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So close to love: compassionate leadership in healthcare
Get PDFCompassionate leadership has received significant attention in the UK health system, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. This scoping literature review aimed to explore current knowledge about compassionate leadership in healthcare. A search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed and ASSIA databases identified 34 papers published between 2015 and 2020. The review found broad agreement regarding the definition of and need for compassionate leadership, as well as the existence of differences in practice, dependent on the hierarchical levels in healthcare organisations. However, current research lacks clarity and depth concerning the theoretical underpinnings of compassionate leadership. The question ‘how can you be critical of something so close to love?’ draws attention to the paucity of critical analysis and research. As a result, the ability of compassionate leadership to define a new way of working and deliver real change is unclear
RNA-viromics reveals diverse communities of soil RNA viruses with the potential to affect grassland ecosystems across multiple trophic levels
Get PDFThe distribution and diversity of RNA viruses in soil ecosystems are largely unknown, despite their significant impact on public health, ecosystem functions, and food security. Here, we characterise soil RNA viral communities along an altitudinal productivity gradient of peat, managed grassland and coastal soils. We identified 3462 viral contigs in RNA viromes from purified virus-like-particles in five soil-types and assessed their spatial distribution, phylogenetic diversity and potential host ranges. Soil types exhibited minimal similarity in viral community composition, but with >10-fold more viral contigs shared between managed grassland soils when compared with peat or coastal soils. Phylogenetic analyses predicted soil RNA viral communities are formed from viruses of bacteria, plants, fungi, vertebrates and invertebrates, with only 12% of viral contigs belonging to the bacteria-infecting Leviviricetes class. 11% of viral contigs were found to be most closely related to members of the Ourmiavirus genus, suggesting that members of this clade of plant viruses may be far more widely distributed and diverse than previously thought. These results contrast with soil DNA viromes which are typically dominated by bacteriophages. RNA viral communities, therefore, have the potential to exert influence on inter-kingdom interactions across terrestrial biomes
Hurricane disturbance accelerated the thermophilization of a Jamaican montane forest
Get PDFThermophilization – changes in community composition towards greater relative abundances of species associated with warmer environments – has been described for plants and animals in many locations around the world. Disturbances of various kinds have increased rates of thermophilization in temperate sites, and this has been proposed, but not demonstrated, for some tropical environments. In this study, we tested whether disturbance by a Category four hurricane in 1988 (Hurricane Gilbert) increased thermophilization in a Jamaican montane forest by using pre- and post-hurricane data collected over four decades (1974–2014). We analysed tree species composition in permanent plots at c. 1580 m elevation in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains. There were 66 tree species with stem diameters ≥3 cm at breast height. We used published data on the altitudinal distribution of 62 species (94% of genetic individuals (genets)) to calculate the mean community altitude scores (MCAS) of the trees recorded in each census, as well as the MCAS of the survivors, recruits and dead trees after each decade. We found that thermophilization did occur (i.e., MCAS decreased significantly over time), and that this was due both to a decreasing MCAS of recruits through the four decades (significantly lower than expected in the last three decades) as well as a high MCAS of trees that died. Thermophilization was fastest in the post-hurricane decade, during which time there was marked and significant increase in the MCAS of dead trees; this change was above and beyond expectations of long-term successional dynamics. The rate of compositional change equates to an overall decrease in MCAS of 1.6 m yr-1 over the forty-year study period. We conclude that this Jamaican montane forest is undergoing thermophilization (likely due to rising temperature) and that the hurricane-caused disturbance accelerated thermophilization through differential mortality
Nietzsche's Will To Power: A Naturalistic Account of Metaethics Based on Evolutionary Principles and Thermodynamic Laws
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A rapid review of innovations for attraction, recruitment and retention of social care workers, and exploration of factors influencing turnover within the UK context
Get PDFContext: The UK social care sector has come under increased pressure to combat workforce shortages. With international recruitment of professionals impacted by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, social care is in need of innovations to attract, recruit and retain staff.Objectives: This review aimed to identify (1) innovations to attract, recruit, and retain social workers (professionals working with children and adults to protect them from harm, often as case managers) and the wider social care workforce (workers providing direct practical support to children and adults with their daily activities) and (2) factors influencing staff turnover in the UK context.Method: Pre-defined inclusion criteria were developed using the SPIDER (Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research type) framework. Searches were conducted across three databases and 32 key United Kingdom third sector and government organisations from 2001. In total, 1,835 citations were retrieved and 40 met the eligibility criteria (13 for social workers and 28 for social care workforce). Thematic analysis was used to explore the data and presented across two evidence maps.Findings: Evaluation evidence was only available for a small portion of innovations identified. Practice learning, fast-track graduate programmes, and apprenticeships may support the retention of social workers, while pre-employment training, national recruitment campaigns, care work ambassadors, and values-based recruitment could help attraction, recruitment, and retention of the wider social care workforce.Limitations: Most of the included studies were conducted pre-pandemic and mainly relied on descriptive and explorative methodologies.Implications: Future policy initiatives should include an evaluation strategy from the outset to develop a more extensive evidence base. Funding bodies should offer schemes supporting research in this area
A systematic review and a social return on investment analysis of social prescribing for prediabetes patients in the UK.
Get PDFExplanatory Journeys: Visualising to Understand and Explain Administrative Justice Paths of Redress
Get PDFAdministrative justice concerns the relationships between individuals and the state. It includes redress and complaints on decisions of a child's education, social care, licensing, planning, environment, housing and homelessness. However, if someone has a complaint or an issue, it is challenging for people to understand different possible redress paths and explore what path is suitable for their situation. Explanatory visualisation has the potential to display these paths of redress in a clear way, such that people can see, understand and explore their options. The visualisation challenge is further complicated because information is spread across many documents, laws, guidance and policies and requires judicial interpretation. Consequently, there is not a single database of paths of redress. In this work we present how we have co-designed a system to visualise administrative justice paths of redress. Simultaneously, we classify, collate and organise the underpinning data, from expert workshops, heuristic evaluation and expert critical reflection. We make four contributions: (i) an application design study of the explanatory visualisation tool (Artemus), (ii) coordinated and co-design approach to aggregating the data, (iii) two in-depth case studies in housing and education demonstrating explanatory paths of redress in administrative law, and (iv) reflections on the expert co-design process and expert data gathering and explanatory visualisation for administrative justice and law
Cognitive Performance After Facial Botulinum Toxin Treatment in a Cohort of Neurologic Patients: An Exploratory Study
Get PDFObjective To investigate higher cognitive functions after mimicry changes after facial botulinum toxin (BTX) injections, we tested verbal and nonverbal reasoning in patients with blepharospasm or hemifacial spasm before and after their long-term botulinum toxin treatment. Design Explorative, nonrandomized, clinical trial. Setting Patients receiving ambulatory care and control participants from the general community. Participants Volunteer sample (N=84) of patients (n=21) with blepharospasm or hemifacial spasm who received facial BTX injections. Control participants included patients (n=30) with cervical dystonia who received cervical BTX injections and individuals without neurological disorders (n=33). Interventions The 2 groups receiving injections were tested before and 3 weeks after their treatment. The group without neurological disorders received no injections. Main Outcome Measures Verbal and nonverbal reasoning scores. Results The key unexpected finding was that patients who received facial BTX injections perform significantly worse in nonverbal reasoning tasks, when compared with those who did not receive injections (P=.022). There was no significant difference in the baseline reasoning scores and at follow-up for verbal reasoning between the 3 groups. There was no correlation between toxin dose and reasoning scores (verbal: P=.132; nonverbal: P=.294). Conclusions Because of potential confounders, the results do not yet allow any conclusion on causality. Further research is needed to confirm our findings