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Evaluating the impact of an online autism training on changing employers’ autism knowledge and commitment to inclusion in the workplace
Get PDFEmployers’ knowledge about autism can be a key barrier to autistic people obtaining employment. The current study evaluated the efficacy of an online autism training program, Understanding Autism in the Workplace, in changing employers’ autism knowledge and commitment to inclusion in the workplace. Employers (N = 129) from 22 organizations in the UK completed the training with an autistic (n = 45) or non-autistic (n = 84) trainer and completed surveys measuring (1) autism knowledge and (2) commitment to inclusion in the workplace (CIW), before and after the training. Results showed that at a group level, autism knowledge and CIW improved from before training to after training for all participants, for both the autistic and non-autistic trainer. This latter result may be attributable to the training being co-designed by autistic people. At an individual level, however, only a minority of participants (both with an autistic and non-autistic trainer) showed a significant increase in autism knowledge (10.1%) and CIW (5.8%), suggesting autism training was more effective for some participants than others. Autism training should not be the sole initiative to address barriers to employment for autistic people but should be part of a broader package of support for employers
Therapists' experience of working with refugees and asylum seekers who have been tortured: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Get PDFThe novel concept of "the trauma therapists" journey' during their work with formerly tortured refugees and asylum seekers is introduced, mapped, and explicated for a convenience sample of 10 psychological therapists/practitioners who work in the United Kingdom. This study operationalized semistructured interviews that were focused on therapists' experiences of providing trauma psychotherapy to sanctuary seekers who presented to a range of psychological therapy services. The methods of interpretative phenomenological analysis were deemed appropriate for use to explore their experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Four superordinate themes were conceptualized, namely: (a) questioning self-preparedness, (b) the challenge of trauma wrapped in complexity, (c) psychological flexibility that arises from the therapist's role and internal conflict, and (d) personal impact. The empirical findings suggest that therapists who work with sanctuary seekers who have been tortured encounter a complex range of experiences. These include frequently finding themselves engaged in activities that go beyond and are in conflict with their expectations of their professional role, and, in many cases, this engagement results in vicarious trauma and burnout. All practitioners communicated in some detail how their work with sanctuary seekers, who had experienced torture and presented with trauma, affected them to varying degrees. The research has led to recommendations, which include the prioritization of self-care, multicultural competencies, continual development, and ensuring the availability of appropriate professional supervision support as part of ethical trauma practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Social entrepreneurship education landscape mapping: A bibliometric analysis and analysis of empirical research
No full textPurpose
This study examines the evolution of social entrepreneurship education (SEE) research from 1950 to 2022, highlighting its role in fostering social responsibility and sustainable impact. By mapping key research trends and major academic interests, it categorizes contributions across publications, identifying themes and shifts in SEE's teaching methods and intended outcomes.
Methodology/approach
This study uses bibliometric analysis approach, to examine SEE publications from 1950 to 2022 using Scopus data, with a focus on recent trends in SEE goals over the past decade. From 1126 identified papers, 486 met strict relevance and quality criteria for in-depth review.
Findings
Using VOSviewer for analysis, this bibliometric analysis reveals a significant shift in SEE research over recent years. Studies now increasingly focus on outcome-oriented elements, such as fostering social entrepreneurial aspirations, motivations, and actions, moving beyond traditional educational models.
Originality/value
One of the few bibliometric analyses in this field, this study offers an in-depth look at SEE research using VOSviewer analysis to trace both historical and current trends. The findings provide a well-rounded picture of the research landscape, identifying key gaps and suggesting new directions for advancing SEE in meaningful ways
The impact of inaccessibility to information and support on paternal mental health
Get PDFThe mental well-being of men undergoing the transition into fatherhood remains a focal point in public health discourse. In the United Kingdom, fathers encounter limited access to information and support compared to mothers, prompting an exploration of their experiences and the consequential impact on their mental health throughout the stages from pregnancy to post-birth. This study conducted twenty semi-structured interviews with fathers residing in York. Utilizing Zoom, the interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. All participants were part of a dual-parent nuclear family unit. The overarching themes of insufficient information and support permeated the findings, with variations in the type of support and information needed and their respective effects on fathers’ mental health evident across the pre-birth, birth and post-birth stages. Throughout these stages, discernible shifts in expectations regarding the perceived role of the father and the ensuing challenges to their mental health were observed. Fathers expressed limited engagement, often cast merely as birth partners, and directed on what to do during birth, with scant acknowledgment of their individual challenges. The constraints imposed by Covid-19 restrictions were reported to intensify the sense of isolation during the transition, exacerbating the impact on fathers’ mental health. The study identifies the diverse challenges fathers encounter at different stages of transitioning into fatherhood and underscores the necessity for tailored access to information and support. While the study is grounded in the experiences of fathers in York, the participants conveyed shared concerns about broader structural and cultural impediments that hinder a meaningful and supportive transition into fatherhood
The importance of diversity and inclusion within the research supervision relationship: The views of research students and supervisors
Get PDFAbstractIntroductionResearch supervisors are uniquely positioned to recognise student abilities and needs. This mixed methods study explores how research supervision can support counselling, psychotherapy and counselling psychology doctoral students in their development of new knowledge, with diversity‐related opportunities and challenges in mind.MethodsGuided by ‘dialectical pragmatism’, we used a semi‐qualitative online survey, Reflective Online Practitioner Survey (ROPS; McBeath, 2020), with closed and open questions disseminated across learning institutes in the UK, Europe and North America.ResultsThe survey received 105 responses, with 45 coming from research supervisors and 60 from research students. Only a minority considered their own research supervision team to be diverse, and two‐thirds of respondents did not see matters relating to diversity and inclusion receiving sufficient emphasis in published research.ConclusionsBoth our quantitative and qualitative data addressed unequal representations in terms of gender and sexuality, ethnicity and heritage, (dis‐)ability and social class—several referring to a ‘history of domination by white, cis, non‐disabled male perspectives’. Many described ‘diversity being left out of research’ with consequences on the capacity to meet clients' need in clinical practice. As one said: ‘we need to decolonise the training material by critically analysing and situating knowledge and calling out missing voices’. Another stated: ‘If the research we conduct and draw on as practitioners cannot actively reckon with oppression within…we risk furthering the violence that marginalised clients, practitioners, and researchers face’. Support and training of supervisors to address diversity and power in research from the start of supervision were argued as essential, with both the supervisory relationship and innovative epistemological angles to knowledge and ‘reality’ in the field of mental health in mind
Introducing Yoga-integrated psychotherapy (YiP): A discussion paper
Get PDFDespite a plethora of treatments available for alleviating mental health issues, it has been reported that interventions as they stand are simply just not good enough (Kalin, 2019). Increasing figures of suicides are published each year, most recently standing at over 49,000 in the USA¬. Contested arguments continue in the field of psychotherapy with regards to finding the ‘best’ treatments for mental health issues. Recently, there have been calls for mental health practitioners and researchers to move towards innovation by asking different questions and creating new methods, albeit underpinned by rigorous scientific investigation. One such method currently being adopted with promising outcomes is the integration of mind-body techniques, such as yoga, into mental health treatments. Yoga is an ancient practice which provides a holistic system of healing, and complementary philosophy to western understandings of the human mind. Like psychotherapy, yoga seems to work with unconscious processes which can enable long-term change. Combined with psychotherapeutic discovery, novel treatment models which incorporate both yoga and psychotherapy could therefore be provided. Yoga-integrated psychotherapy (YiP) as a new model of treatment could enhance outcomes for clients presenting with a range of difficulties as it aims to work with these methods as well as transdiagnostic understandings of distress. Additionally, YiP underscores the importance of a humanistic approach, which values the uniqueness of individuals and their subjective understandings of distress. Promising data from a recent pilot study of a yoga-integrated psychotherapy model where participants describe the approach as ‘life changing’, forms the basis of this discussion paper. The question arising is whether a humanistic and yoga-integrated approach to psychotherapy could assist in enhancing client outcomes
Improving the sexual health of women with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review of published studies
Get PDFBackground
An essential aspect of human well-being is positive sexual health outcomes. However, the issue of adverse sexual health outcomes continues to be a major public health concern, particularly for women with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Therefore, this current scoping review mapped studies conducted in the last twenty-nine years on the sexual health of women with disabilities from these five dimensions: sexual activity, contraceptive use, sexual autonomy, sexual violence and risky sexual behaviour, whilst seeking to identify the current state of knowledge and address the study gaps in SSA.
Methods
This current scoping review was informed by the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. Exploratory searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, African Journals Online, etc., to identify studies conducted in SSA that focus on sexual activity, contraceptive use, sexual autonomy, sexual violence and risky sexual behaviour among women with disabilities in SSA since the inception of the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 to 30th of March 2024. This process resulted in the inclusion of seventeen (17) studies.
Results
Of the 1362 identified through various databases, 34 studies were included for the full-text retrieval and screening; only 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. The eligible studies were conducted across six countries in SSA and published between 2008 and 2023. Eight studies used quantitative study type, six utilised qualitative approach, and three employed mixed-methods analysis. Two studies were conducted on sexual activity, ten were conducted on contraceptive use, four were conducted on sexual violence, and one study was conducted on risky sexual behaviour, whilst no study on sexual autonomy met the inclusion criteria.
Conclusion
This review showed that there were few or scarce studies on sexual activity, contraceptive use, sexual autonomy, sexual violence and risky sexual behaviour among women with disabilities in SSA and even where the studies were substantial (contraceptive use), the majority of the studies were conducted in a country. Future studies should consider examining dimensions of sexual health, such as sexual autonomy, sexual activity and risky sexual behaviour of women with disabilities that were not available or were scarce in the literature.
Plain language summary
Sexual health is really important for people's overall well-being, and it includes aspects like how we feel socially, mentally, emotionally, and physically. In sub-Saharan Africa, especially for women with disabilities, sexual health is a big concern. So, this review looked at studies done over the last 29 years about the sexual health of women with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa. It focused on five areas: sexual activity, contraceptive use, sexual autonomy, sexual violence, and risky sexual behaviour. Databases were searched for relevant studies and found 17 that fit the set criteria. These studies were from six countries in sub-Saharan Africa and were published between 2008 and 2023. Most of the studies were about contraceptive use, with fewer focusing on sexual activity, sexual violence, and risky behaviour. There weren't any eligible studies on sexual autonomy. The review concluded that there's not enough research on these sexual health dimensions among women with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa, especially on sexual autonomy, and future studies should explore this further
