to conduct research on three assessment instruments measuring inclusion from the perspectives of students, parents and teachers.
The research projects were part of Plymouth Place-based School Improvement project. At the time the project focused on three strategic priorities: school leadership, curriculum and inclusion. To deliver on its priorities a number of key stakeholders were brought together, including the Education Endowment Fund (EEF), Plymouth Local Authority, the Regional Schools’ Commissioner, Headteachers, MAT CEOs and their leadership teams who chosen to take a collaborative and sustainable approach to ensure rapid school improvement.
The research aimed to support Plymouth’s strategic priority of inclusion and took place between May and August 2022. The concept of 'inclusion education' has been debated in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries since an early UNESCO (1994) report. Since then, the debate has been enriched with a multitude of ideas, mainly championing the initiatives of comprehensive learning environments where all children would be included in the learning but also social life. Highly cited research, however, such as Avramidis and Norwich (2002) has maintained that any inclusive policy - no matter how well-designed or funded it is, depends heavily on the attitudes of teachers to be successful. Various factors have also been identified as affecting teachers' attitudes towards inclusion education, such as teachers' experience, school ethos etc
Media presentation of hospital discharge to care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textPurpose
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic the United Kingdom Government implemented a policy to rapid discharge hospital patients into care homes. This study aimed to examine how the media in the United Kingdom portrayed hospital discharge to care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was a qualitative document analysis. Four sources (Daily Mail, The Independent, The Guardian and BBC News) were selected to represent political orientations encompassing right-wing, centrist and left-wing perspectives, and were searched for mention of hospital discharge, care homes and Covid-19 pandemic between 1st January 2020 and 24th February 2022. Article text was copied verbatim into Microsoft Word documents prior to analysis. Data were thematically analysed, followed by coding the sentiment in the included articles as well as coding the sentiment of themes and sub-themes.
Findings
Of 722 identified articles, 133 were eligible for inclusion as the final corpus. Data represented a moralistic narrative consisting of four themes: (1) Government as villain, (2) care homes as antiheroes, (3) patients as ideal victims and (4) moral outcomes. Most of the corpus had a negative sentiment (78.1%). One theme, moral outcomes, had considerably more positive sentiment (32.4%) than others (range 15.1%–21.9%).
Originality/value
A moralistic argument for improving cross-boundary interactions between health and social care services is provided, and the media can play a role pushing cross-boundary working higher up the policy agenda. Future work should examine how direct stakeholders, including those working in healthcare and care home settings, perceived the discharge policy