1,721,006 research outputs found
The importance of patient-reported outcomes in cancer studies
No full textIntroduction: Cancer incidence is increasing; one in two people in the UK are expected to develop cancer during their lifetime. However, survival rates of people living with cancer have improved over the last few decades. More than 50% of all UK cancer patients survive for beyond 10 years, this rate has doubled in the last 40 years.Areas covered: This article provides a scientific review of the use of patient reported outcomes (PROs) to assess the short and longer term impact of cancer and treatment on patient quality of life and symptoms.Expert commentary: There is increasing recognition that, in addition to survival and other clinical metrics, we need to understand more about the impact that cancer and its treatment has on the everyday lives of people living with and beyond cancer. Patients must have access to information around quality of life and survival with which they can make more informed decisions about their care. We need to understand more about the natural history of recovery and wellbeing and the contributory factors to identify those who are not doing well and to understand how we can support them better, plan appropriate services and support patients in making choices about treatment
Maternal filicide in a cohort of English serious case reviews
Full text linkPurpose: A national mixed-methods study of English Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) was carried out to better understand the characteristics and circumstances of maternally-perpetrated filicides, to compare these with paternally-perpetrated cases, and to identify learning points for mental health professionals.Methods: Published reports for all SCRs of children in England dying as a result of abuse or neglect from 2011-2014 were subject to qualitative analysis using a system of layered reading and inductive thematic analysis, along with descriptive and comparative quantitative analysis.Results: There were 86 deaths directly attributable to child maltreatment within the immediate family. The mother was the suspected perpetrator in 20. Twelve of the mother perpetrators were victims of domestic violence, while 15 of the father perpetrators were known to be perpetrators of domestic violence. Those deaths resulting from impulsive violence or severe, persistent cruelty are almost exclusively perpetrated by males, while those with an apparent intent to kill the child are slightly more likely to be perpetrated by mothers. Four key themes were identified through the qualitative analysis: domestic violence; maternal mental illness; separation and maternal isolation; and the invisibility of the child. Conclusions: These findings highlight the important role of domestic violence and its interaction with maternal mental health. Professionals working with mothers with mental health problems need to adopt a supportive but professionally curious stance; to be alert to signs of escalating stress or worsening mental ill-health; and to provide supportive and accessible structures for at-risk families.<br/
Evaluation of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) Warm Space Programme – Methods and Tools
Full text linkBackground, methodology and survey questionnaire used over the course of the project "Evaluation of the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council Warm Spaces Programme.
A mixed methods study of children's social workers' decision-making relating to families headed by parents with intellectual disabilities
Full text linkPeople with intellectual disabilities (ID) have faced prejudice throughout history. The evolution of human and civil rights particularly pertaining to individuals with disabilities led to dramatic revision of governmental policy. People with ID are better supported in many areas of their lives. However, as parents, they experience disproportionately high rates of child removal compared to other groups. A three-stage mixed methods approach was used to investigate decision-making by childrenâs social workers (CSWs) in England relating to cases concerning the children of parents with ID (PWID). The aim was to identify the components of decision-making and formulate an empirically-based theory of how safeguarding concerning the children of PWID is considered and addressed. Data was collected from 33 serious case reviews involving children of PWID, a modified factorial survey with 191 participating CSWs, and a series of focus group discussions with CSWs. Qualitative data was analysed using the Framework Method and the Constant Comparison Method, and the quantitative data was fitted into a generalised ordinal logistic regression model. The findings indicate that a range of factors contribute to decision-making. Families often presented with multiple vulnerabilities rather than ID alone and had complex support needs. Factors featuring to various degrees in decision making include availability of time, specialist resources, and professional expertise; parental engagement and their wider social and familial relationships; and childrenâs resilience and the presence and readiness of their own support and safeguarding structures. The pertinence of parental ID (PID) to CSW assessment appeared to be relative to the other characteristics of a child safeguarding case. In safeguarding scenarios where PID was accompanied by less risky factors, PID increased the likelihood of CSWs making an assessment of higher risk. Where PID presented alongside more overtly risky factors, it did not contribute significantly to a higher assessment of risk. The study concludes that discriminatory practice by CSWs towards PWID does not appear to be a direct factor in the removal of children.</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Evaluation of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) Warm Space Programme – Methods and Tools
No full textBackground, methodology and survey questionnaire used over the course of the project "Evaluation of the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council Warm Spaces Programme.
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Assessing patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in paediatric oncology research: Which PRO would a pro pick, if a pro was picking PROs?
Full text linkPatient-reported outcomes (PROs) enable the report of experiences that are only known to the patient, such as how an individual’s symptoms, functioning, and quality of life are impacted by a health condition or treatment. The choice of PRO depends on the intended application and associated research questions, and structuring a rationale for the use of PRO data is key to deciding upon a PRO strategy. Rates of PRO use in paediatric oncology research remain low though the general use of PROs in clinical trials has been gradually increasing. This is likely to have risen due to increased emphasis by regulatory agencies to capture outcomes meaningful to patients. Despite increasing interest in PROs, a range of barriers to their use have been identified by researchers exploring their implementation and a pattern of under-reporting of PRO data has also been observed in general oncology trials. Research with children entails specific challenges, including the need for developmentally-appropriate outcome measures, the complexities of family involvement, and the adaptations required in research procedures and settings to accommodate children's physical, cognitive, and emotional development. With the nascent use of PROs in paediatric oncology, there are opportunities to benefit from learning from trials involving adult participants. The current paper outlines considerations for PRO selection for use in paediatric oncology research, describing five steps to determine the PRO study goals, the study outcomes, the reporter(s), measures, and study implementation. We discuss the breadth of applications of PROs in paediatric oncology research and potential for further learning and harmonisation with the aim of centering children’s experiences
- …
