Enhancing practitioner-led education in social work: developing a secondment project

ABSTRACT

This paper illustrates the development of a secondment project designed to enhance practitioner-led social work education in a Higher Education Institution. The project was developed as part of a Teaching Partnership initiative to establish joint working and standardized approaches to social work education between Higher Education Institutes and Local Authorities across a UK region. Highlighted is how the project utilized a six-stage strategy designed to gather information to produce an evidence-base to support the implementation of a pilot practitioner secondment arrangement. The paper discusses strategies used to gather information from a range of stakeholders to inform the project, the project outcome and some considerations for future secondment arrangements. Contributing to a limited source of literature, challenges and limitations of developing formal secondment arrangements and delivering practitioner-led education in Higher Education Institutes are highlighted. This paper will assist Higher Education Institutes and Local Authorities in the design and implementation of formal secondment arrangements where these are identified as in need of development.     

The Use of Common Humanity Scenarios to Promote Compassion in Healthcare Workers

ABSTRACT

The importance of compassion in healthcare is universally acknowledged. However, the factors that enhance compassion are not well understood. The perception of common humanity has been proposed as a prosocial perspective that leads to unbiased universal compassion. There has been a lack of research into the relationship between common humanity and compassion. This study examined the use of common humanity scenarios to promote compassion in healthcare workers. Seventy-five healthcare workers were randomly assigned to two groups and shown a different common humanity scenario. The healthcare workers were asked what effect viewing the videos had on their perception of common humanity and compassion. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes. Four main themes emerged: (a) common bonds; (b) people have the same needs; (c) no one wants to suffer; (d) seeing strangers helping others is motivating. Healthcare workers reported feelings of care, concern, and compassion after viewing common humanity scenarios.

IMPLICATIONS

• Viewing common humanity scenarios appears to lead to enhanced feelings of connection to others and compassion in healthcare workers.

• Using common humanity scenarios may be a useful compassion training strategy in healthcare.

• Further research is necessary to gain a better understanding of how viewing common humanity material influences compassion.

     

Parenting and child-caretaking among black men who have sex with men and associated sexual and reproductive health factors: a brief report

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the prevalence of parenting and child-caretaking among a sample of black men who have sex with men (MSM), as well as associations between parenting roles and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) factors. Parenting and SRH data were derived from a survey of 199 black MSM. Nearly half of the sample reported being a father or father-figure (44.4%), almost a third indicated serving as caretaker of a child (29.1%), and one in five have a biological child (20.1%). Over half of the sample reported at least one of these three parenting/child-caretaking roles (52.5%). Two significant differences were observed for sexual health variables: men with biological children were significantly more likely to report using condoms inconsistently (55.0% vs. 35.7%, p = .026) and engaging in transactional sex work (36.8% vs. 21.0%, p = .041). Given the observed prevalence, parenting and child-caretaking among black MSM warrant further inquiry as factors that may influence SRH outcomes and care utilization. Services and interventions tailored to black MSM should consider these men’s potential roles and responsibilities as parents and caretakers of children.     

Managing Development for Results: A Role for Results‐oriented Public Expenditure Management

Can results‐oriented approaches to public expenditure management function in low‐income countries? Do they have a role in securing the implementation of poverty reduction strategies? And can they assist donors in ‘managing aid for results’? Findings from seven countries suggest that they can work in environments with mediocre discipline in budget and public finance management and a degree of uncertainty caused by macroeconomic instability, but not when there is excessive ‘informality’ and instability. With political will and a strong finance ministry, they have proved valuable tools in ensuring the coherent expansion of pro‐poor programmes and their delivery through autonomous local governments. However, they have yet to become effective in improving public administrations' accountability to parliament and to non‐governmental stakeholders.     

Thirty‐five Years Later in Development Assistance: Have We Moved On,or Just Performed a Minuet?

Development economists have presented the problems of development in varying and incompatible terms, and have influentially advocated contradictory policies. After twists and turns a broad consensus has emerged on pro‐poor growth objectives and on the policy and institutional means of achieving them. But a number of important questions remain unresolved or indeterminate. Development experts, economists and others, should have the humility to recognise the country specificity of much development experience and the multiplicity of valid paths to the goal of material wellbeing. They are least likely to mislead if their advice acknowledges the likely joint importance of macroeconomic stability, reasonably efficient markets, and supportive institutions.     

Tanzania's Cotton Sector: Reforms,Constraints and Challenges

This article contributes to the liberalisation debate in Africa by assessing the policy reforms in the Tanzanian cotton sector, the outcome of which has been mixed. The grower's share in the fob price has increased; the growers receive payments promptly; the ginning capacity has increased considerably. However, supply response did not take place; the input distribution system collapsed, while the mixing of cotton varieties constitutes a threat to the viability of the sector. The co‐operative unions figure prominently in the sector, although for all practical purposes they are bankrupt enterprises. Taxation is excessive, the tax code is complicated and tax evasion is pervasive. The cotton board and the ministries still overregulate the sector. The quality of statistics remains poor.     

Relationship of bird richness,abundance and assemblage to the built environment in a small island tropical urban setting: a Suva,Fiji case study

There have been few studies investigating the relationship between the built environment and the status of bird distributions in small island tropical urban areas. We present a study investigating the relationship between bird species richness, abundance and assemblage to the built environment in Suva, Fiji. Field surveys were taken at 54 randomly selected sites throughout the city, stratified by three building density classes and the central business district (CBD). At each site bird counts were recorded, along with environmental data such as average building height, within a 150 m radius. Land-use information was obtained from screen digitized high-resolution satellite imagery within the same radius. Distance to undeveloped patches of land within the urban area was calculated using a GIS. Analysis of the effects of the built environment was carried out for all species, and for exotic and native species separately. Abundance of exotics was significantly higher in the central business district (CBD) than all other urban density classes, and significantly higher than natives in all other density classes. We found a negative relationship between native species richness and distance to undeveloped patches, but no relationship for exotics. Species assemblage was not related to urban density class. We conclude that the status of native and exotic bird species in Suva is similar to what has been found in urban areas in temperate climates, and conservation efforts should focus on minimizing the amount of heavily urbanized “core areas” and protecting undeveloped areas of forested vegetation to improve bird biodiversity in small tropical islands cities.

     

Comfort with discussions about death,religiosity, and attitudes about end‐of‐life care

In end‐of‐life (EOL) care research, death anxiety and religiosity are often overlooked. Terror management theory (TMT) may provide a useful conceptual model with which to examine how comfort discussing death and religiosity influence attitudes related to EOL care. A telephone‐based survey was conducted among community‐dwelling adults in the Unites States. Via random sampling, with over‐sampling of Hispanics/African Americans, 123 completed survey interviews (response rate = 46%) were analyzed. Respondents were more likely to have better attitudes toward EOL care if they were older or white, religiously active, and comfortable with the subject of death. Religiosity and comfort discussing death were correlated with each other and remained significant predictors of attitudes about EOL care even without demographic covariates. Findings suggest that promoting an open dialogue about mortality may improve attitudes about EOL care and utilization of palliative care services. The study also provides evidence about the utility and applicability of TMT for EOL care.