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Athlete experiences of mental health disclosure and help seeking behaviour in amateur and professional basketball
Get PDFThis study addressed mental health disclosure and help seeking behavior from the perspective of athletes who have transitioned from amateur to professional basketball. Adopting a constructivist approach, six male professional basketball players (range 22-34 years) were interviewed utilizing a semi structured approach. Results showed that all of the athletes struggled with their mental health at different stages throughout their career. All athletes reported that stigma around mental health is still prevalent in sport. Barriers to seeking support emerged as a result of trust issues associated with a pernicious coach-athlete power differential, a lack of support during career transitions and a reluctance to confide in support staff from a different ethnicity. Implications are forwarded for coaches in the creation of psychologically safe environments and the way that individuals are supported throughout their athletic career
Low Power Analog Processing for Ultra-High-Speed Receivers with RF Correlation
Get PDFUltra-high-speed data communication receivers (Rxs) conventionally require analog digital converters (ADC)s with high sampling rates which have design challenges in terms of adequate resolution and power. This leads to ultra-high-speed Rxs utilising expensive and bulky high-speed oscilloscopes which are extremely inefficient for demodulation, in terms of power and size. Designing energy-efficient mixed-signal and baseband units for ultra-high-speed Rxs requires a paradigm approach detailed in this paper that circumvents the use of power-hungry ADCs by employing low-power analog processing. The low-power analog Rx employs direct-demodulation with RF correlation using low-power comparators. The Rx is able to support multiple modulations with highest modulation of 16-QAM reported so far for direct-demodulation with RF correlation. Simulations using Matlab, Simulink R2020a® indicate sufficient symbol-error rate (SER) performance at a symbol rate of 8 GS/s for the 71 GHz Urban Micro Cell and 140 GHz indoor channels. Power analysis undertaken with current analog, hybrid and digital beamforming approaches requiring ADCs indicates considerable power savings. This novel approach can be adopted for ultra-high-speed Rxs envisaged for beyond fifth generation (B5G)/sixth generation (6G)/ terahertz (THz) communication without the power-hungry ADCs, leading to low-power integrated design solutions
Exploring the Experiences of Coaches Working on the Edge: Trauma, Posttraumatic Growth, and Coaching
Get PDFBackground: Coaching has traditionally been a way to facilitate peak performance and wellbeing in individuals. However, it is slowly recognised that many clients entering the coaching realm are also going through highly challenging life situations, even trauma. Therefore, a coach may find themselves regularly working with individuals who are trying to navigate life after traumatic incidences.Aims: Explore the experiences of coaches who identify as having worked with individuals who are navigating a personal trauma(s) and how if at all, the coaching has facilitated a positive transformation in their clients.Method: Ten coaching practitioners were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Transcribed interviews were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019). 492 codes were listed from the data and through an inductive analysis, the themes were identified.Results: Provide three overarching themes which reflect the experiences of coaches working on the edge: The Complexities of Life Emerge; Ethics and Safeguarding when Trauma Narratives Emerge; and Transformation of the Client After Trauma. The themes illuminate the high prevalence of trauma within coaching clients as well as how the coaching relationship can potentially facilitate both the process and outcomes of growth in clients.Conclusion: The results have significant implications for both research and practice. Coaching practitioners are not automatically trained as qualified mental health professionals, therefore, there is an urgent requirement to recognise the need for safeguarding both the coach and client. The authors suggest a preliminary framework for starting the conversation around providing standard professional ethical guidelines, trauma-informed training, and support for coaches
Group coaching: The new ‘Wild West of coaching’?
Get PDFLiterature on group coaching is scarce, but growing evidence points to an area ripe for further exploration. Group coaching is scalable, cost-effective and arguably better suited to promoting collective understanding and thinking than one-to-one and team coaching. However, this is an area fraught with challenges. In the limited existing literature, group coaching is usually bundled with team coaching and there is no consensus on what group coaching is. This confusion is reflected in the wide, sometimes contradictory, approaches used in the limited number of empirical studies available. Despite that, emerging evidence points to the potential benefits of group coaching in a range of settings. This article explores the extant literature on group coaching and argues for a definition of group coaching that is firmly based on the group process. Finally, it makes the case for group coaching to be considered on its own merit to support the development of the theory, research and practice of this misunderstood coaching modality
Building Conscious Awareness through Reflective Practice in Education: A Literature Review
Get PDFThe paper explores current recommendations for supervision in education and considers strategies for effective reflective practice for staff and young people in primary and secondary school education. It also identifies barriers to successful reflective practice in education through the review of current literature. A review of the published literature was made using a Healthcare Databases Advanced Search (HDAS), and a search of the International Journal of Education was also carried out. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the final number of articles included in the synthesis was 35. The articles related to reflective practice and supervision in primary and secondary school settings. A thematic analysis was carried out, and themes were identified. The initial thematic map highlighted four themes: factors inhibiting reflective practice, current experience of reflective practice in education, promoting reflective practice, and a relational approach. The review of the initial thematic map identified five themes: recognising constraints for teachers, adopting a whole-school strengths-based model, the importance of relationships in reflective practice, current experience of supervision in education, and tools to build conscious awareness. Supervision is discussed as a tool for reflective practice, following a supportive framework rather than performance management, to promote teacher wellbeing
Neural processing of auditory temporal modulations in awake infants
No full textThe amplitude modulation following response (AMFR) is the steady-state auditory response signaling phase-locking to slow variations in the amplitude (AM) of auditory stimuli that provide fundamental acoustic information. From a developmental perspective, the AMFR has been recorded in sleeping infants, compared to sleeping or awake adults. The lack of AMFR recordings in awake infants limits conclusions on the development of phase-locking to AM. Moreover, previous studies assessing phase-locking to AM using non-speech carriers have not included slow AM rates (<20 Hz), which are particularly important for speech processing. This study aimed at disentangling these issues by recording the AMFR with electroencephalography: in awake infants (3- and 10-month-olds) and awake young adults and for both slow and faster modulation rates (8 and 40 Hz). The AMFR was observable at 8 Hz at all ages (40%, 60%, and 33% of significant AMFR at 3 months, 10 months, and adults, respectively), but only adults showed reliable responses at 40 Hz (6% of significant AMFR at both 3 and 10 months, 100% in adults), thus, ruling out the possibility that sleep has a suppressing effect on the response. This pattern might be explained by developmental differences in the sources of neural processing of faster AM rate
Cybersecurity in Digital Healthcare Services: A Comprehensive Study of Cybercrime Challenges and Approaches to Address the Same in Modern Digital Healthcare Services
No full textUnderstanding cybercrime is very challenging for organizations. The sheer complexity of the massive healthcare technology and services landscape involved makes it even more difficult to analyse and understand cybercrime. A systematic and research-based approach is needed to create a comprehensive catalogue of cybercrime in healthcare and thereby offer support and intellectual help to healthcare service organizations facing the challenge of healthcare cybercrime. The aim of this research paper is to identify cybersecurity challenges in healthcare organizations that have digitally transformed or are amid digital transformation and provide a practical approach to address these challenges.This research includes real-life cybercrime incidents and reviews the details of how cyber threats exploit vulnerabilities in human, technological systems, or procedural methods. The research includes the following:- In-depth review of cybercrime in healthcare service organizations, and- Approach to address the cybersecurity challenges faced by healthcare service organizations
High-Intensity Interval Training and Cardiometabolic Health in the General Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials
Get PDFBackground:High-intensity interval training (HIIT) remains a promising exercise mode in managing cardiometabolic health. Large-scale analyses are necessary to understand its magnitude of effect on important cardiometabolic risk factors and inform guideline recommendations.Objective:We aimed to perform a novel large-scale meta-analysis on the effects of HIIT on cardiometabolic health in the general population. Methods:PubMed (MEDLINE), the Cochrane library and Web of Science were systematically searched. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published between 1990 and March 2023 were eligible. Research trials reporting the effects of a HIIT intervention on at least one cardiometabolic health parameter with a non-intervention control group were considered. Results:This meta-analysis included 97 RCTs with a pooled sample size of 3399 participants. HIIT produced significant improvements in 14 clinically relevant cardiometabolic health parameters, including peak aerobic capacity (VO2) [weighted mean difference (WMD): 3.895 ml min⁻¹ kg⁻¹, P < 0.001), left ventricular ejection fraction (WMD: 3.505%, P < 0.001), systolic (WMD: − 3.203 mmHg, P < 0.001) and diastolic (WMD: − 2.409 mmHg, P < 0.001) blood pressure, resting heart rate (WMD: − 3.902 bpm, P < 0.001) and stroke volume (WMD: 9.516 mL, P < 0.001). Body composition also significantly improved through reductions in body mass index (WMD: − 0.565 kg m⁻², P < 0.001), waist circumference (WMD: − 2.843 cm, P < 0.001) and percentage body fat (WMD: − 0.972%, P < 0.001). Furthermore, there were significant reductions in fasting insulin (WMD: − 13.684 pmol L⁻¹, P = 0.004), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (WMD: − 0.445 mg dL⁻¹, P = 0.043), triglycerides (WMD: − 0.090 mmol L⁻¹, P = 0.011) and low-density lipoprotein (WMD: − 0.063 mmol L⁻¹, P = 0.050), concurrent to a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein (WMD: 0.036 mmol L⁻¹, P = 0.046). Conclusion:These results provide further support for HIIT in the clinical management of important cardiometabolic health risk factors, which may have implications for physical activity guideline recommendations
An exploration of Educational Psychologists’ views on the impact of remote consultations on attuned interactions
Get PDFThe thesis focuses on EPs’ experience of attuned interactions with service-users in the context of remote consultations. The design of the research project was qualitative in nature. Ten Educational Psychologists were recruited from nine different UK Educational Psychology Services (EPSs) and invited to attend interviews via Microsoft Teams. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data based on Braun and Clarke (2021)’s 6-step framework. The research findings suggest that EPs view that it is possible to maintain levels of attunement during remote consultations, for example, by receiving through nodding and smiling. Remote consultations also support addressing the power balance between the service users and professionals. Remote consultations are more accessible for some children and young people with additional needs because this type of consultation requires fewer social interactions, and may feel more comfortable for them. The findings also indicated that Video Enhanced Reflective Practice (VERP) and Video Interactive Guidance (VIG) training can be supportive for EPs in developing their awareness about the importance of empathy, person-centred practice, listening, reframing and displaying a friendly body posture during remote consultations. Nonetheless, some of the participants in the current study view being attuned with others as being in the nature of psychologists, rather than something that can be trained through VERP or VIG. It was also expressed that a clear understanding of remote consultation practice and equal opportunities for individuals to participate in them, are also important to maintain attuned interactions during remote consultations. The study concludes with the suggestion that EPSs may consider remote consultations as one of the options for consultations rather than a temporary way of working, because of their benefits for EPs, parents and children with needs. Furthermore, universities and EPSs may also consider providing more opportunities for EPs to engage in VERP and VIG training and delivery. Further research exploring the views of parents and children on remote consultations would be helpful to complement the perspectives of the EPs