Reflections on Practice Learning in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: Lessons from Student Experiences

Practice learning is viewed as one of the most important components of social work education wherever in the world social work is practised. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland provide an interesting case example of the educational impact on students resulting from their experience of different models of practice learning. Although sharing a common historical legacy, recent developments in policy in both jurisdictions have tended to engender greater divergences in how programmes organise and deliver social work education and practice learning. Drawing on findings from a joint-research project with students in Queen’s University, Belfast and Trinity College, Dublin, the authors highlight significant cross-border similarities as well as differences in the way practice learning is conceptualised, organised and delivered. Through comparing and contrasting student experiences, the authors reflect on how the findings might help to inform the future development of practice learning standards in both jurisdictions.

The redemption of the gaze: the crisis of observation in the "fin de siècle" and the advent of cinema

The intention of this article is not to affirm, but rather to question wether it is possible to speak of a loss of the ability to gaze in the context of the nineteenth century and especially in the context of the fin de siècle, in the bosom of the epistemological crisis that beset the Turn of the Century. And very especially, this article tries to question about the impact this crisis had, perhaps, in the birth of cinema. Is in this context that arises the work of Marey and the advent of the cinematograph of the Lumière brothers in the fin de siècle Europe, both of them showing a deep faith in a mechanical apparatus that would allow the redemption of a battered gaze. And it seems to be a dream that continues over time through the tradition of shooting the everyday life.

Impact of PSA testing and prostatic biopsy on cancer incidence and mortality: comparative study between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

Objectives: To investigate the impact of different PSA testing policies and health-care systems on prostate cancer incidence and mortality in two countries with similar populations, the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and Northern Ireland (NI).

Methods: Population-level data on PSA tests, prostate biopsies and prostate cancer cases 1993–2005 and prostate cancer deaths 1979–2006 were compiled. Annual percentage change (APC) was estimated by joinpoint regression.

Results: Prostate cancer rates were similar in both areas in 1994 but increased rapidly in RoI compared to NI. The PSA testing rate increased sharply in RoI (APC = +23.3%), and to a lesser degree in NI (APC = +9.7%) to reach 412 and 177 tests per 1,000 men in 2004, respectively. Prostatic biopsy rates rose in both countries, but were twofold higher in RoI. Cancer incidence rates rose significantly, mirroring biopsy trends, in both countries reaching 440 per 100,000 men in RoI in 2004 compared to 294 in NI. Median age at diagnosis was lower in RoI (71 years) compared to NI (73 years) (p < 0.01) and decreased significantly over time in both countries. Mortality rates declined from 1995 in both countries (APC = -1.5% in RoI, -1.3% in NI) at a time when PSA testing was not widespread.

Conclusions: Prostatic biopsy rates, rather than PSA testing per se, were the main driver of prostate cancer incidence. Because mortality decreases started before screening became widespread in RoI, and mortality remained low in NI, PSA testing is unlikely to be the explanation for declining mortality.