107159 research outputs found
Sort by
Being heard: shaping digital futures for and with children
No full textChildren should play a key role in shaping their digital futures, argue Laura Betancourt Basallo, Kim R. Sylwander and Sonia Livingstone of the Digital Futures for Children centre (a collaboration between LSE and 5Rights)
Why representation in local politics in London matters
No full textWhen political representatives don’t reflect the demographics of the population that’s not just bad optics – it can lead to discrepancies between what politicians pursue and what people seek. Omar Hammoud-Gallego, Katharina Lawall, Alex Bulat and Isabelle McRae analyse the demographics of London Councillors and find that women, young people and minorities are underrepresented in local councils. The same was true of renters vs homeowners
Cuts and caps to benefits have always harmed people, not helped them into work
No full textIn its effort to get more people back into work, the Labour Government has hinted at a series of cuts to sickness and disability support. Ruth Patrick and Aaron Reeves argue that this approach is misguided and goes against a host of evidence which suggests that cutting or caping people’s benefits pushes them deeper into poverty and further away from the labour market
Resilience of the acute sector in recovery from COVID-19 pressures
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the management and delivery of acute healthcare. To tackle the pandemic, hospitals redesigned their organisational models to provide a rapid increase in acute care assessment and treatment capacity for patients with COVID-19 whilst also trying to maintain delivery of care for patients with non-COVID-19 healthcare needs. This capacity to adjust and recover after COVID-19 might be shaped by both measures taken by acute hospitals and wider hospital pre-pandemic characteristics. The aim of this study is to examine how hospital characteristics in acute care are associated with recovery of elective activity after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels. Using patient-level data from Hospital Episode Statistics aggregated at monthly-trust level for all English National Health Service (NHS) acute hospital trusts in 2019 and 2021, we estimate the associations between hospital recovery rate and hospital pre-pandemic characteristics by employing linear regressions of the proportional change over time in elective activity against a set of explanatory variables related to supply factors (e.g., hospital size, workforce, type of hospital, regional location), demand factors (e.g., population need, patient case-mix) and time factors. On average, English NHS acute hospital trusts did not fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. The results show that the explanatory variables are not systematically associated with hospital recovery rate, excepting regional differences. Hospital trusts not located in London, especially in the North of England, are associated with a lower recovery (less resilience) of total elective activity and orthopaedic and vascular surgical elective activity. The implication for policy development is that the evolution of hospital recovery rates in elective activity varied across English regions, especially for high-volume and high-risk elective specialties, with better recovery in London than elsewhere
Nationwide demonstration of improved COVID-19 vaccination uptake through behavioural reminders
No full textHere we report the results of two nationwide randomized controlled trials. By refining behavioural-science-informed text messages notifying patients of their vaccine eligibility, we observed improvements in vaccination rates. The randomized controlled trials involved adults aged 40–44 years (n = 1,825,937) and 24–29 years (n = 2,174,064) in England. Messages emphasizing ‘Top of queue’ status led to small, but policy-relevant, increases in vaccination rates in both the 40–44 age group (odds ratio 1.02, 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.03) and the 24–29 age group (odds ratio 1.02, 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.04). Consequently, the ‘Top of queue’ message was nationally rolled out to other age groups. These findings demonstrate the potential of ‘queue’ framing in relevant contexts and the value of rigorous testing of public health messaging
Exploring user perceptions of peak experience in extended reality user experiences in immersive and augmented spaces: a case study of the Jadu Web3 Community
No full textExtended reality holds the potential to alter human experiences. This project explores user perceptions of peak experience (PE), a state of self-actualization and fulfillment, within augmented spaces and the potential role it can play for designers and developers to effectively engage immersive World Wide Web (Web3) communities. Semi-structured interviews, including an interactive experience stimulus, with key stakeholders in the Web3 space (staff from global immersive technology entities, brand collaborators, and community members, n = 15) were conducted. The findings reveal rich opportunities for users to experience surprise, delight, and a sense of connection and belonging in these spaces. They further suggest the potential to reshape and extend current user experiences by moving the focus of design toward crafting PEs. This holds great value for users to achieve a fuller sense of self-actualization and for content creators to connect to their communities in more meaningful ways
Impacts of communication type and quality on patient safety incidents: a systematic review
No full textBackground: Poor communication in health care increases the risk for patient safety incidents. However, there is no up-to-date synthesis of these data. Purpose: To synthesize studies investigating how poor communication between health care practitioners and patients (and between different groups of practitioners) affects patient safety. Data Sources: Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, CENTRAL, Scopus, and the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Citation Index from 1 January 2013 to 7 February 2024. Study Selection: Studies published in any language that quantified the effects of poor communication on patient safety. Data Extraction: Two independent reviewers extracted data, assessed risk of bias, and appraised strength of evidence. Study heterogeneity precluded meta-analysis, so results were reported with narrative description, reporting medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs). Data Synthesis: Forty-six eligible studies (67 826 patients) were included. Risk of bias was low for 20, moderate for 16, and high for 10 studies. Four studies investigated whether poor communication was the only identified cause of a patient safety incident; here, poor communication caused 13.2% (IQR, 6.1% to 24.4%) of safety incidents. Forty-two studies investigated whether poor communication contributed to patient safety incidents alongside other causes; here, poor communication contributed to 24.0% (IQR, 12.0% to 46.8%) of safety incidents. Study heterogeneity was high in terms of setting, continent, health care staff, and safety incident type. The strength of the evidence was low or very low. Limitation: There was important study heterogeneity, generally low study quality, and poor reporting of essential data. Conclusion: Poor communication is a major cause of patient safety incidents. Research is needed to develop effective interventions and to learn more about how poor communication leads to patient safety incidents
“They should be open to setting their partners free”: a qualitative analysis of gender, sex, and reproduction in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria
No full textOptimal stopping zero-sum games in continuous hidden Markov models
No full textWe study a two-dimensional discounted optimal stopping zero-sum (or Dynkin) game related to perpetual redeemable convertible bonds expressed as game (or Israeli) options in a model of financial markets in which the behaviour of the ex-dividend price of a dividend-paying asset follows a generalized geometric Brownian motion. It is assumed that the dynamics of the random dividend rate of the asset paid to shareholders are described by the mean-reverting filtering estimate of an unobservable continuous-time Markov chain with two states. It is shown that the optimal exercise (conversion) and withdrawal (redemption) times forming a Nash equilibrium are the first times at which the asset price hits either lower or upper stochastic boundaries being monotone functions of the running value of the filtering estimate of the state of the chain. We rigorously prove that the optimal stopping boundaries are regular for the stopping region relative to the resulting two-dimensional diffusion process and that the value function is continuously differentiable with respect to the both variables. It is verified by means of a change-of-variable formula with local time on surfaces that the optimal stopping boundaries are determined as a unique solution to the associated coupled system of nonlinear Fredholm integral equations among the couples of continuous functions of bounded variation satisfying certain conditions. We also give a closed-form solution to the appropriate optimal stopping zero-sum game in the corresponding model with an observable continuous-time Markov chain
Gender and age differentials in prevalence and pattern of nine chronic diseases among older adults in India: an analysis based on Longitudinal Ageing Study in India
No full textNon-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for a major portion of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with older persons being especially vulnerable due to age-related health concerns. The burden of chronic diseases among India's aging population is understudied, particularly in terms of gender and age differences. The study utilized data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), wave 1 (2017–18), comprising a sample of 66,606 older adults aged 45 years and above. We performed a Mmultivariable logistic regression analysis to examine the age-gender differences in the prevalence and patterns of nine chronic diseases, namely hypertension, diabetes, cancer, chronic heart disease, stroke, psychiatric disorders, chronic lung disease, bone and joint diseases, and high cholesterol among older adults after adjusting for various socio-demographic and lifestyle factors. Compared to male respondents, female older respondents were less likely to have diabetes and stroke (in the 45–59 and 60–69 years age groups), chronic lung diseases (in the 45–59 years age group), and chronic heart diseases (in the 60–69 years age group). Conversely, in the 70 years and above age group, older female respondents had higher odds of having hypertension and bone and joint diseases compared to male respondents. The current study revealed significant gender and age-related differences in the prevalence and odds of all the nine selected diseases even adjusted for potential confounding factors. The findings highlight how urgently age- and gender-specific treatments are needed to reduce inequities in chronic diseases, boost positive health outcomes, and improve the quality of life for India's aging populations