7,251 research outputs found
The Life and Letters of William Sharp and "Fiona Macleod"
No full text"William Sharp (1855-1905) conducted one of the most audacious literary deceptions of his or any time. Sharp was a Scottish poet, novelist, biographer and editor who in 1893 began to write critically and commercially successful books under the name Fiona Macleod. This was far more than just a pseudonym: he corresponded as Macleod, enlisting his sister to provide the handwriting and address, and for more than a decade ""Fiona Macleod"" duped not only the general public but such literary luminaries as William Butler Yeats and, in America, E. C. Stedman.
Sharp wrote ""I feel another self within me now more than ever; it is as if I were possessed by a spirit who must speak out"". This three-volume collection brings together Sharp’s own correspondence – a fascinating trove in its own right, by a Victorian man of letters who was on intimate terms with writers including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Walter Pater, and George Meredith – and the Fiona Macleod letters, which bring to life Sharp’s intriguing ""second self"".
With an introduction and detailed notes by William F. Halloran, this richly rewarding collection offers a wonderful insight into the literary landscape of the time, while also investigating a strange and underappreciated phenomenon of late-nineteenth-century English literature. It is essential for scholars of the period, and it is an illuminating read for anyone interested in authorship and identity.
Comparing care at walk-in centres and at accident and emergency departments: an exploration of patient choice, preference and satisfaction
No full textObjectives:
To explore the impact of establishing walk-in centres alongside emergency departments on
patient choice, preference and satisfaction.
Methods:
A controlled, mixed-method study comparing eight emergency departments with co-located
walk-in centres with the same number of ‘traditional’ emergency departments. This paper
focuses on the results of a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of users.
Results:
Survey data demonstrated that patients were frequently unable to distinguish between being
treated at a walk-in centre or an A&E department, and even where this was the case,
opportunities to exercise choice about their preferred care provider were often limited. Few
made an active choice to attend a co-located walk-in centre. Patients attending walk-in
centres were just as likely to be satisfied overall with the care they received as their
counterparts who were treated in the co-located A&E facility, although a small proportion of
walk-in centre users did report greater satisfaction with some specific aspects of their care
and consultation.
Conclusions:
Whilst one of the key policy goals underpinning the co-location of walk-in centres next to an
A&E department was to provide patients with more options for accessing healthcare and
greater choice, leading in turn to increased satisfaction, this evaluation was able to provide
little evidence to support this. The high percentage of patients expressing a preference for
care in an established emergency department compared to a new walk-in centre facility
raises questions for future policy development. Further consideration should therefore be
given to the role that A&E focused walk-in centres play in the Department of Health’s
current policy agenda, as far as patient choice is concerned
Sharp Objects (Daphne Dyce-Sharp, 1924-2010)
No full textThis paper will begin the process of historical recovery of Daphne Dyce Sharp. Both her artwork and her contribution to artist-run culture is relatively unknown. She was sculptor and founder of Edinburgh’s ‘57 Gallery, yet she has not been accorded the recognition she warrants. Dyce-Sharp’s contribution, if acknowledged at all, has been relegated to the footnotes of ARI culture
Vicki Potempa demonstrating at the pro-abortion rally in Sydney, New South Wales, May 2010 [picture] /
No full textTitle from acquisitions documentation.; Acquired in digital format; access copy available online.; Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.; Purchased from the photographer, 2010. "Vicki Potempa seen here at a pro-abortion rally in Sydney. Author and 2001 Outstanding Humanist Achiever, Vicki has been an advocate to Women's Reproductive Rights since 1966 when she underwent her own abortion"--Information supplied by photographer
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Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction
No full textAccomplished authors, Preece, Rogers and Sharp, have written a key new textbook on this core subject area. Interaction Design deals with a broad scope of issues, topics and paradigms that has traditionally been the scope of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Interaction Design (ID). The book covers psychological and social aspects of users, interaction styles, user requirements, design approaches, usability and evaluation, traditional and future interface paradigms and the role of theory in informing design. The topics will be grounded in the design process and the aim is to present relevant issues in an integrated and coherent way, rather than assembling a collection of chapters on individual HCI topics.KEY FEATURES: This truly integrated approach to HCI provides students with background information from psychology, sociology, anthropology, information systems and computer science provides principles and skills for designing any technology through the use of many interesting and state of the art examples. The author supported, highly interactive Web Site provides resources that allow students to collaborate on experiments, participate in design competitions, collaborate on design, find resources and communicate with others. The accompanying Web Site also features examples, step-by-step exercises and templates for questionnaires
Sustainable development at the sharp end
No full textThis paper takes an actor-oriented approach to understanding the significance for policy and practice of field-worker experience at the interface between project and people. It is set in the context of an Indian project which aims to reduce poverty through sustainable, participatory agricultural change, based on low-cost inputs, catalysed by village-based project staff. Diaries kept by such staff are analysed to reveal how the social position of field-workers enables and constrains their interactions within and without the project, and the ways in which ‘street level bureaucrats’ shape projects through their discretionary actions. They show the Village Motivators struggling to communicate project objectives, to establish their roles and distinguish themselves fromother village-level bureaucrats, to negotiate participation, to overcome hostility to Participatory Rural Appraisal, to arbitrate access to consultants and seniors, to interpret project objectives and lobby for changes in these without admission of failure, and finally to develop a shared vocabulary of participation and belief in success. Some of the implications for participatory approaches are that there may be significant contradictions between sustainability and participatory development
Complementary medicine and the NHS:Experiences of integration with UK primary care
No full textIntroduction: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), often accessed privately, can be integrated with conventional care. Little is known about current integration in the UK National Health Service (NHS). We provide an overview of integrated CAM services accessed from UK primary care for musculoskeletal and mental health conditions, to identify key features and barriers and facilitators to integration. Methods: Descriptive analysis of integrated services accessed from primary care providing CAM alongside conventional NHS care for musculoskeletal and/or mental health problems. A purposive sample was identified through personal contacts, social media, literature/internet searches, conferences, and patient/professional organisations. Questionnaires, documentary analysis and stakeholder meetings collected data on the service's history, features, integration, success and sustainability. Data was tabulated. Results: From 38 sites identified, twenty sites were selected. Acupuncture and homeopathy were most common, followed by massage, osteopathy and mindfulness. GPs were often instrumental initiating services. NHS staff enthusiasm facilitated integration, as did an NHS setting, patient/public support, and being adjunctive to an NHS service. The main barriers to integration were funding, negative perceptions of CAM from the clinicians, funders and lobby groups, and local NHS staff attitudes/lack of knowledge. Reduced funding was often why services closed. Conclusions: Various models for integrating CAM with UK primary care were identified. Social prescribing and NHS/patient co-funded CAM may be potentially sustainable models for future integration. Lack of funding and negative perceptions of CAM remain the primary challenge to integration. Evaluating effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of integrated services is vital to ensure sustainability.</p
'Trying to put a square peg into a round hole':a qualitative study of healthcare professionals' views of integrating complementary medicine into primary care for musculoskeletal and mental health comorbidity
No full textBackgroundComorbidity of musculoskeletal (MSK) and mental health (MH) problems is common but challenging to treat using conventional approaches. Integration of conventional with complementary approaches (CAM) might help address this challenge. Integration can aim to transform biomedicine into a new health paradigm or to selectively incorporate CAM in addition to conventional care. This study explored professionals’ experiences and views of CAM for comorbid patients and the potential for integration into UK primary care.MethodsWe ran focus groups with GPs and CAM practitioners at three sites across England and focus groups and interviews with healthcare commissioners. Topics included experience of co-morbid MSK-MH and CAM/integration, evidence, knowledge and barriers to integration. Sampling was purposive. A framework analysis used frequency, specificity, intensity of data, and disconfirming evidence.ResultsWe recruited 36 CAM practitioners (4 focus groups), 20 GPs (3 focus groups) and 8 commissioners (1 focus group, 5 interviews).GPs described challenges treating MSK-MH comorbidity and agreed CAM might have a role. Exercise- or self-care-based CAMs were most acceptable to GPs. CAM practitioners were generally pro-integration.A prominent theme was different understandings of health between CAM and general practitioners, which was likely to impede integration. Another concern was that integration might fundamentally change the care provided by both professional groups. For CAM practitioners, NHS structural barriers were a major issue. For GPs, their lack of CAM knowledge and the pressures on general practice were barriers to integration, and some felt integrating CAM was beyond their capabilities. Facilitators of integration were evidence of effectiveness and cost effectiveness (particularly for CAM practitioners). Governance was the least important barrier for all groups.There was little consensus on the ideal integration model, particularly in terms of financing. Commissioners suggested CAM could be part of social prescribing.ConclusionsCAM has the potential to help the NHS in treating the burden of MSK-MH comorbidity. Given the challenges of integration, selective incorporation using traditional referral from primary care to CAM may be the most feasible model. However, cost implications would need to be addressed, possibly through models such as social prescribing or an extension of integrated personal commissioning
Scoping review of systematic reviews of complementary medicine for musculoskeletal and mental health conditions
No full textOBJECTIVE: To identify potentially effective complementary approaches for musculoskeletal (MSK)-mental health (MH) comorbidity, by synthesising evidence on effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and safety from systematic reviews (SRs).DESIGN: Scoping review of SRs.METHODS: We searched literature databases, registries and reference lists, and contacted key authors and professional organisations to identify SRs of randomised controlled trials for complementary medicine for MSK or MH. Inclusion criteria were: published after 2004, studying adults, in English and scoring >50% on Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR); quality appraisal checklist). SRs were synthesised to identify research priorities, based on moderate/good quality evidence, sample size and indication of cost-effectiveness and safety.RESULTS: We included 84 MSK SRs and 27 MH SRs. Only one focused on MSK-MH comorbidity. Meditative approaches and yoga may improve MH outcomes in MSK populations. Yoga and tai chi had moderate/good evidence for MSK and MH conditions. SRs reported moderate/good quality evidence (any comparator) in a moderate/large population for: low back pain (LBP) (yoga, acupuncture, spinal manipulation/mobilisation, osteopathy), osteoarthritis (OA) (acupuncture, tai chi), neck pain (acupuncture, manipulation/manual therapy), myofascial trigger point pain (acupuncture), depression (mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), meditation, tai chi, relaxation), anxiety (meditation/MBSR, moving meditation, yoga), sleep disorders (meditative/mind-body movement) and stress/distress (mindfulness). The majority of these complementary approaches had some evidence of safety-only three had evidence of harm. There was some evidence of cost-effectiveness for spinal manipulation/mobilisation and acupuncture for LBP, and manual therapy/manipulation for neck pain, but few SRs reviewed cost-effectiveness and many found no data.CONCLUSIONS: Only one SR studied MSK-MH comorbidity. Research priorities for complementary medicine for both MSK and MH (LBP, OA, depression, anxiety and sleep problems) are yoga, mindfulness and tai chi. Despite the large number of SRs and the prevalence of comorbidity, more high-quality, large randomised controlled trials in comorbid populations are needed.</p
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