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Evaluation of Practice to Promote Physical Activity in Schools in a Unitary Authority in England
Get PDFObjectives: To explore what actually happens in relation to physical activity promotion in primary and junior schools within one unitary authority and to relate this to Public Health England promising principles of practice to promote physical activity in schools.
Study design: A qualitative approach was undertaken to explore practice in all primary and junior schools in the unitary authority of Southampton.
Methods: All primary (n=36) and junior (n=8) schools in Southampton were involved in the study. Publicly available primary physical education and sport premium (PESP) funding reports (n=36) alongside a school survey (n=14) were collated. The collated qualitative data set was semantically coded and then a multi-layered approach including identification, reviewing, defining and naming meaningful and important themes were inductively developed. The inductively developed themes were then fitted in relation to PHE eight promising principles.
Results: There was evidence of practice across all eight promising principles although this varied in depth and scale. There was one set of data that did not fit appropriately within the PHE eight promising principles and warranted its own category broadly termed ‘rewards to recognise physical activity’. There was widespread evidence of PESP funding providing increased provision, variety and quality of sport opportunities but limited evidence of physical activity practice or programmes targeting the least active. Two different approaches in relation to ensuring a skilled workforce materialised continuing professional development which reflected in impact statements linked to increased confidence to deliver and quality of physical education versus outsourcing to specialists with little impact cited other than offering specialist or diverse sports.
Conclusions: The study demonstrated that the PHE eight promising principles of practice was a useful framework in relation to current practice, although a ninth promising principle of rewarding physically active behaviour should be considered. The two key themes that need to be addressed for the ambitions established in the new school sport and activity action plan to be deliverable, with PESP funding as a driver, are skilled workforce and development of a wider understanding of what physical activity is
Leadership in Dental Practice: a Three Stage Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis
Get PDFObjectives
To review leadership for dentists in patient facing, primary care dental practice.
Methods
A three stage systematic review with narrative synthesis:
A scoping overview - management and leadership policy context.
A systematic review of reviews of leadership in healthcare.
A systematic focused review of leadership in patient-facing dental practice.
Results
The healthcare literature mirrors the generic literature in relation to the temporal evolution of leadership theories. Policy papers influence healthcare literature, though these are generally written by independent bodies, link solely to medical publications, and are often commissioned from the grand strategic level thereby grounding them in a politicised system. The healthcare leadership literature offers few studies at the operational (patient care) level of leadership, with none of these focused explicitly on dentistry and dental practice.
Numerous aims, definitions, models, conceptualisations, and links to theories of leadership are reported. The stage 1 literature demonstrates more contemporaneous ideas of leadership, while the dental practice literature is too often grounded in outdated concepts and theories.
Conclusions
The overarching trend is from leaders to leadership; with no unified definition, model, theory, concept nor aim recognised. The fundamental importance of specific context and the reaction of others to leadership is reinforced. Leadership theories aligned to healthcare include Engaging, Authentic, Collective and the Transformational-Transactional continuum.
Leadership is a dynamic, socially constructed process, only occurring in a group setting. Consisting of multiple moderating variables that demonstrate reciprocal influence on one another, these influences are neither equal nor stable. (246 words)
Clinical significance Leadership is embedded in regulatory guidance and standards relating to general dental practice. It is therefore crucial to have an evidenced based understanding of what leadership means in this context, and what further work is necessary to support clinicians in the leadership domain. (43 words
Developing mental health literacy and cultural competence in elite sport
No full textMental well-being, and mental health symptoms and disorders amongst elite athletes, have
attracted a great deal of discussion recently. Current epidemiological evidence illustrates that mental health symptoms and disorders in elite athletes are prevalent and a concern for
athletes, coaches, and sport organizations. Within the last two years, five consensus, expert, and position statements have been written on the topic of mental health in elite sport. A strategy suggested by each of the five statements and aimed at preventing and treating mental health symptoms and disorders in elite athletes, both individually and systemically, is, to employ education interventions, specifically those based on increasing mental health literacy.
Mental health literacy has come to include concepts related to knowledge of effective self
help and self-management strategies, challenging mental disorder stigma, awareness and use
of mental health first aid to assist others, and the facilitation of help seeking behaviors. In elite sport, questions remain about how mental health literacy can address the unique needs of the individual athlete, but also factor in their culture and their environment in an effort to prevent and treat mental health symptoms and disorders. The purpose of this commentary is twofold: 1) to explore the evolving concept of mental health literacy within elite sport which addresses individuals, their culture, and their environment, and 2) to propose strategies for best practice and research in mental health literacy within elite sport relying on collaboration between sports psychiatry, sport psychology, and clinical psychology
ANIMALS, SPORT, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Get PDFPurpose – To outline the multiple ways in which animals are inserted into sporting practices, outline historical and contemporary approaches to studying human-animal sporting practices, and advocate for the centring of sociological problems in human animal research in sporting contexts and cultures and for considering such problems in relation to environmental issues.
Design/methodology/approach -- In the first part of the chapter, conceptual differentiation of animals in the animal-sport complex is presented. Subsequently, studies of interspecies sport are reviewed with reference to the ‘animal turn’ in the literature. In the second part, a critique is presented relating to: i) the privileging of companion animals, especially dogs and horses, which overlooks the multiple ways animals are integrated into (multispecies) sport; ii) micro-sociological and insider ethnographies of companionship displacing of sociological problems in favour of relationship perspectives; and iii) the environment as absent from analysis. The conclusion offers implications for understanding multispecies sport and the environment.
Findings -- I chart a general shift in emphasis and focus from animals as an ‘absent presence’ in pursuit of sociological knowledge towards a clearly defined focus on interspecies sport as a field of research characterised by investigations of relationships with companion animals through the ‘animal turn.’ Research limitations/implications – The focus on companion species means other animals (i.e., non-companions) are understudied, big picture sociological questions are often side-lined, environmental concerns marginalised, and sociological
understanding of the environment more generally is either ignored or reduced to a conduit of human-animal interactions
Individual risk factors associated with exertional heat illness: a systematic review
Get PDFDespite the widespread knowledge of exertional heat illness (EHI) and clear guidance for its prevention, the incidence of EHI remains high. We carried out a systematic review of available literature evaluating the scientific evidence underpinning the risk factors associated with EHI.
Medline, PsycINFO, SportDiscus and Embase were searched from inception to January 2019 with no date limitation, with supplementary searches also being performed. Search terms included permutations of risk and heat illness, with only studies in English included. Study selection, data extraction and quality assessment, using the QUALSYST tool, were performed by two independent reviewers. Of 8898 articles identified by the searches, 42 were included in the systematic review as primary evidence demonstrating a link between a risk factor and EHI. The quality scores ranged from 57.50 to 100%, and studies were generally considered to be of strong quality. The majority of risks attributable to EHI were categorized as those associated with lifestyle factors. The findings from the systematic review suggest complex manifestation of EHI through multiple risk factors rather than any one factor in isolation. Further research is needed to explore the accumulation of risk factors to help in development of effective preventative measures
Bilateral asymmetry of running gait in competitive, recreational and novice runners at different speeds
Get PDFThe mechanisms and underlying causes of bilateral asymmetry among healthy runners of different levels remain unclear. This cross-sectional laboratory study aimed to investigate the effects of running speed and running experience or competitive level on bilateral symmetry during running. Eleven competitive runners, 9 recreational runners and 11 novice runners were recruited in this study. They ran on an instrumented treadmill for 3 minutes at each of 5 fixed speeds (8, 9, 10, 11 and
12 km/h) in a randomized order. Bilateral asymmetry was evaluated and quantified using symmetry index (SI) of temporal and kinetic parameters. Overall, SI ranged
between 0.8% for stride time and 21.4% for vertical average loading rate. Significant speed effects were observed on SI of flight time (p = 0.012), which was significantly higher at 8 km/h than that of the other 4 speeds (p = 0.023, 0.005, 0.023 and 0.028,
respectively). Group-by-speed interactions were detected on SI in time to peak vertical ground reaction force (p = 0.032) and vertical average loading rate (p =
0.002). The competitive runners presented linear reduction in the SI with increasing speed from 8 to 12 km/h (R2 > 0.94); for the recreational runners, SI changed nonlinearly and presented a roughly U-shaped trend across speeds (R2 > 0.88); and for the novice runners, changes of SI across speed were inconsistent and dependent on parameters of interest (R2 > 0.64). Bilateral asymmetry was affected by both running speed and runners’ running experience or competitive level. The competitive runners were found to run with a more symmetrical manner with a greater running speed, the recreational runners demonstrated the most symmetrical pattern at the critical speed, whereas the novice runners showed inconsistent trends
Higher Education and the Climate Emergency: Exploring the Hidden Curriculum of the Campus
No full textClimate change and ecological destruction are key issues for current and future generations and some of the most forthright advocates for a stronger policy response are young people. Through the climate strikes initiated by Greta Thunberg and increasingly vocal protests worldwide, young people have been motivated to take action on the climate emergency. In March 2019, more than 1.6 million people took part in the youth climate strike on all seven continents (Fisher, 2019). The #FridaysForFuture campaign is a growing youth movement, emerging from the climate strikes, and reflecting the frustration felt by many young people at being too young to vote for change yet seeing their futures gambled away by those in power.
There has also been increasing recognition of the importance of education in addressing the climate emergency. Education is a cornerstone of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which replaced the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, with SDG 4 focused on ‘quality education’ and ‘lifelong learning opportunities for all’ (UN, 2015). As the expectation on educational institutions to show leadership increases, a UK-wide Climate Commission for Higher and Further Education (HE and FE) was launched in November 2019 to drive change throughout universities and colleges. A partnership of the Association of Colleges, EAUC, GuildHE and Universities UK, the Climate Commission aims to increase and amplify sustainability activities in the tertiary sector
Promoting pre-service teachers' engagement in an online professional learning community
No full textPurpose
This study investigated the role of experienced practitioners in promoting pre-service teachers' knowledge construction and social interaction in an online professional learning community.
Design/methodology/approach
A repeated measures design with control and experimental groups was adopted. Two practitioners supported pre-service teachers in the experimental group to discuss issues around teaching practice. Social network analysis (SNA) and content analysis (CA) were used in the analytical approach.
Findings
CA revealed that the practitioners increased pre-service teachers' levels of knowledge construction and high-cognitive discourse. SNA showed that the practitioners enhanced pre-service teachers' professional ties. Though collaboration in high-level knowledge building occurred predominantly in peers in the same discipline, the presence of the practitioners facilitated the development of more cross-disciplinary ties in the experimental group.
Practical implications
The practitioners can be considered as a pedagogical tool to enhance pre-service teachers' engagement in the process of professional learning. This study suggests that in order to enhance the collaboration among pre-service teachers from different departments, the online activity should be designed to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration.
Originality/value
The study contributes new knowledge about the ways in which practitioners can enhance the collaboration among pre-service teachers in an online PLC. It also provides insight on how to combine CA and SNA, to examine professional learning
The longitudinal effects of a physical activity programme on the physical fitness and disability of back pain patients: a service evaluation
Get PDFOBJECTIVE: To evaluate the longitudinal effect of a group physical activity service to help patients self-manage un-resolving back pain.
BACKGROUND: Back pain is one of the most common and costly conditions. Large scale trials have demonstrated a role for less traditional treatment including exercise, yet the long term effects of patient centred, group physical activity programmes remains unclear.
METHODS: One hundred and eighty-one un-resolving back pain patients (aged 53 ± 17 years) completed a 6 × 2 h physical activity programme. All activities were relevant to activities of daily living and incorporated activities to develop aerobic fitness, flexibility, core activation, and muscular strength and endurance. Dietary advice, home diaries and pedometers were provided. RESULTS: Measures of back pain, aerobic fitness, muscular endurance and body composition showed significant (p< 0.05) pre-post intervention improvements. Disability rating decreased by 19% alongside improvements in aerobic fitness (15%), back extension (36%) back flexion (16%) and grip strength (5%). Six month follow up identified (p< 0.05) reductions in body fat (6.5%) whilst aerobic fitness, disability rating and muscular strength and endurance remained stable.
CONCLUSION: Group physical activity programmes could contribute to the self-management of back pain, enabling sustained improvements in fitness, physical activity and body fatness