2,050 research outputs found
William Pulteney Alison : activist philanthropist and pioneer of social medicine
No full textThe thesis looks in detail at three inter-related aspects of
Alison's life. It examines, firstly, his role in the development
of Edinburgh's rudimentary 'health' network, achieved through the
expansion of the existing medical charity structure and the
introduction of a more interventionist and coordinated approach to
the city's health problems. It traces, secondly, the development
of Alison's social thought - in 1820 he believed that medical and
practical relief for the poor could and should be supplied through
the voluntary charities and only when that proved unsatisfactory
through the poor law, whereas by 1840 he argued that public health
should be the responsibility of government and that the excessive
increase in poverty and disease in Scotland, which he believed had
occurred, was proof that the charitable and legal relief provided
was inadequate. Finally, Alison's influence on the passage of
Scottish poor law and public health legislation in the 1840s and
1850s is examined - the latter involving an assessment of how far
he was responsible for the legislative delay. The poor law debate,
1840-1845, which reveals the forces shaping the reform and the
prevailing attitudes to poverty, highlights the challenge which
Alison's opinions represented and the resulting turmoil in Scottish
social thinking, while his reasons for opposing health legislation,
which established London control are of great importance. They
reveal differences in the rationale behind, and way in which, the
concept of public health was developed in Scotland and England.
Unlike Chadwick and his supporters, Alison emphasised poverty
amelioration and sanitary reform. Part of the explanation for the
differing opinions lay in their respective miasmatic and
contagionist theories for fever generation, but it also reflects,
perhaps more significantly, the impact of European medical police
ideas on Scottish medical opinion - Alison's view of public health
closely resembled that of the French hygienists
Repositioning the graphic designer as researcher
No full textIn academic terms, the discipline of graphic design is relatively young. Consequently the position of the discipline within academic territory, and the role of the designer, continue to be debated. In part, these debates have been a product of attempts to define and defend the discipline’s borders from within, in order to establish a sense of the role of graphic design and the graphic designer as commensurate with other disciplines both within and beyond art and design. In recent years graphic designers have variously been defined as ‘authors’, ‘producers’ and ‘readers’, yet none of these definitions seem to have provided any kind of productive or lasting impact within the academy. This paper suggests that rather than continue to seek territorial definitions and positions from within, it could be more productive to look beyond the confines of the discipline. Gaining a broader, interdisciplinary perspective on, and understanding of, qualitative research methods from other disciplines may enable the graphic designer to more fully position his or her practice within the wider academy. Such a perspective could help facilitate the repositioning and redefinition of the graphic designer as ‘researcher’ - a move that would be productive in relation to the future development of postgraduate research within the discipline
'Knowledge workers' as the new apprentices: the influence of organisational autonomy, goals and values on the nurturing of expertise
No full textThis paper explores the concept of apprenticeship in the context of the professional formation of knowledge workers. It draws on evidence from research conducted in two knowledge intensive organizations: a research-intensive, elite university; and a ‘cutting edge’ software engineering company. In the former, we investigated the learning environments of contract researchers, whilst in the latter we focused on the learning environments of software engineers. Both organisations have ‘global’ reach in that they operate within international marketplaces and see themselves as international players. The research in the university and the software engineering company was conducted as part of a larger project that investigated work and learning across diverse public and private occupational sectors (Felstead et al 2009). The research evidence about the workplace learning and career formation experiences of these knowledge workers is explored using aspects of the expansive – restrictive framework to compare the environments in terms of three themes: organisational goals and workforce development; expertise and trust; and, opportunities to expand learning. The paper argues that conceiving the professional formation of knowledge workers as apprenticeship provides an approach which can improve the way employers construct and support that formation
supp_mat_1 – Supplemental material for Systematic review of barriers and enablers to the delivery of palliative care by primary care practitioners
No full textSupplemental material, supp_mat_1 for Systematic review of barriers and enablers to the delivery of palliative care by primary care practitioners by Mariko L Carey, Alison C Zucca, Megan AG Freund, Jamie Bryant, Anne Herrmann and Bernadette J Roberts in Palliative Medicine</p
The effectiveness of implementing a care pathway for femoral neck fracture in older people: a prospective controlled before and after study
No full textObjectives: to investigate whether a care pathway for older hip fracture patients can reduce length of stay while maintaining the quality of clinical care. Design: prospective study of patients admitted 12 months before and after implementation of a care pathway for the management of femoral neck fracture. Audit data for corresponding time periods from nearby orthopaedic units was used to control for secular trends. Setting: teaching hospital. Subjects: patients aged 65 years and over with a femoral neck fracture. Exclusion criteria: multiple fractures, fractures due to malignancy, re-fracture, total hip replacement, previously entered into the study, operation performed elsewhere. Three-hundred and ninety-five (99%) and 369 (97%) case records were available for full analysis. Main outcome measures: primary outcome: length of stay on the orthopaedic unit. Secondary outcomes: ambulation at discharge, discharge destination, in-hospital complications, 30 day mortality, readmission within 30 days of discharge, post-operative days the patient first sat out of bed and walked. Results: mean length of stay increased by 6.5 days (95% confidence interval 3.5–9.5 days, P < 0.0005) in the second period with a significant improvement in ambulation on discharge (odds ratio 1.6, 95% confidence interval 1.0–2.6, P = 0.033) and a trend towards reduction in admission to long term care (odds ratio 0.6, 95% confidence interval 0.3–1.0, P = 0.058). Conclusions: this care pathway was associated with longer hospital stay and improved clinical outcomes. Care pathways for hip fracture patients can be a useful tool for raising care standards but may require additional resources
Do UK based weight management programmes cause weight loss maintenance in adults? A systematic review
No full textThe aim of this dissertation was to examine whether UK based weight management programmes promote weight loss maintenance (follow up of 12 months to assess effectiveness of intervention in weight loss) in adults through the process of a systematic review. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described obesity as a "global epidemic". Weight management comprises two phases; weight loss and weight loss maintenance. The latter phase is the true goal for obesity and the most difficult element of weight management to achieve. However much less is know about this as compared with the weight loss phase. There is little purpose in committing time and money to reducing obesity if the weight is regained. This is counter-productive and weight loss maintenance is essential to combat the obesity epidemic. Searches were made for relevant information from a variety of scientific online databases and journals,. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria and were analysed in the review. All studies incorporated a multi-component (diet, exercise, behaviur modification) intervention approach. All control and internvetion groups reported weight loss at 12 months when compared with baseline. All groups recieved an intervention. One study reported a significant difference (P<0.05) between groups. Four studies reported on at least one component (diet, physical activity, behaviour modification) however there was not enough information to conclude whether they complied with national guidelines (NICE CG43 and SIGN 115). High attrition rates and loss to follow up are problematic for each study except one. Analysis on an intention to treat basis was common however this is problematic and there are alternative methods which may be more suitable for dealing with missing data
Alison\u27s Asthma by W. J. Hall
No full textHall, Wendy J. Alison\u27s Asthma. Mediwonderland, 2018.
Part of the Mediwonderland series of works by author Wendy J. Hall, Alison’s Asthma tackles the common inflammatory disease, asthma. Beginning with listing some of the symptoms of asthma, as faced by the protagonist Alison, the book details the tests required in the process of asthma diagnosis, as well as the available treatments. Focusing also on positive aspects of the journey, such as Alison’s opportunity to choose a style of medical alert bracelet, as well her continued ability to run and play with her friends, Alison’s story comforts and informs readers who may be facing similar circumstances. The telling of Alison’s story is aided by the brightly coloured drawings, which accompany each page of text. Although these illustrations are simple, they establish flow within the text from one page to the next. These illustrations are also educational, such as the one comparing a normal airway to an asthmatic one.
Highly educational and written in accessible language, this book is intended to educate the masses, and breaks down a medical journey faced by many into simple, undaunting steps. However, because of its educational intent, the book tends to be less engaging. While Alison’s journey is realistic, it lacks the details required to engage the audience, instead presenting facts. With that being said, Alison’s Asthma is a perfect read for young children, who, with the help of an adult, will learn the ins and outs of the medical world. Therefore, Alison’s Asthma is a worthwhile read, which will leave its audience comforted and informed!
Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Madeline C. Crichton
Madeline Crichton is a University of Alberta undergraduate student with a lifelong passion for reading. When she is not preoccupied with her studies, Madeline is busy volunteering in a variety of roles in her community
(The) man, his body, and his society: masculinity and the male experience in English and Scottish medicine c.1640-c.1780.
No full textThis thesis examines the relationship(s) between medicine, the body and societal codes of masculinity in England and Scotland between c.1640 and c.1780. It responds to the way in which the men in histories of post-1660 masculinity are often disembodied, and to the comparative absence of men’s gendered experiences from the history of medicine. Its findings show that in both centuries the experience of being a man with a body that was the site of health and sickness was an open, candid, and often communal, one, inside and outside of the formal medical encounter. Thus, and on both sides of 1700, ill men had full freedom in the pursuit and acceptance of medical, familial and social assistance, while their physical suffering, and associated emotional distress, was met with sympathy. With their sick bodies the sites of honest self-examination and open discussion, it was in part this very public nature of their sicknesses that allowed men, as a gender and as individuals, independence and agency in their non-commercial health care. Indeed, later-seventeenth- and eighteenth-century men suffered no constraints in their ability to respond to the vulnerabilities of their bodies, even where this involved behaviours or attributes allegedly associated with women and femininity, or inconsistent with ideals of active, independent, masculinity.
These findings indicate, therefore, great continuity across the period 1640-1780, and not only in masculine ideals of and involving the male corporeality. There seems to have been significant consistency across time in men’s social and medical experiences of both sickness and their pre-emptive preparation for it, and in an apparent collective self-confidence concerning their corporeal masculinity, their sex, and, possibly, even their sexual potential. Indeed, these sources suggest that seventeenth- and eighteenth-century men had a resilient sense of self-identity (and personal masculinity), conceptually separable from the corporeal body and its known fragilities
Patterns and Meanings in Discourse
No full textThe present volume mixes theoretical discussions with practical demonstrations. It begins with introductory chapters defining terms and outlining the rationale and aims of the volume, the theoretical linguistic stance underpinning it and the overall methodologies to be used. After this introduction, each chapter begins by outlining a topic or an area in discourse studies, followed by descriptions of case studies which attempt both to shed light on particular themes or issues in this area and also and especially to demonstrate the methodologies which might be fruitfully employed to investigate such issues. Each chapter concludes with suggestions on activities which the readers may wish to undertake themselves. Finally, Appendix 1 contains a list of currently available resources for corpus linguistics research.
The topics for case study include studies in lexis, phraseology, syntax, text grammar, evaluative meaning, metaphor and “unusuality” (defined as the creative upsetting and exploitation of readers and hearers expectations of regularity in language). All of these concerns are present in the current work and are augmented by studies into author style, irony, spoken interaction, including face and politeness and diachronic studies of both linguistic and social, cultural and political changes over recent time
Psychometric properties of the GAD-Q-IV and DERS in older community-dwelling GAD patients and nonanxious controls
No full textRecent research suggests that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in late life is common (Flint, 2005) and is associated with severe consequences, such as decreased life satisfaction and increased risk of physical disability (De Beurs et al., 1999). Yet, our understanding of this disorder in late life, including knowledge of efficient assessment tools, lags behind our growing knowledge of GAD in younger adults. The current study investigated the psychometric properties of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire for DSM-IV (GAD-Q-IV; Newman et al., 2002) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004) in a community-dwelling, older adult population. Thirty-seven adults diagnosed with GAD and 37 controls (all age 60 or older) completed the GAD-Q-IV, DERS, and other measures of anxiety and depression. Both measures were assessed for internal consistency reliability, construct validity (convergent and discriminant), and test-retest reliability, all of which indicated good psychometric performance. Receiver operating characteristic analyses suggested that the optimal cutoff for diagnosing GAD in this sample was 3.71, with .97 sensitivity and .92 specificity. However, including only those participants diagnosed with GAD in addition to another Axis I disorder (e.g., social phobia, dysthymia, panic disorder with or without agoraphobia; n = 18), revealed a higher optimal cutoff score (4.42; 100% sensitivity and 92% specificity). ROC analyses also revealed an optimal DERS cutoff score of 62.5, which achieved .76 sensitivity and .86 specificity. Findings from the current study support the utility of an emotion regulation deficit model of late-life GAD, and are discussed in relation to age specific characteristics of worry and GAD.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Alison Mary Staple
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