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What makes a good nursing education: meeting the needs of students and society in a free-market education system - cluster analysis of United Kingdom universities
Get PDFAim: Examine quality of education through classification of universities providing undergraduate pre-registration nursing courses in the United Kingdom using data from university league tables. Background: Educational quality for nursing courses can be defined in many ways. University league tables are often used, but it can be difficult to interpret these because of the diversity of measures. These include educational input and output measures, but are not patient focussed. Design: Cluster analysis of league table data. Methods: Data were from the Complete University and Guardian University League Tables. Cluster analysis was undertaken using euclidean distance and average linkage. Data were scaled by turning each value into a percentage of the maximum possible score. Results: Careers and graduate prospects for nurses are high. Satisfaction with teaching and feedback are closely related and while these broadly cluster with research quality but there was a weak relationship between research quality and overall student satisfaction (correlation −0.008, SE 0.049, p = 0.869, adjusted R 2 = −0.014). There was no clear pattern and few universities excelled in all areas. Conclusions: Traditional methods of ranking universities does not fit nursing well, where employment is higher and research quality lower than other subjects. There was no clear pattern in university results. Countries considering a free-market approach to nurse education should consider how they will meet the needs of students and health and social care services, while promoting research. The quality of nursing education should include broader measures of societal value and address the theory-practice gap.</p
Current research development on food contaminants, future risks, regulatory regime and detection technologies: a systematic literature review
Get PDFFood contaminants pose serious threats to public health, with profound negative impacts on the economy, society, and environment. However, there is a lack of timely and comprehensive reviews on the latest developments in food contaminants and effective measures to prevent contamination, particularly through novel intelligent detection technologies and regulatory regimes. This study addresses this knowledge gap by presenting a timely review of the literature, focusing on current types of food contaminants, advances in detection technologies, emerging risks, and the latest developments in regulatory frameworks. The study reviewed 116 relevant articles published between 2019 and 2024 and conducted a thematic analysis. The food contaminants were classified into three categories: biological, chemical, and physical. The study identified six key drivers of current and future food safety risks: demographic change, economic factors, environmental conditions, geopolitical shifts, consumer priorities, and technological advancements. Findings reveal the uneven understanding of contaminants of emerging concern, future drivers of contaminants of emerging concern, and their impact on the food system, the environment, and human health. These findings highlight the need for future research on systematically identifying and validating the regional differences in food contamination prevention measures and assessing the extent to which these differences impact the effectiveness of prevention, mitigation, and control efforts. The findings also call for more international cooperation in food contamination research and the active involvement of technology partners to facilitate the application of cutting-edge technologies in food contamination detection and control
Surveillance or support? policing harmful sexual behaviour among young people in schools
Get PDFThis paper examines the policing of harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) among young people in schools, drawing on qualitative research conducted with police and schools in southeast England. Utilising a Foucauldian surveillance perspective, we explore the challenges police experience in balancing punitive measures with relationship-building efforts. We highlight contradictions between policing objectives and strategies, with police engagement often emphasising surveillance, intelligence gathering and detection, including among officers endorsing relationship-based practice with young people. The overarching concern with behaviour management and discipline of young people in schools, combined with inadequate training and resourcing, perpetuates authoritarian policing practices, with implications for police–youth relations. We identify how tensions between deterrence and trust play out through a wider crisis of legitimacy regarding the capacity for legal frameworks and criminal justice to adequately capture and respond to HSB. We suggest these limitations undermine young people's rights, erode trust between young people and police, and ultimately compromise safety through hindering the effectiveness of HSB prevention and response efforts
The emergence of the student in Colin in Black and White & Top Boy
Get PDFThis article considers the relational and positional emergence of the student in two shows (markedly different narratologically and socioculturally): Colin in Black and White, which features and is based upon the life of NFL player turned activist Colin Kaepernick; and Top Boy. Both shows are concerned with the intersection of race and class and with the role of place (as particularized geographic location) and space (as cultural, ideological, discursive) in that intersection. The article considers instances in which the student emerges as such in both the presence and absence of the discursive reach (or institutional gaze) of the school. Colin in Black and White not only depicts a young Colin Kaepernick negotiating high school (a ready microcosm for the social, cultural, and political landscape of America), but also takes its audience to school: the audience is positioned as one of the show’s students. Top Boy, by contrast, dramatizes the emergence of teacher-student relations in the absence of formal educational structure. It does so by centring people and places that are often marginalized, and marginalizing those which are often centred
Government spending impacts on unpaid carers in England since 2010: a systematic review
No full textSince 2010, austerity-driven cuts in government expenditure have severely impacted unpaid carers in England. This systematic review examines evidence on caregivers’ financial security, service access and health. Despite the Care Act 2014’s goals, inadequate funding limits its effectiveness. Increased economic hardship, insufficient Carer’s Allowance and rising unmet care needs disproportionately affect disadvantaged groups, younger carers and women, worsening mental and physical health. Two recommendations emerge: first, immediate government investment and the establishment of a cross-party commission to set a minimum level of caregiver support; and, second, longer-term systemic change that recognises caregiving as a fundamental political right, protects caregivers’ social security and addresses broader social inequities
'You're talking about all these things you're doing … it is just seen as the norm': exploring young people's perspectives on disclosing their own use of harmful behaviour
Get PDFExisting research into adolescent dating abuse demonstrates that young people experiencing harm are most likely to confide in their friends, but far less is known about the disclosure habits of young people instigating harm. This paper explores the findings from a mixed-methods study relating to whom young people would speak to about their own use of behaviour they describe as harmful and why. Data were collected through a mixed-methods survey responded to by 749 young people aged 11–25, and through semistructured interviews with 11 young people aged 17–23. Analysis of this data identified closest friends as the group young people felt most likely to confide in, mirroring the literature on young victims, followed by their partners/the person they are seeing and a therapist/counsellor. Findings showed these individuals were chosen due to the young person feeling comfortable talking to them about this topic, believing their disclosure would remain confidential and feeling they would offer a nonjudgemental response. This paper outlines the need for a systemic response to abuse in young people's relationships, which is centred around improved relationship literacy for young people themselves and across society. It also highlights some practical implications focused on ensuring young people have adequate support and guidance in place to navigate early romantic/dating relationships. These findings offer some direction for where to focus resources and support, as well as some guidance around approaches that may encourage disclosures from young people instigating harm
Sensitivity and lift-off robustness of magnetic resonance circuit topologies for enhanced WPT-based ECT systems
No full textElectromagnetic sensors’ response is affected by lift-off variations, which are caused by nonmagnetic coating thickness, surface roughness, or sensor vibrations. These variations affect eddy current testing (ECT) sensitivity, defect quantification, and reconstruction of material properties. This article compares different magnetic resonance circuit (MRC) topologies as signal conditioning for improving the ECT system’s response to various lift-offs. The MRC is designed to operate at maximum energy, with the potential of several resonances, which lead to enhanced response for optimal and multiple feature extraction, improving signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and increasing sensitivity to cracks. The proposed paper designs and investigates the effect of different MRC topologies connected to ECT systems to inspect a steel block with surface cracks. The performance comparison of the proposed systems provides the advantages and limitations of different MRC approaches for multiple resonance potentials, higher SNR, and response sensitivity at different lift-off distances. The advanced MRC, featuring series and shunt topologies in each transmit and receive coil, is the most immune to noise, with an SNR of 49.9 dB at a 3.4 mm lift-off using its first peak frequency feature. Its response is less crack-sensitive, with a sensitivity of up to 1.5% at 0.6 mm lift-off
Analysis of social media perceptions during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom: social listening study (2019-2022)
Get PDFSocial media listening can be leveraged to obtain authentic perceptions about events, their impact, guidelines, and policies. There has been to date no research that has examined the experiences of patients with COVID-19 from diagnosis to treatment using social media listening in the United Kingdom. This study aimed to assess public perceptions, insights, and sentiments throughout the patient journey from diagnosis to treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. A comprehensive search query was designed to retrieve social media data that referred to COVID-19 and treatment. The search was conducted using the social media monitoring tool, Synthesio (Ipsos). Data were retrospectively collected for the period covering September 2019 to September 2022 from Twitter (subsequently rebranded X), Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube as well as 126 public forums (including Health Unlocked, Mums Net, The Student Room, and Patient Forums UK). Available data in the United Kingdom expressed in the English language were collected and filtered, generating a final dataset consisting of 31,319 posts from an overall initial dataset of 706,634 posts. Complimentary Google trend analyses of search terms mentioning COVID-19 treatments were also performed. Social media posts related to COVID-19 symptoms accounted for 6% of overall posts, compared to 35% of posts related to testing, 25% of posts related to diagnosis, and 32% of posts related to treatment. Overall, the trend observed from social media posts relating to COVID-19 treatment extracted in Synthesio was largely congruent with the trend of COVID-19 searches on Google, indicating a potential relationship between public discourse and social media and internet search behavior. The findings from this study have the potential to inform decision-making regarding public health interventions, communication strategies, and health care policies in the United Kingdom during future public health emergencies
Interventions for cognitive frailty: developing a Delphi consensus with multidisciplinary and multisectoral experts
Get PDFThe conjunction of physical frailty and cognitive impairment without dementia is described as Cognitive Frailty (CF). Indications that CF is potentially reversible have led to proposals that risk factors, symptoms or mechanisms of CF would be appropriate targets for interventions for prevention, delay or reversal. However, no study has brought experts together across sectors to determine targets, content or mode of interventions, and most resources on interventions are from the perspective of academic or clinical researchers only. This international Delphi consensus study brings together experts from academic and clinical research, lay people with lived experience of CF, informal carers, and professional care practitioners/clinicians. Three rounds of Delphi study were held to discern which factors and statements were agreed upon by the whole sample and which generated different views in those with differing expertise. A scoping review and Round 1 (29 participants) were used to gather initial statements. In Round 2, 58 people responded to statements and open text items, comprising 7 lab-based researchers, 27 researchers working with people, 14 people with lived experience or informal family carers, and 10 professional carers/clinicians. Percent agreement and qualitative responses were analyzed to provide a final set of statements which were checked by 38 respondents in Round 3. Analysis of Round 2 quantitative data provided 74 statements on which there was at least 70% agreement and qualitative data produced a further 24 statements. These were combined to provide 90 statements for Round 3. There was Consensus for 89 of the statements. A few differences between the groups were observed at both stages. The consensus for statements associated with CF interventions provides a useful first step in defining health promotion activities and interventions. Given the prevalence and potential disability caused by CF in older populations, the consensus statements represent expert opinion that is inter-sectoral and will inform public health policies to support implementation of evidence-based prevention and intervention plans. This study is an important step toward changing current approaches, by including all stakeholders from the outset. Outcomes can be used to feed into co-creation of interventions for cognitive frailty
Bridging inequities in palliative and end-of-life care:the role and experiences of community connectors
Get PDFBackground: The Community Connectors programme is a UK pilot initiative designed to bridge gaps between cancer, palliative, and end-of-life care services and diverse ethnic and faith communities. Community Connectors are local individuals with strong cultural insight who enhance two-way communication, increase awareness of care services, and address the unique needs of seldom-heard groups, including South Asian, Black African-Caribbean, and Eastern European communities. By engaging trusted community members, the programme aims to foster relationships, empower communities, and improve understanding of cancer and palliative care pathways among underserved populations. Objective: To explore the experiences and perspectives of Community Connectors implementing this model, with a focus on feasibility, acceptability, and perceived impact within target communities. Methods: A qualitative longitudinal design was employed using linked interviews and reflective diaries. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to explore evolving perceptions of the role, community engagement, and barriers to care access. Semi-structured interviews (N = 3) were conducted between July 2023 and April 2024, focusing on emerging themes and changes in perceptions. In addition, Community Connectors (N = 4) kept diaries and activity logs to document their community interactions, challenges, and key observations throughout their involvement in the project. Results: Community Connectors reported success in building trust and relationships within the community, emphasising that trust, integrity, and passion for the role were more important than financial reward. Initially, there was confusion about the role, with expectations of marketing work evolving into a focus on research and engagement. They faced several challenges, including time constraints linked to the part-time nature of the role, as well as cultural sensitivities, language barriers, and stigma around cancer. Despite difficulties in measuring impact, Connectors reported personal growth, strong community relationships, and a sense of reward from their involvement. Conclusion: The Community Connector model is a feasible and culturally responsive approach to improving access to cancer and palliative care in underserved communities. Future programmes should provide clearer role definitions, sustained funding, and training in emotional resilience and cultural competence. Further research is needed to assess the long-term impact of this model on health outcomes and its integration into mainstream health services
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