Plymouth Marjon University Repository
Not a member yet
930 research outputs found
Sort by
International recruitment of radiographers and the development of a workplace integration support package: Project evaluation
Full text linkIntroduction
In October 2020, a regional workforce action group was established jointly by Health Education England (HEE) and NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI) in the South West to work collaboratively to address the workforce challenges within diagnostic imaging. Fifty-eight internationally recruited radiographers were offered employment in departments across the region, the majority of them taking up their posts in the UK in early 2021. The aim of the study presented here was to evaluate the efficacy of a training resource developed by Plymouth Marjon University, with input from HEE and NHSEI, to support workplace and cultural integration for the new recruits.
Methods
The training package to help newly recruited radiographers from outside the UK integrate into their host departments was developed using flexible learning opportunities centred on reusable digital learning assets. Self-paced e-learning sessions were augmented by group ‘connected’ sessions online. Two surveys were undertaken, exploring the impact of this workforce integration programme for International radiographers joining the NHS.
Results
Survey results indicate that the integration programme's three-phase strategy has seen an impact on 6 out of 12 self-efficacy measures, raised awareness of challenges, and increased personal awareness of implications for practice. By the end of the programme, delegates were in the top two quintiles for their average well-being score.
Conclusion
Principal recommendations include ensuring digital accessibility for new recruits as part of the on-boarding process, considering the timing of delivery of any online connected support sessions, the provision of long-term pastoral support; and mandating the training requirement for managers and team leaders.
Implications for practice
Success of international recruitment campaigns can be enhanced through the implementation of an online integration packag
Hear Me See Me, Uncovering the lived experiences of younger children’s mental health
Full text linkDominant paradigms ensure that stigma and shame remain associated with the terms of Mental Health, Mental Illness, and Mental Disorders. Despite Mental Health being an area of health integral to each individual, discussion around Mental Health is also underfunded and undervalued. Current approaches to support children’s Mental Health are top-down, instigated by adults, often resulting in unhelpful and unrealistic expectations placed on children. These top-down aspects extend to research around Mental Health, often excluding younger children. As such, the research which underpins the ‘Hear Me, See Me’ study explicitly focuses on younger children's voices. A focus which uncovers the influences on younger children’s mental health and what impacts their experience of mental health in their daily lives.
The research sat within a methodological approach of hermeneutic phenomenology, including the hermeneutic circle. A constructivist positionality was implemented. The Mosaic Approach was applied to hear and listen to children’s voices to ensure children were heard in the research. The research was undertaken in several educational establishments, and 40 children from these various settings participated. Data collected formed individual Mosaics and provided insights into the influences and impacts on younger children’s Mental Health.
Children communicated the necessity of being heard and the commonality of being ignored within educational settings. The children highlighted how the educational environment’s procedures prevented them from meeting their basic needs and undermined children’s agency and their play provision. The research demonstrates that younger children perceive how they are positioned, ‘seen’ and ‘heard’ and how they, as individuals, manage their emotions. There is a recommendation that a fundamental shift takes place in the framing of younger children in Early Years settings, which promotes their agency and genuinely listens and hears younger children – as Hear ME See Me reveals that they know much more than was previously assumed about how to promote their mental health - only then can their mental health be ensured
‘You Don’t Get Ditched’—Young People’s Mental Health and Youth Work: Challenging Dominant Perspectives
Full text linkThis paper presents the findings of research focused on a youth work project which specializes in working with young people experiencing a variety of mental health issues, in the southwest of England. The qualitative data from the young people, youth workers, and stakeholders demonstrate the significance of a person-centered, asset-based approach to improving young people’s experiences with mental health. It provides a countervailing narrative to the dominant diagnostic and problematized focus of mental health services for young people. The research provides evidence that mental health for young people can be strengthened—even for those experiencing significant problems—through group work activities that develop resilience, confidence, and builds on their inherent strengths. This approach enables young people to develop their own responses to their problems rather than rely on external interventions that are orientated toward treatment. The research suggests that young people’s mental ill health in certain circumstances may well be improved by youth work rather than through a medicalized approach
Writing an Excellent Reflective Diary: Ten Suggestions from a QSEP Assessor
Full text linkBased on my experience assessing on the BPS’s Qualification in Sport and Exercise Psychology (QSEP Stage 2), this article shares 10 suggestions for Trainee Sport and Exercise Psychologists and others on comparable qualifications to strengthen the quality of their reflective practice diary and, in turn, benefit the quality of their learning, development, research, and consultancy: (1) Make reflective practice a key part of the Plan of Training; (2) Experiment with different reflective models; (3) Showcase your awareness and understanding of literature; (4) Pick meaningful objects of reflection; (5) Be open, honest, and self-critical; (6) Engage with some of your current challenges; (7) Make supervision visible; (8) Offer specific action points; (9) Re-visit reflections and engage with what happened next; and (10) Offer a sense of who you are as a practitioner
How to utilise PAPE in jump performance during training for a sporting competition
No full textPost-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) can be used in jump performance. This review recommends that PAPE be subcategorised into two groups: training PAPE and performance PAPE. Training PAPE methods can be incorporated for training purposes where more select equipment, time, and space is available. Performance PAPE can be utilised to enhance competition performance in which limited, or no equipment, is required and can be easily performed before an event. The authors found that isoinertial methods are commonly employed for both performance and training PAPE; however, plyometric training appears a more favourable form of performance PAPE. Furthermore, accentuated eccentric loading could be coupled with plyometric training to achieve the highest PAPE response, but further work is required
Chapter 11: The Education Alliance school provider case study: Sustaining and developing context-rich early career teacher development
No full textIn September 2021 I interviewed Jonny Uttley, CEO of The Education Alliance (TEAL), and Hayley Nickolay-Walker, Assistant Principal of TEAL, about their rationale for adopting the school-led approach for the implementation of the mandatory Early Career Framework (ECF) for September 2021. The discussion that took place was very interesting and reflected an academy trust that is mature in its support of beginning teachers, clear on its values to enhance teacher development, and confident in its ability to offer a contextualised ECF that would allow all of its early career teachers (ECTs) to flourish
Decolonisation of Curricula in Undergraduate Dental Education: An Exploratory Study
Full text linkAims: To explore experiences and perceptions of students and staff regarding
decolonisation of the curriculum in a dental undergraduate programme at a British University.
Methods: Participants were invited to respond to an online survey on decolonisation of the dental curriculum. The target population included current students on the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Bachelor of Dental Therapy and Hygiene (BScDTH) programmes, as well as Dental Staff. The common items for student and staff versions of the survey were focused on six themes: Representation, Content, Peer Engagement, Assessment, Language and Communication, and Culture. The staff survey included additional items on Evaluation. All responses were anonymous. Data on program, year of study, age, gender, and ethnicity were captured on a voluntary basis.
Results: In total, 34 staff members and 120 students participated in the survey. A comparison showed that average student responses were lower (i.e., less favourable) compared with average staff responses. Of the 24 surveys items, 17 showed significantly less favourable responses reported by Minority Ethnic (ME) students compared to their White peers. ME students were, when compared with White counterparts, less likely to report that their programme included opportunities for group discussions about ethnicity and privilege. Similar comparisons of staff responses did not show any significant differences between White and ME staff.
Conclusions: This study provides useful insights into the perceptions and experiences of students and staff regarding decolonisation of dental curriculum in an undergraduate dental programme. Significant differences were noted between staff and student scores and also between White and ME students. The findings underscore the need to take further steps to decolonise dental curricula
Foreword
No full textSocial mobility is achieved, it is accomplished as a consequence of achievement, for example achieving good examination grades, completing high status work experience. These ‘achievements’ are not equitably accessible to all children and young people. For example, Educationally Isolated schools have limited access to resources for school improvement because of their ‘place’ and this make a difference to pupils’ opportunities to ‘achieve’ similar outcomes to peers in urban schools, particularly if they are from a persistently disadvantaged backgrounds (Ovenden-Hope and Passy, 2022). Sonia Blandford and Stefan Burkey’s intention for this book is to provide a guide to school leaders, teachers, parents, carers and community leaders on ways pedagogy and practice can be applied to improve more equitable educational achievement for children
School Recovery Strategies: Year 1 findings
Full text linkThe Department for Education (DfE) commissioned Ipsos MORI, in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and the Centre for Education and Youth (CfEY), to carry out research among primary and secondary schools to understand how they have responded to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and what further support they believe they need looking forwards. This report presents interim findings from the first year of the research, conducted in the 2020/21 academic year. It is based on data collected from school leaders and their responses to an online survey (1,018 survey responses in total) and 40 qualitative interviews. The research is set to continue in the 2021/22 academic year
Perceptions of long-term impact and change following a midwife-led biomass smoke education program for mothers in rural Uganda: a qualitative study
Full text linkIntroduction: Women and children in Uganda and other low- and middle-income countries are exposed to disproportionately high levels of household air pollution from biomass smoke generated by smoke-producing cookstoves, especially in rural areas. This population is therefore particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects caused by household air pollution, including negative pregnancy outcomes and other health issues throughout life. The Midwife Project, a collaboration between research and health teams in the UK and Uganda, began in 2016 to implement an education program on lung health for mothers in Uganda, to reduce the health risks to women and children. Education materials were produced to guide midwives in the delivery of health messages across four rural health centres, and mixed-methods results of knowledge questionnaires and interviews demonstrated knowledge acquisition, acceptability and feasibility. This qualitative follow-up study aimed to improve understanding of the longer term impact of this education program from the perspective of midwives, village health team members and mothers, in consideration of rolling the program out more widely in rural Uganda.
Methods: Purposive sampling was carried out to recruit consenting antenatal or postnatal women, midwives and village health team members who had been involved in an education session. Individual interviews were conducted with 12 mothers and four village health team members, and four focus groups were conducted with 10 midwives in total. Interviews and focus groups were conducted across all four health centres by two researchers and six translators as appropriate depending on language spoken (English or Lusoga). These were semi-structured and directed by topic guides. Reflective and observational notes were also made. A thematic analysis was carried out by two researchers, along with production of a narrative for each mother, to enrich understanding of each individual story.
Results: Midwives and village health teams had continued with the program well past the project end date and all mothers expressed making, or intending to make, changes, suggesting long-term feasibility and acceptability. Main themes generated were ability to change and changes made, ability to change dictated by money, importance of practical education, perceived health improvements, and passing on knowledge. Additional findings were that some education topics seemed to be overlooked, and there was a lack of clarity about the village health team role for the purposes of this program. Some mothers had been motivated to overcome financial barriers, for example by reconstructing cooking areas cheaply themselves. However, information given in the program about building advice and potential financial gains was inconsistent.
Conclusion: Recommendations for future biomass smoke education should include explicit building advice, emphasis on financial gains, encouragement to share the knowledge acquired and clarification of the village health team role. These program changes will improve focus and relevancy, optimise impact and, with behaviour change and implementation strategy in mind, could be used for widespread rollout in rural Uganda. Future research should include quantitative data collection to objectively examine surprising perceived health benefits, including reduction in malaria and burns, and further qualitative work on why some education content appears neglected