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Feeling safe, feeling connected: aesthetic and polyvagal approaches to dementia care
Get PDFThis perspective brings together authors from care aesthetics, dementia studies, mental health nursing, and clinical psychology to explore how aesthetics and Polyvagal Theory intersect in dementia care. Across these fields, there is growing recognition that wellbeing is shaped not only by clinical interventions but also by the subtle, embodied cues that create a sense of safety, connection, and belonging for patients. Concepts such as aesthetic care, in-the-moment practices, and everyday aesthetics emphasize how lived experience and wellbeing is grounded in the sensory and relational details of everyday life. In parallel, Polyvagal Theory provides a psychophysiological framework for understanding how people respond to such cues through the process of threat detection, co-regulation, and social engagement. By placing these perspectives side-by-side, we explore the currently untapped benefits of developing a cross disciplinary therapeutic toolkit for clinicians working with people living with dementia. Looking ahead, integrating aesthetics and Polyvagal-informed approaches could reshape dementia care into a practice that values safety, connection, and meaning as core clinical outcomes. Although further research is needed to translate this integrated model into practice, the work of the authorship in both research and clinical practice with people with dementia illustrate that such approaches are already ongoing and can bring tangible benefits for several stakeholders, including people living with dementia
Shining a light in COVID-19 darkness: the impact of hospital chaplaincy teams on health care professionals
No full textIntroduction: A COVID-19 global pandemic, declared in March 2020 by the World Health Organisation, resulted in travel restrictions, closure of non-essential shops and services, and discontinuation of elective health care. Escalation of the pandemic impacted on hospital healthcare professionals who experienced deaths of colleagues, and unprecedented changes in working conditions. One area that received media attention in the UK, during the pandemic, was the role of the Hospital Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Teams. Methods: An exploratory study was advertised via social media, the press and professional bodies resulted in 86 healthcare professionals and 63 chaplains, who had worked clinically, in the UK, during the pandemic, completing an open free text electronic survey. Seven chaplains participated in a follow up telephone interview, with all data collected in 2022. Results: Survey demographic data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Free text responses and interviews were subject to thematic analysis. The focus on support of health professionals was widely reported by all respondents. Two overarching themes were identified: [1] Organisational initiatives with sub themes of structural and virtual support and [2] Proactive –‘going to the front line’, with sub themes of: emotional and spiritual support, moral support, and practical inputDiscussion/Conclusion: The overarching finding was that hospital chaplains were alongside staff on the clinical frontline. Staff described this as invaluable in the immediacy of support and providing a valued presence. The chaplain’s role changed to becoming more focused on staff support, which appears to be ongoing, thus impacting on the future role and training for hospital chaplaincy teams.<br/
Ecopoetic encounters: unsettling anthropocentric assumptions via constraint-based anthologethnography
No full textThe multiform ecological crises of the Anthropocene raise a need to overcome western ideologies of human exceptionalism and anthropocentrism, and to revive multispecies connectivities towards more viable ways of living and learning from beyond-human kin. This article reports on a creative writing research experiment wherein eighteen poets spread across the UK, HKSAR, Korea, and Australia sought to discover and shift our own unwittingly internalised limitations of anthropocentrism via constraint-based ecopoetry and anthologethnography (cultural inquiry via anthologising) Towards this aim, we begin with a discussion of the ecological and ideological problems at hand. We then consider ecopoetry, constraint-based poetry, and anthologethnography. Our discussion of findings relays three key themes: the persistence of anthropocentric thinking despite our attempts to overcome it; the insights gained despite these limitations; and the new problems and questions that arose via our explorations. Ultimately, we note that the specific constraints we used were problematic, but could be revised for future inquiries. We argue for the value in further exploring potentials of constraint-based writing in group situations for practices of inquiry in research and pedagogy.</p
Equity in doctoral education:policy or action?
No full textThis chapter presents four distinctive perspectives to scrutinise the realisation (or lack thereof) of equity in doctoral education. At a personal level, the reflections presented here explore individual experiences of (in)equity, emphasising how personal biases and subjective experience influence one’s engagement with equity issues. At the institutional level, the chapter investigates how organisational structures and policies either facilitate or hinder equity. The authors also seek to examine the role of political leverage in shaping equity agendas, scrutinising how political dynamics and power structures affect the prioritisation and implementation of equity in doctoral education. While acknowledging instances of excellent equitable practices across many higher education institutions, the purpose of this chapter is to spotlight areas where these practices are absent but have potential for implementation.</p
Unravelling the use and sequence of regulated learning in online collaborative learning: a pilot study
No full textIntroduction: Effective online collaborative learning goes beyond completing a task. Regulating individual and group-shared learning processes is essential for success in online collaborative learning. This study had the aim of identifying how medical students use and sequence their regulation of learning during an online collaborative learning task. Methods: This study employed lag sequential analysis to examine sequential patterns of regulated learning. 68 year 4 medical students were divided into 6 groups of 11 to 12 and worked on an online prescribing scenario. Group discussions were recorded, transcribed and coded using a specifically developed coding scheme. Lag sequential analysis was then applied to identify the sequences through which different types and processes of regulated learning unfolded during the collaborative task.Results: Sequential analysis showed that medical students frequently used co-regulated learning and socially shared-regulated learning in a cyclical approach. Monitoring facilitated important metacognitive and cognitive processes and also there was an association between planning and orientation processes with positive emotions. Conclusion: The findings have implications for the design of effective online collaborative learning, such as incorporating monitoring prompts, fostering positive atmosphere in groups and providing consecutive tasks to stimulate reflection. <br/
Working on the clinical frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic, the perceptions and experiences of hospital chaplains
No full textHospital Chaplaincy Teams played a vital role during the COVID-19 Pandemic but the full depth of their experiences and personal impacts is not fully known. This UK study was advertised using social media platforms, local press, chaplaincy professional bodies. An electronic survey was completed by 63 hospital chaplains with the opportunity for all respondents to participate in follow up interviews, which was selected by seven chaplains and explored the personal impacts, experiences and reflections of working during the pandemic. Their views of the impact of initiatives, practices and organisational changes were explored. Themes included: [1] Challenges and personal impact, including; reflections on the enormity of the situation, personal fears and sacrifices, and clinical challenges [2] Practical solutions; personal, and support from colleagues, and [3] Organisational issues and suggestions. This paper concludes with recommendations for organisations and further research
The professional journeys of music teachers
No full textThis chapter will explore the professional journeys and experiences of music teachers in both primary and secondary contexts in England. These journeys and experiences can be rewarding but complex, and full of tensions and challenges. The chapter will embrace my passion for storytelling and use this to articulate the individual values, experiences and aspirations that contribute to shaping the wider phenomenon of music education in practice. Listening to the voices of other music teachers can shed light on the diversity of experience, shared concerns, and hopes for the future of music education.More specifically, this chapter presents the findings of a small-scale study that explores the stories of eight music educators. Each educator has a story to tell that reveals their passion for music education, and the celebrations and tensions they have experienced. Themes that emerge from these narratives represent key debates and issues shaping school music education and the experience of music teachers, today. Implications for policy and practice arising from these stories are then outlined
Revealing Privacy Needs During Life’s Significant Transitions
No full textPeople experience transitional events during their lives that are significant, disruptive, and potentially challenging to navigate. Emotions usually run high, and the central actor may seek personalised support from ‘others’ who are often identified online. An increased online presence, however, can also exacerbate vulnerabilities, making it challenging for individuals to preserve their privacy. Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) can support people undergoing transitions to have more control over their online identity and related disclosures. Nevertheless, available tools of this kind do not explicitly cater to the needs of such populations, leading to low uptake.To inform the development of bespoke Privacy Enhancing Technologies, we carried out a survey to understand the population characteristics and online behaviours of four transition groups: (1) leaving the Armed Forces; (2) Relationship Breakdown (Romantic); (3) Serious Illness (Cancer); and (4) LGBTQ+ (‘coming out’ or gender transition). Our findings suggest that bespoke Privacy Enhancing Technologies should engender resilience and a sense of control over what is shared online via the identification, creation, and maintenance of ‘safe spaces’ in which network members are restricted to trusted others who are deemed supportive of the actor’s transitio
A mixed methods study investigating the impact of an exercise and lifestyle programme on maternal physical and mental health
No full textThe petrogenesis of Þingmúli volcano, East Fjords; Iceland.
Get PDFIn this work we revisit Þingmúli volcano (Þ = Th), a classic locality known as an example of a complete tholeiitic differentiation. Þingmúli is a ~9.5 Ma extinct central volcano located in the East Fjords of Iceland, in which the whole compositional spectrum from basalt to rhyolites have erupted. These volcanic products have beenpreviously considered as petrogenetically related by an ideal fractionation trend,regardless any temporal relationship or volumetric considerations.Here we report new whole-rock geochemistry, mineral chemistry, isotope analyses,estimation of residence times of the different eruptive deposits, and an update of theoriginal petrogenetic model. Our results highlight that an enriched source, likely spinel lherzolites, generated transitional-alkaline basaltic melts after 15-20% of partial melting at depths of 40-45 km. Many of these basaltic melts erupted at various stages of the volcano’s history, while others remained longer in the volcanic plumbing system. These evolved by fractional crystallisation into basaltic andesite magmas with a residence time of ~5 years based on the crystal size distribution of the plagioclase population.Isotopic differences between the basalts/basaltic andesites (87Sr/86Sr ~ 0.7034;143Nd/144Nd ~0.51315) and the erupted rhyolites (87Sr/86Sr ~ 0.7037; 143Nd/144Nd~0.51304) indicate that the latter are not petrogenetically related to the former.Therefore, instead of a fractional crystallisation mechanism to generate the rhyolites,we propose the partial melting of ignimbrite layers located beneath the volcano. Thebroad range of trace element concentrations in andesites and dacites and theirdifferent isotopic values compared to the basalts strongly suggest that these magmashave been generated by magma mixing between basaltic and rhyolitic melts, similar to modern day Icelandic volcanoes such as Hekla. These results highlight the need torevisit previously studied Icelandic classic localities and reassess their traditionallyproposed petrogenetic models