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Small-scale Study (small-scale + study)
Selected AbstractsThe Business of Caring: Women's Self-Employment and the Marketization of CareGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 4 2010Nickela Anderson Our goal in this article is to contribute to a differentiated analysis of paid caring work by considering whether and how women's experiences of such work is shaped by their employment status (for example, self-employed versus employee) and the nature of care provided (direct or indirect). Self-employed care workers have not been widely studied compared with other types of care workers, such as employees providing domestic or childcare in private firms or private homes. Yet their experiences may be quite distinct. Existing research suggests that self-employed workers earn less than employees and are often excluded from employment protection. Nonetheless, they often report greater autonomy and job satisfaction in their day-to-day work. Understanding more about the experiences of self-employed caregivers is thus important for enriching existing theory, research and policy on the marketization of care. Addressing this gap, our article explores the working conditions, pay and levels of satisfaction of care workers who are self-employed. We draw on interviews from a small-scale study of Canadian women engaged in providing direct care (for example, childcare) and indirect care (for example, cleaning). [source] Involving mental health service users in quality assuranceHEALTH EXPECTATIONS, Issue 2 2006Jenny Weinstein BPhil BA(Hons) Msc Abstract Objective, This study compares the process and outcomes of two approaches to engaging mental health (MH) service users in the quality assurance (QA) process. Background, QA plays a significant role in health and care services, including those delivered in the voluntary sector. The importance of actively, rather than passively, involving service users in evaluation and service development has been increasingly recognized during the last decade. Design, This retrospective small-scale study uses document analysis to compare two QA reviews of a MH Day Centre, one that took place in 1998 as a traditional inspection-type event and one that took place in 2000 as a collaborative process with a user-led QA agenda. Setting and participants, The project was undertaken with staff, volunteers and service users in a voluntary sector MH Day Centre. Intervention, The study compares the management, style, evaluation tools and service user responses for the two reviews; it considers staff perspectives and discusses the implications of a collaborative, user-led QA process for service development. Results, The first traditional top,down inspection-type QA event had less ownership from service users and staff and served the main purpose of demonstrating that services met organizational standards. The second review, undertaken collaboratively with a user-led agenda focused on different priorities, evolving a new approach to seeking users' views and achieving a higher response rate. Conclusions, Because both users and staff had participated in most aspects of the second review they were more willing to work together and action plan to improve the service. It is suggested that the process contributed to an evolving ethos of more effective quality improvement and user involvement within the organization. [source] Pharmacist prescribing in the UK , a literature review of current practice and researchJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 6 2007A. P. Tonna MRPharmS MSc Abstract Objective:, To review the research literature to date on pharmacist prescribing in the United Kingdom (UK) and to explore the main areas of care and practice settings including any benefits and limitations. Findings:, There are two models of pharmacist prescribing in the UK: pharma\cist supplementary prescribing (SP) introduced in 2003, involving a voluntary partnership between the responsible independent prescriber (a physician or a dentist), the supplementary prescriber and the patient, to implement an agreed patient-specific clinical management plan; and pharmacist independent prescribing (IP) introduced in 2006, responsible for the assessment and consequent management, including prescribing of both undiagnosed and diagnosed conditions. There have been narrative reports of pharmacist SP in different health care settings including primary care, community pharmacies, secondary care and at the primary/secondary care interface; published research within these areas of care is conflicting as to which setting is more suitable for pharmacist prescribing. Initial research reports that almost 50% of pharmacist supplementary prescribers self-reported prescribing with both benefits of and barriers to implementing SP. Research involving other healthcare professionals has indicated that encroachment of traditional roles is likely to occur because of the advent of pharmacist prescribing. A small-scale study has concluded that patients are likely to accept pharmacist prescribing favourably, with another study showing pharmacist prescribing leading to improved adherence to guidelines. There is no published research yet available about practices involving pharmacist IP. Discussion:, Most of the literature focuses on pharmacists' perceptions of SP, with little information referring to other stakeholders, including patients. There is also limited published research focusing on clinical and economic outcomes of pharmacist SP. Conclusion:, This is a rapidly changing aspect of pharmacy practice in the UK, particularly with the more recent introduction of pharmacist IP. It is likely that this area of research will expand rapidly over the coming years. [source] Challenging gender stereotypes in the counselling of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuseJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 5 2004P. E. SIMPSON ba ma rmn When working with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, the pairing of client with practitioner has implications for both parties. Many therapeutic pairings are ad hoc or based on stereotypical assumptions made by referrers or practitioners themselves. This paper reports on a small-scale study of practitioners working in the mental health directorate of an NHS Trust in Wales. One aim of the study was to explore practitioners' views on appropriate therapeutic pairings. Fifty-three respondents completed a postal questionnaire and six face-to-face interviews were also conducted. Key themes emerged from the study. These were social and cultural stereotyping, gender specific issues, the therapeutic relationship, service and professional issues and special opinions and unique angles. The terms ,therapist' and ,practitioner' will be used interchangeably in this paper. [source] Heart rate of motor vehicle accident survivors in the emergency department, peritraumatic psychological reactions, ASD, and PTSD severity: A 6-month prospective studyJOURNAL OF TRAUMATIC STRESS, Issue 5 2006Eric Kuhn This small-scale study investigates the relationships between the heart rate of motor vehicle accident survivors presenting in the emergency department (ED) and acute stress disorder (ASD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. It also examines the relationships between the survivor's heart rate in the ED and peritraumatic dissociation and peritraumatic distress reported 2 weeks posttrauma. Fifty motor vehicle accident (MVA) survivors were assessed 2 weeks, 1 (N = 42), 3 (N = 37), and 6 months (N = 37) post-MVA. The heart rate in the ED predicted self-reported ASD symptom severity and clinician-rated PTSD symptom severity at 6 months but not at 1 or 3 months. Survivors' heart rate in the ED was significantly correlated with peritraumatic dissociation but not peritraumatic distress. These findings support the role of elevated ED heart rate as a predictor of both ASD and chronic PTSD symptom severity and may help to clarify the discrepant findings of previous research. [source] Strategies and students: beginning teachers' early encounters with national policyLITERACY, Issue 2 2006Andrey Rosowsky Abstract The 1-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education Secondary English method course at the University of Sheffield's School of Education has, since 2001, asked its students to write an essay of around 4000 words on their initial understanding and experience of the National Strategies promoted by the United Kingdom's Department for Education and Skills. The essay expects a critical, reflective and analytical piece of writing that records the student teacher's developing views on the place, role and value of the National Strategies in the classroom. Using grounded theory and content analysis techniques, this small-scale study of the 2005 cohort identifies common perceptions regarding the National Strategies among student teachers of English and seeks to categorise these to account for their developing identities as future English teachers. Drawing on Twiselton's identification of teacher types, Task Manager, Curriculum Deliverer and Concept/Skill Builder, and Shulman's classification of knowledges necessary for teaching, this article will argue that the National Strategies and their respective Frameworks, while successful in moving teachers on from the role of ,Task Managers', runs the risk of locking teachers into being ,Curriculum Deliverers', and not developing the pedagogical content knowledge necessary for teaching English expertly. [source] Year 5 pupils reading an "Interactive Storybook" on CD-ROM: losing the plot?BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2001John Trushell The use of "interactive storybooks" in the primary classroom may facilitate small group and individual reading with minimal teacher intervention. This small-scale study examines whether small groups of Year 5 pupils, without teacher supervision, progress linearly through an "interactive storybook" and whether such diversions as cued animations affect pupil comprehension. The study finds that more intensive choice of diversions affects some pupils' comprehension. [source] ,I felt like I did something good', the impact on mainstream pupils of a peer tutoring programme for children with autismBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2007Val Jones There have been many research projects studying the use of peer intervention strategies to develop the social, communication and interaction skills of children with autism, yet few of these studies focus in detail on the impact of such strategies on the mainstream peers. In this article, Val Jones, an advisory teacher for autism spectrum conditions, explores the impact of peer tutoring children with autism on the peer tutors themselves. This enquiry focuses on ten to eleven-year-old mainstream pupils who were paired with twelve children with autism and associated learning difficulties for weekly peer tutoring sessions at a primary school with a specialist autism unit. At the end of a series of tutoring sessions, the perspectives of the peer tutors were gathered through questionnaires. All of the peer tutors reported that they had enjoyed the experience and most felt that the peer tutoring had brought them direct benefits by building confidence, teaching responsibility, encouraging caring attitudes and helping them to acknowledge diversity. Val Jones also gathered the views of parents and school staff who again reported largely positive outcomes from the peer tutoring process. While this small-scale study focuses on findings from one school, there are wider implications here for the development of inclusive policies and practices and this article will be of interest to professionals working across the range of specialist and mainstream settings. [source] Identifying and assessing cases of child neglect: learning from the Irish experienceCHILD & FAMILY SOCIAL WORK, Issue 2 2005Jan Horwath ABSTRACT Although child neglect is arguably the most prevalent form of maltreatment in the western world, studies of social work practice in cases of child neglect are limited. This paper seeks to add to the body of knowledge by describing a small-scale study completed in the Republic of Ireland of social work assessments in cases of child neglect. The findings are based primarily on an analysis of case files, but reference is also made to practitioners' and managers' responses to a postal questionnaire and focus groups. The study findings highlight that social workers interpret the assessment task and process in different ways. Variations in the interpretation of the task appear to be influenced by workload pressures, resources and local systems, with teams focusing either on immediate safeguarding issues or on both safeguarding and the longer-term welfare of the child. Individual variations amongst workers irrespective of team were more apparent in the way practitioners approached the assessment task. For example, practice varied regarding which professionals and family members were contacted as part of the assessment, the type of communication workers had with children and carers, and the use the social workers made of information on case files. The paper concludes with a discussion of the role of the team in determining the focus of assessments and the subjective factors which impact on the way the individual social worker works with children, families and other professionals. [source] Investing in children's futures: enhancing the educational arrangements of ,looked after' children and young peopleCHILD & FAMILY SOCIAL WORK, Issue 1 2000Francis This paper reports on selected findings of a small-scale study which examined the educational experiences of a group of children ,looked after' away from home in the former Lothian Regional Council. While it is claimed that the advent of a new Scottish parliament heralds an opportunity to construct a more inclusive society in Scotland, it is clear from all the research conducted to date that one excluded group, children who are in public care, experience significant educational disadvantages and that both the scale and persistence of the problem demand urgent measures. A brief review of the literature is offered and a number of explanations for the poor educational performance of this group of children are considered. It is argued that the difficulties experienced by looked after children arise from the interplay of a variety of social, structural and professional factors and that efforts to redress the disadvantages must take account of all these factors. The paper briefly considers the origins and philosophy of the Scottish Children's Hearings System and argues that it could fulfil a more proactive role in safeguarding and promoting looked after children's educational interests. Finally, the key features of a strategic approach are outlined, highlighting the need for effective collaboration in policy and practice. [source] | ||||||||||||||||