Service user involvement in drug treatment programs: Barriers to implementation and potential benefits for client recovery

Service user forums have the potential for improving awareness of services, empowering service users and strengthening community partnerships within an inclusive treatment and rehabilitation framework. The research aimed to investigate perspectives about service user involvement in order to inform the development of effective service user forum(s) in west Ireland. A total of 30 interviews with key service providers and 12 interviews with service users were conducted, with interview questions focusing on: (1) awareness of the Service User Support Team and (2) barriers to service user involvement and the development of service user forums in the region. An integrated data collection and thematic analysis was undertaken. Current levels of service user involvement were low, restricted by one-way communication and appeared grounded in user-provider power differentials and stigma relating to drug dependency. Service providers queried the actual terms of reference, capacity and training that would be needed for service user forums to advocate and lobby for service users. The use of existing support groups, creation of internet user forums and rotation of rural meetings were recommended to promote engagement among service users. The research underscores the need for transparency, resources and a framework for good practice that reflects a participatory approach


Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09687637.2012.671860

Explaining the relationship between ingroup identification and intergroup bias following recategorization: A self-regulation theory analysis

We tested the hypothesis that regulation of discrepancies between perceived actual and ideal differentiation between the ingroup and outgroup could help to explain the relationship between ingroup identification and intergroup bias when participants are recategorized into a superordinate group. Replicating previous findings, we found that following recategorization, identification was positively related to intergroup bias. No such differences emerged in a control condition. However, we also, in the recategorization condition only, observed a positive association between ingroup identification and the perceived discrepancy between actual and ideal degree of differentiation from the outgroup: at higher levels of identification, participants increasingly perceived the ingroup to be less differentiated from the outgroup than they would ideally like. This tendency mediated the relationship between identification and bias. We discuss the theoretical, methodological and practical implications of these findings.

Common Ingroups and Complex Identities: Routes to Reducing Bias in Multiple Category Contexts

We tested the hypothesis that evaluative bias in common ingroup contexts versus crossed categorization contexts can be associated with two distinct underlying processes. We reasoned that in common ingroup contexts, self-categorization, but not perceived complexity, would be positively related to intergroup bias. In contrast, in crossed categorization contexts, perceived complexity, but not self-categorization, would be negatively related to intergroup bias. In two studies, and in line with predictions, we found that while self-categorization and intergroup bias were related in common ingroup contexts, this was not the case in crossed categorization contexts. Moreover, we found that perceived category complexity, and not self-categorization, predicted bias in crossed categorization contexts. We discuss the implications of these findings for models of social categorization and intergroup bias.

Serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP):reference values in healthy nonatopic children

BACKGROUND: Although serum ECP concentrations have been reported in normal children, there are currently no published upper cutoff reference limits for serum ECP in normal, nonatopic, nonasthmatic children aged 1-15 years.
METHODS: We recruited 123 nonatopic, nonasthmatic normal children attending the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children for elective surgery and measured serum ECP concentrations. The effects of age and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on the upper reference limits were studied by multiple regression and fractional polynomials.
RESULTS: The median serum ECP concentration was 6.5 microg/l and the 95th and 97.5 th percentiles were 18.8 and 19.9 microg/l. The median and 95th percentile did not vary with age. Exposure to ETS was not associated with altered serum ECP concentrations (P = 0.14).
CONCLUSIONS: The 95th and 97.5 th percentiles for serum ECP for normal, nonatopic, nonasthmatic children (aged 1-15 years) were 19 and 20 microg/l, respectively. Age and exposure to parental ETS did not significantly alter serum ECP concentrations or the normal upper reference limits. Our data provide cutoff upper reference limits for normal children for use of serum ECP in a clinical or research setting.
PMID: 10604557 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

The effects of ibuprofen and indomethacin on renal function in the presence and absence of frusemide in healthy volunteers on a restricted sodium diet

1. Since salt depletion stimulates the renal prostaglandin system to maintain renal function, the effects of indomethacin and ibuprofen upon renal haemodynamics, electrolyte excretion and renin release were examined in eight healthy male volunteers on a salt restricted diet, before and after frusemide administration. 2. Neither indomethacin (50 mg) nor ibuprofen (400 mg and 800 mg) affected renal blood flow, glomerular filtration rate or electrolyte excretion before frusemide. 3. Renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate were significantly increased in the first 20 min after frusemide. These changes were significantly attenuated by indomethacin compared with placebo and ibuprofen 400 mg. Frusemide-induced diuresis but not natriuresis was inhibited by all treatments. 4. Both nonsteroidal agents inhibited equally the rise in renin activity seen after frusemide. 5. In this group of healthy volunteers on a salt restricted diet, ibuprofen and indomethacin had no detrimental effects on renal function in the absence of frusemide. The changes in renal haemodynamics due to frusemide were suppressed more by indomethacin than by ibuprofen, probably reflecting the more potent nature of indomethacin as an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis.

The effects of cilazapril alone and in combination with frusemide in healthy subjects

1. In a fourway double-blind placebo controlled study, the effects of cilazapril, a new angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, on renal function and the responses to intravenous frusemide were studied in a group of twelve salt depleted male volunteers. 2. Cilazapril produced an increase in effective renal plasma flow and urinary output of prostaglandin E2 metabolite (PGE2-M) but no effect on sodium, potassium or water excretion. 3. Pretreatment with cilazapril antagonised the effects of frusemide on glomerular filtration, PGE2-M and sodium excretion.

Service user involvement in teaching about conflict - an exploration of the issues

Service user involvement is now a well embedded feature of social work
education in the United Kingdom. Whilst many education institutions have
fully embraced the involvement of service users in teaching, there is still
work to be done in more fully engaging with service users who are seldom
heard. This article highlights the opportunities and challenges associated
with innovative work being piloted in Northern Ireland where victims and
survivors of political conflict are routinely involved in teaching social work
students about the impact of conflict on their lives.

The effect of a healthy lifestyle programme on 8-9 year olds from social disadvantage

Aims: This study assessed the efficacy of a school-based healthy lifestyle intervention (Sport for LIFE) for increasing physical activity, decreasing sedentary behaviour, reducing screen time behaviour, encouraging healthy attitudes and behaviour to nutrition, and reducing body mass index (BMI) in 8–9-year-old primary school children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in Northern Ireland.

Methods: A non-randomised controlled trial of 416 children from 24 schools took part. Schools were randomly assigned to one of two groups, an intervention or control group with 12 schools in each group. The intervention group received a 12-week school-based programme based on social cognitive theory. At baseline and follow-up, groups completed questionnaires assessing physical activity, screen time behaviour and dietary patterns. On each occasion anthropometric assessments of height and weight were taken. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour were measured by accelerometry.

Results Significant effects were observed for vigorous, moderate and light activity for the intervention group at follow-up. Sedentary behaviour was significantly reduced for the intervention group but not for the control group. No significant effects of the intervention on BMI, screen time behaviour or attitudes to nutrition, with the exception of non-core foods, were shown.

Conclusions: The programme was effective in increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour, however no significant changes in screen time behaviour and attitude to nutrition, with the exception of non-core foods, were observed. Future research ideas are offered for tackling low levels of physical activity in children.

Design, recruitment, logistics, and data management of the GEHA (Genetics of Healthy Ageing) project

In 2004, the integrated European project GEHA (Genetics of Healthy Ageing) was initiated with the aim of identifying genes involved in healthy ageing and longevity. The first step in the project was the recruitment of more than 2500 pairs of siblings aged 90 years or more together with one younger control person from 15 areas in 11 European countries through a coordinated and standardised effort. A biological sample, preferably a blood sample, was collected from each participant, and basic physical and cognitive measures were obtained together with information about health, life style, and family composition. From 2004 to 2008 a total of 2535 families comprising 5319 nonagenarian siblings were identified and included in the project. In addition, 2548 younger control persons aged 50-75 years were recruited. A total of 2249 complete trios with blood samples from at least two old siblings and the younger control were formed and are available for genetic analyses (e.g. linkage studies and genome-wide association studies). Mortality follow-up improves the possibility of identifying families with the most extreme longevity phenotypes. With a mean follow-up time of 3.7 years the number of families with all participating siblings aged 95 years or more has increased by a factor of 5 to 750 families compared to when interviews were conducted. Thus, the GEHA project represents a unique source in the search for genes related to healthy ageing and longevity.

Genome-wide linkage analysis for human longevity: Genetics of healthy aging study

Clear evidence exists for heritability of humanlongevity, and much interest is focused on identifying genes associated with longer lives. To identify such longevity alleles, we performed the largest genome-wide linkage scan thus far reported. Linkage analyses included 2118nonagenarian Caucasian sibling pairs that have been enrolled in 15 study centers of 11 European countries as part of the Genetics of Healthy Aging (GEHA) project. In the joint linkage analyses, we observed four regions that show linkage with longevity; chromosome 14q11.2 (LOD = 3.47), chromosome 17q12-q22 (LOD = 2.95), chromosome 19p13.3-p13.11 (LOD = 3.76), and chromosome 19q13.11-q13.32 (LOD = 3.57). To fine map these regions linked to longevity, we performed association analysis using GWAS data in a subgroup of 1228 unrelated nonagenarian and 1907 geographically matched controls. Using a fixed-effect meta-analysis approach, rs4420638 at the TOMM40/ APOE/APOC1 gene locus showed significant association with longevity (P-value = 9.6 × 10). By combined modeling of linkage and association, we showed that association of longevity with APOEe4 and APOEe2 alleles explain the linkage at 19q13.11-q13.32 with P-value = 0.02 and P-value = 1.0 × 10, respectively. In the largest linkage scan thus far performed for human familial longevity, we confirm that the APOE locus is a longevity gene and that additional longevity loci may be identified at 14q11.2, 17q12-q22, and 19p13.3-p13.11. As the latter linkage results are not explained by common variants, we suggest that rare variants play an important role in human familial longevity.