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The contemporary hospitality education challenges: The educators' perspective
Full text linkThis article is unapologetically reflective. As hospitality educators, we find ourselves caught in the crossfire between institutional demands, industry pressures, and the everyday realities of teaching students who arrive with their own dreams, frustrations, and quirks. Drawing from joint experiences in over eight universities we reflect on our shared journey, we grapple with four stubborn challenges: the suffocating rise of managerialism in business schools, the relentless inflation of faculty workloads, the awkward tug-of-war between academic theory and industry relevance, and the rather unhelpful persistence of academic snobbery; all complicated by students whose expectations evolve faster than our committees can draft new module descriptors and their attention span is shorter than a Tik-Tok reel. These are not abstract irritations; they are the things that creep into staff meetings, weigh on our teaching practice, and spark both frustration and humour in our classrooms. Yet, despite the challenges, we remain hopeful. In some very few ‘fortresses’ across the UK and the rest of the world, we have seen examples of curricula that are unapologetically industry-connected, inclusive, and experiential. We have seen some hospitality departments supported and protected. These pockets remind us that hospitality education can be both rigorous and real, respecting scholarship while embracing the messy, people-driven world that hospitality represents. Our call, therefore, is not for the impossible, but for more of the possible: a more balanced model of hospitality education that values vocational relevance as much as academic prestige, and in doing so, better prepares us our students and the sectors we serve for the future
Toward a sociology of ignorance in leisure studies
Full text linkAlthough ignorance is pervasive within contemporary society, it has been largely overlooked within the social sciences, and has remained completely unnoticed within the study of leisure. This paper advances the case for a sociology of ignorance within leisure. An overview of ignorance is provided, before the lack of attention paid towards the concept is explored. The paper discusses the concept of ignorance, with a focus upon deliberate, motivated and wilful ignorance, as opposed to more general, or inadvertent ignorance. The functions of ignorance are then outlined.
To illustrate the potential applications of a sociology of ignorance to leisure, we discuss how the study of ignorance may augment knowledge and understanding related to leisure and social justice, with a focus upon race and leisure. The paper concludes with a discussion of the methodological issues related to the study of leisure and ignorance and proposes a framework for its study
Preliminary clinical evaluation in cross-sectional imaging: A qualitative exploration of current international radiography practice
Full text linkIntroduction: Implementation and practice compliance of preliminary clinical evaluation (PCE) vary across national and international settings. The reason for these variations remains unclear, especially in relation to cross-sectional imaging. This study therefore explored PCE education and practice experiences of a multinational cohort of cross-sectional imaging radiographers with the aim of identifying effective training and implementation strategies, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
Methods: A phenomenological qualitative design was used, with purposive sampling to recruit a multinational cohort of cross-sectional imaging radiographers enrolled in a UK-based postgraduate medical imaging programme. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted via Microsoft Teams between December 2024 and February 2025. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarkes’ reflexive thematic analysis approach, facilitated by NVivo™ (v.20.0).
Results: Twelve radiographers from seven different countries participated in the study. The clinical experience of participants ranged (2–8 years), with most working in public or both public and private hospitals (8/12, 67 %) and (5/12, 42 %) had multinational clinical experience. All participants had PCE as a core component of their undergraduate training, but post-qualification practice expectations vary. Four overarching themes were developed: (1) education and skill refinement, (2) drivers for practice, (3) barriers to practice, and (4) opportunities for practice.
Conclusion: The findings reveal inconsistencies in PCE education, including variable module content and teaching depth, which affect clinical preparedness and confidence. Additionally, systemic barriers and communication lapses hinder PCE integration, while engagement is driven by its perceived value for others, support for clinical decision-making and presence of PCE-specific practice frameworks.
Implications for practice: Standardisation of PCE education and training, establishment of clear practice frameworks and addressing communication gaps can enhance the integration of PCE into routine clinical workflows
Autistic traits of people who engage in pup play: Occurrence, characteristics, and neurodivergence
Full text linkPup play is a kink activity and subculture that provides opportunities for social and sexual play and exploration. While growing scholarly attention has focused on the diverse dynamics of pup play cultures, and reasons for participation within them, no research has considered
how pup play may be attractive for neurodivergent people. This study sample consists of 413 pup play practitioners from an international, internet survey to examine the occurrence of autistic traits among pup play practitioners and explore characteristics and social connections
of people with autistic traits. Autistic traits were assessed using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Short Form (AQ-S), with 1 in 2 participants reporting a score that is indicative of an autism diagnosis, substantially higher than the prevalence of autism in the general population. Using linear and multinomial regression analyses, we find that people with high autistic traits prefer non-flexible roles in pup play, have lower identity resilience and more restricted sociosexuality. People with high autistic traits were also less likely to belong to pup play social communities or to closer-knit family/pack units despite wishing to and were also less likely to have a strong identification with pup play communities than people with low AQ-S scores. While these findings need to be treated as preliminary on the basis of methodological
and and sample limitations, this research demonstrates the importance of considering intersections between autistic traits and sexual subcultures and provides evidence that sexuality research would be enhanced by a more inclusive approach to considering neurodivergence more broadly
Going to the archives: Combining palaeoecological and contemporary data to support river restoration appraisals
Full text linkRiver restoration practices are being increasingly implemented to help offset the global degradation of freshwater ecosystems. The ecological success of such projects is typically determined via post-project appraisals comparing restored conditions against specified baselines (e.g., pre-project and/or non-restored data), but such approaches can overlook broader ecosystem recovery patterns. Using freshwater macroinvertebrate communities, this study examined ecological responses to river restoration that are seldom assessed: (i) sub-annual temporal trajectories and (ii) palaeoecological versus contemporary community comparisons. Palaeoecological samples contained assemblages that existed prior to major anthropogenic pressures, which were collected from a sinuous palaeochannel that was restored and reconnected during the study; after which contemporary macroinvertebrate samples were collected. The restored channel initially supported an impoverished community, but taxonomic richness and densities were comparable to non-restored conditions after 13-months. The freshwater shrimp (Gammarus pulex) and non-native New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) proliferated 7-months post-restoration, and follow-up biomonitoring highlighted their dominance prevailed 5-years later. Such evidence indicates how ecosystem dynamics in the aftermath of restoration can shape longer-term recovery. Palaeoecological communities exhibited higher biodiversity and conservation values compared with contemporary samples. This highlights that escalating anthropogenic pressures since the mid-20th Century degraded macroinvertebrate communities, notably constraining marginal-dwelling and lentic specialists. With palaeochannel reconnections being widely applied worldwide, this study demonstrates the value in collecting palaeoecological data before restoration works to provide valuable baseline information. As the global anthropogenic footprint increasingly degrades suitable “reference” river environments, palaeoecological data can better characterize biodiversity losses and potentially provide target conditions informing effective restoration activities
Podcasting, VR, AI, the Metaverse and the Evolution of Intimacy: From “phantasmic radio” to phantasmic podcasting.
No full textThis article proposes a hauntology of the podcast. Using radio and podcast studies it looks to understand the technological potential of podcasting in a future where the Metaverse, Virtual Reality and AI may become common in its creative and listening practices. Eventually, it proposes a type of place-based intimacy which such a future may include for audiences and podcast creators
Marketing the employer brand in hospitality: a content analysis of hotel corporate and career websites
No full textThis study investigates how hotels leverage their corporate and career websites to communicate Employer Value Propositions (EVPs) to enhance employer branding. A content analysis of 100 hotel websites produced a framework with 11 themes and 34 sub-categories across Economic, Functional, and Psychological EVP types. Results show 74% of hotels convey at least one EVP type, with chain hotels significantly more active than independents. P-EVPs are most common and often combined with other types, while E-EVPs are least represented and rarely communicated independently. This study provides a structured EVP framework and practical benchmarks to support more strategic hotel employer branding efforts
Feasibility and acceptability of safer gambling interventions (social norms and goal setting) delivered via text message for those at low-to-moderate risk of gambling harm: a four-arm randomised controlled feasibility study.
Full text linkOBJECTIVES: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of three SMS-delivered safer gambling interventions (goal setting (GS), descriptive norms (DN), injunctive norms (IN)) aimed at reducing the transition from low or moderate risk of gambling harm to problematic gambling, and the feasibility of a full-scale randomised controlled trial evaluating their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. DESIGN: Four-arm, parallel-group, pragmatic, randomised controlled feasibility study with a nested qualitative study. SETTING: The study was conducted in the UK. Participants were recruited online via UK-licensed gambling operators' websites. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged ≥18 years, gambling online at least weekly, with low-to-moderate gambling risk levels. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were block randomised in equal proportions to a delayed intervention control group or one of three 6-week text message interventions delivered via the secure messaging app WIRE: (1) GS: weekly prompts to set gambling-related goals with personalised feedback; (2) DN: weekly messages challenging misperceptions about peer gambling behaviours and (3) IN: weekly messages addressing misperceptions about peer attitudes towards gambling. OUTCOME MEASURES: Feasibility was assessed through recruitment and retention rates, intervention adherence, data completeness and feasibility and acceptability of the interventions and study procedures. Secondary outcomes included gambling risk behaviours and cognitions, anxiety, depression, quality of life, healthcare use and productivity, measured at baseline, 7-weeks, and 3- and 6-months post-randomisation. RESULTS: Recruitment took place between April 2021 and August 2022 with final follow-up in February 2023. 167 participants (mean age 51.5; 36% male) were randomised (GS=43; DN=41; IN=42; Control=41). Retention at 6-months was 95.2%, with >95% completion for all outcome measures. Intervention adherence was high, with >95% of DN and IN participants responding to ≥4 messages and 93% of GS participants setting ≥4 goals. Qualitative findings indicated broad acceptability of the interventions and study procedures. CONCLUSIONS: The study was feasible to conduct, interventions and study procedures acceptable to participants, and predefined progression criteria met. Findings support proceeding to a full-scale randomised controlled trial of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, focusing on the social norms interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN37874344
Fighting against the machine: Inside a solutions journalism campaign in UK local newsrooms
Full text linkThere is growing momentum behind the solutions journalism (SOJO) movement, with news organizations across the world increasingly embedding news reporting practices on how people respond to social problems. Previous research suggests that SOJO has potential to reconfigure relationships between news audiences and journalists, while simultaneously opening new revenue streams. But what impediments might SOJO face in fast-paced and resource-poor newsroom contexts, especially those that serve local audiences? Following a year-long campaign where we helped introduce SOJO into 47 UK local news titles, we begin to answer this question, based on interviews with eight SOJO mentors, 17 journalists and 10 editors, alongside observations from mentors’ fora. While journalists saw many benefits to the practice, we outline several impediments to the successful implementation of SOJO in local media, including time and workflow, metrics and institutional rewards, and editorial commitment. Further, we identify the emergence of a pragmatic form of that we call “SOJO lite”; characterized as news that contains elements of solutions journalism but falls short of the widely used definitions suggested by industry leaders. Both findings have implications for the future direction of this emergent journalism practice
The effect of preoperative interventions on postoperative outcomes following elective hand surgery: A systematic review
Full text linkBackground
Hand surgery is commonly required for conditions like Dupuytren’s disease, carpal tunnel syndrome, and carpometacarpal osteoarthritis. Hand experts agree that patient education and managing expectations can optimise surgical outcomes. With an aging population, and rising rates of diabetes and obesity, a significant increase in elective hand surgeries is anticipated over the next decade.
Objective
To assess the effectiveness of preoperative therapy interventions on improving postoperative outcomes following elective hand surgery.
Method
A systematic search of six databases accessed journals from January 2011 to April 2024. Included studies assessed postoperative outcomes following preoperative therapy intervention.
Results
Seven articles met the inclusion criteria: six randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and one retrospective cohort study. Five RCTs explored effects of opioid education on postoperative consumption, all reporting statistically significant differences in favour of the intervention, with one showing a decrease of 49.7 morphine equivalent units (95% CI: 11.9 to 87.5), representing a 34.7% decrease between intervention and control. All RCTs scored poorly for risk of bias with the exception of one which assessed the effects of a neuroscience pain education on postoperative pain, reporting a non-significant decrease of 7.7% favouring the control.
Conclusion
There is a lack of quality research assessing preoperative interventions and outcomes for hand surgery. There was some indication of favourable outcomes following preoperative opioid education; however, number of studies were small, the evidence quality was poor, and data were limited. Further research is required to address these gaps and identify the most effective preoperative interventions