Teacher perception of self -determination skills in the inclusive and special education classroom

It has been proposed that special education teachers, who promote self-determination and link it to educational standards, help students with a disability succeed in school. The current school reform movement has focused on accountability through mandates such as the No Child Left Behind Act, 2001, and has emphasized participation in the general curriculum through amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997 and 2004. This study informs educators if educational setting, students' type of disability, and subject area taught, influence teachers' opinions about the importance of teaching components leading to self-determination and self-management. ^ The research questions that drive this study are: (1) do secondary school teachers who instruct students with a disability think that self-determination components taught in the classroom will make an important difference in students' school and later postsecondary achievements? and (2) does the type of classroom setting, students' type of disability, or specific subject matter influence teachers' opinions regarding the importance of teaching components related to self-determination and self-management? The collection and interpretation of data were done using descriptive and quantitative methods employing a teacher survey. The survey was administered to secondary teachers who instruct students with disabilities. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The sample consisted of 97 special education teachers currently teaching at the secondary level. ^ The results of the study indicated that teachers believe that self-determination is important for both school life and post school life. However teachers thought these skills to be more important for post school success. Teachers believe that self-determination is more important than self-management skills. Type of disability, educational environment, and subject area were not significant factors. ^

Self -management factors, influences, and conditions for type 2 diabetes among Black ethnic groups in Miami, Florida and Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

The Dahlgren and Whitehead ecological theory provides the framework for a cross-sectional design to compare socio-demographic characteristics, living and working conditions, and lifestyle daily habits as well as cultural and ecological factors among six diabetic multiethnic Black groups in Miami and Abidjan. Approximately 180 Black Americans (African-, Caribbean-, and Haitian-) and 180 Black Africans (Akan, Malinke, and Krou) aged 20 years and older were surveyed. During the preliminary of this study participants' attitudes and behaviors were qualitatively assessed (N=60) and a tool was developed to describe, in the main study (N=360), differences in participants' strength of commitment to diabetes lifestyle self-management. Despite similarities found in terms of age and gender, statistically significant differences were also found within and among groups in terms of living and working conditions, education level, and religion. African American groups were more likely to participate in more diabetes classes than Haitian Americans and Caribbean Americans. However, African Americans were less likely to adhere to daily dietary and weight control regimens. Although, Black African groups reported limited access to equipment, facilities, and financial support they were more likely to follow dietary and weight control recommendations than Black American groups. Overall, African American participants showed the poorest attitudes towards recommended foods, Caribbean American respondents reported the best attitudes and behaviors towards weight control regimens, and the Malinke group had significantly more strength of commitment to successful weight control. Furthermore, Black African groups had significantly more strength of commitment to successful dietary adherence and significantly less support for weight control than Black American groups. ^ Significant differences found within Black groups suggest that understanding each patient's conditions may help healthcare professionals in initiating individualized appropriate counseling before goal setting, and in developing culturally relevant type 2 diabetes management programs. Moreover, significant differences exist in strength of commitment to lifestyle adherence among Black groups in Miami and Abidjan. Cultural, socio-demographic factors and self-management habits may explain differences in participants' outcomes. At the policy level, Black groups should not be approached as a homogenous group and assessment of the vulnerability of each ethnic group may be necessary in the decision-making process.^

The effects of trained teachers' integration of dialogic reading discourse on Hispanic English Language Learners' literacy skills in kindergarten

This quasi-experimental Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) study explored whether the vocabulary and reading comprehension mean scores of Hispanic Kindergarten ELs whose teachers were trained to utilize Dialogic Reading (DR) discourse were higher than the mean scores of Hispanic ELs in kindergarten whose teachers were not trained to utilize DR discourse strategies. Sixty-three self-identified Hispanic, English Language Kindergarten students and four teachers participated in the study. The teachers were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (DR trained) or control group by drawing names from a hat. Student assignment to experimental versus comparison group was based on the teacher's assignment to either the experimental or comparison group. Thirty-one were assigned to the control group and 32 to the experimental group. The teachers were instructed to read the story to a group of six students (maximum) at a time, utilizing the DR discourse strategies they had been trained to implement. Subjects were read a story each week during the 8-week duration of the study. Teachers in the experimental group collaboratively selected 10 words each week from the Read Together Talk Together (RTTT) instructional stories that were utilized for vocabulary instruction. A test of homogeneity was conducted to evaluate whether the variance among the dependent variables was the same across the groups. An Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA) was applied to analyze students' vocabulary and comprehension mean scores in the experimental group and the comparison group. The results of the study demonstrated a significant increase in the vocabulary and reading comprehension mean scores for the students whose teachers had been trained in DR discourse strategies. When comparing the two groups, the results revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study was conducted to explore how DR discourse may be an effective technique to teach literacy skills. The findings of this study showed that vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension of Hispanic ELs were positively affected by the teachers' inclusion of dialogue during storybook reading. Its outcomes accentuated the need for teachers to provide assistance to ELs as they develop vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension skills.

Russia's Islam: Discourse on Identity, Politics, and Security

Despite the long history of Muslims in Russia, most scholarly and political literatures on Russia’s Islam still narrowly interpret Muslim-Slavs relations in an ethnic-religious oppositional framework. In my work, I examine Russia’s discourse on Islam to argue that, in fact, the role of Islam in post-Soviet Russia is complex. Drawing from direct sources from academic, state, journalistic, and underground circles, often neglected by Western commentators, I identify ideational patterns in conceptualizations of Islam and reconstruct relational networks among authors. To explain complex intertextual relations within specific contexts, I utilize an analytically eclectic method that appropriately combines theories from different paradigms and/or disciplines. Thanks to my multi-dimensional approach, I show that, contrary to traditional views, Russia’s Muslims participate in processes of post-Soviet Russia’s identity formation. Starting from textual contents, avoiding pre-formed analytical frames, I argue that many Muslims in Russia perceive themselves as part of Russian civilization – even when they challenge the status-quo. Building on my initial findings, I state that a key element in Russia’s conceptualization of Islam is the definition, elaborated in the 1990s, of traditional Islam as part of Russian civilizational history, as opposed to extremist Islam as extraneous, hostile phenomenon. The differentiation creates an unprecedently safe, if confined, space for Islamic propositions, of which Muslims are taking advantage. Embedded in debates on Russian civilization, conceptualizations of Islam, then, influence Russia’s (geo)political self-perceptions and, consequently, its domestic and international policies. In particular, Russian so-far neglected Islamic doctrine supports views of Islamic terrorism as a political and not religious phenomenon. Hence, Russia interprets both terrorism and counterterrorism within its own historical tradition, causing its strategy to be at odds with Western views. Less apparently, these divergences affect Russian-U.S. broader relations. Finally, in revealing the civilizational value of Russia’s Islam, I expose intellectual relations among influential subjects who share the aim to devise a new civilizational model that should combine Slavic and non-Slavic, Orthodox and Islamic, Western, and Asian components. In this old Russian dilemma, the novelty is Muslims’ participation.

The Effects of Peer Teaching of Infant Massage on General Self-Efficacy and Mother Infant Attachment Among Mothers in a Residential Rehabilitation Facility for Drug Addiction and Substance Abuse

Approximately 200 million people, 5% aged 15-64 worldwide are illicit drug or substance abusers (World Drug Report, 2006). Between 2002 and 2005, an average of 8.2% of 12 year olds and older in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale metropolitan areas used illicit drugs (SAMHSA, 2007). Eight percent of pregnant women, aged 15 to 25, were more likely to have used illicit drugs during pregnancy than pregnant women aged 26 to 44. Alcohol use was 9.8% and cigarette use was 18% for pregnant women aged 15 to 44 (SAMHSA, 2005). Approximately a quarter of annual birth defects are attributed to the exposure of drugs or substance abuse in utero (General Accounting Office, 1991). Physical, psychological and emotional challenges may be present for the illicit drug/substance abuse (ID/SA) mother and infant placing them at a disadvantage early in their relationship (Shonkoff & Marshall, 1990). Mothers with low self efficacy have insecurely attached infants (Donovan, Leavitt, & Walsh, 1987). As the ID/SA mother struggles with wanting to be a good parent, education is needed to help her care for her infant. In this experimental study residential rehabilitating ID/SA mothers peer taught infant massage. Massage builds bonding/attachment between mother and infant (Reese & Storm, 2008) and peer teaching is effective because participants have faced similar challenges and speak the same language (Boud, Cohen, & Sampson 2001). Quantitative data were collected using the General Self-Efficacy and Maternal Attachment Inventory-Revised Scale before and after the 4-week intervention program. A reported result of this study was that empowering ID/SA mothers increased their self-efficacy, which in turn allowed the mothers to tackle challenges encountered and created feelings of being a fit mother to their infants. This research contributes to the existing database promoting evidence-based practice in drug rehabilitation centers. Healthcare personnel, such as nurse educators and maternal-child health practitioners, can develop programs in drug rehabilitation centers that cultivate an environment where the ID/SA rehabilitating mothers can peer teach each other, while creating a support system. Using infant massage as a therapeutic tool can develop a healthy infant and nurture a more positive relationship between mother and infant.

The evolution of immigration discourse in the Maltese press from 2005 to 2015: A case study of the Times of Malta

El drama migratorio del cual está siendo Europa testigo en estas últimas semanas es en parte el resultado de una falta de políticas comunitarias en relación a este tema, hecho del cual, en los últimos años, se han hecho eco multitud de medios. Europa, y en especial los países del Mediterráneo, ha experimentado un incremento sustancial en el número de inmigrantes que llegan a sus costas en condiciones cada vez más deplorables y arriesgando gravemente su integridad física. Este hecho está principalmente motivado por el aumento y la intensidad de los conflictos bélicos en países de África y Oriente próximo. En el caso de Malta, un diminuto archipiélago ubicado entre los territorios de Libia y Sicilia, el cambio en la tendencia migratoria que se produjo en 2002 le hizo pasar de ser un país de emigrantes a un país receptor de inmigrantes. Este cambio dio como resultado la aparición de grupos y partidos anti-inmigración, como Azzjoni Nazzjonali, y de un sentimiento de preocupación frente a la llegada de inmigrantes que crece de manera constante según se refleja en encuestas europeas (véase Eurobarometer 82-83). Desde el punto de vista lingüístico, el discurso discriminatorio empleado por los medios de comunicación, organismos y figuras políticas ha sido ampliamente estudiado dentro de la rama del Análisis Crítico del Discurso (Charteris-Black, 2006; Fairclough, 1989, Reisigl & Wodak, 2001; Santa Ana, 1999; Van Dijk, 1984, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2006, Van Leeuwen & Wodak, 1999). En los últimos años, se ha potenciado el uso de un enfoque cognitivo en el análisis de este tipo de discursos. Dicho enfoque utiliza elementos tomados de la lingüística cognitiva para explicar cómo la representación de eventos y participantes en el discurso atiende, o está motivada por la conceptualización mental de dichos eventos y participantes (Charteris-Black, 2006; Hart, 2011; Musolff, 2012; Núñez-Perucha, 2011; O’Brien, 2003; Santa Ana, 1999; Van Dijk, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006; Wodak, 2006). El Análisis Crítico del Discurso es una disciplina cuyo principal objetivo es analizar cómo ciertos fenómenos sociales que se basan en relaciones de abuso de poder y dominación se representan en el discurso de las denominadas élites (Van Dijk, 2001). Muchos de estos discursos atienden a lo que en lingüística se ha denominado discurso de discriminación, en donde un grupo dominante ejerce poder sobre otro mediante el uso de diversas herramientas discursivas. Generalmente, estos estudios sobre discursos de discriminación se han centrado en fenómenos como el machismo o el racismo. Dentro de este último campo, cabe destacar el trabajo de Van Dijk en el análisis del discurso del racismo y del discurso de la inmigración (Van Dijk, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006). El presente trabajo se centra en analizar cómo la prensa maltesa ha representado el fenómeno de la inmigración y a los inmigrantes desde 2005 hasta 2015. Dentro de esta línea temporal, se presta especial atención al día 2 de abril de 2013. Esta es la fecha en la que la Associated Press, una organización de prensa independiente con subscriptores alrededor del mundo, decidió incluir un importante cambio léxico en su manual de estilo. El motivo del mismo era modificar el uso del adjetivo “ilegal” recomendando su uso para referirse exclusivamente a acciones (ej. Inmigración ilegal) pero nunca para referirse a individuos (ej. Inmigrante ilegal). Nuestro estudio pretende identificar hasta qué punto esta medida se ha puesto en práctica en los periódicos malteses y qué repercusiones ha tenido su incorporación en la representación de los inmigrantes y la inmigración. Para ello, se ha seleccionado como caso de estudio uno de los periódicos en lengua inglesa más leídos en el archipiélago, Times of Malta. El estudio se ha centrado en el análisis de un total de treinta artículos de opinión repartidos de manera homogénea (quince y quince) en dos corpus. El primer corpus contiene artículos pertenecientes a un periodo de tiempo que va desde 2005 hasta la fecha en la cual el cambio léxico de la Associated Press fue publicado, es decir, el 2 de abril de 2013. Por otro lado, el segundo corpus contiene artículos desde el 2 de abril de 2013 hasta mediados de 2015. Para agilizar y facilitar el análisis de los artículos, se ha hecho uso del programa llamado WordSmith Tools, el cual está especializado en el trabajo con corpus. Este programa se utilizó principalmente para analizar la representación semántica de los distintos participantes y eventos. Los resultados del análisis demuestran que el periódico ha aplicado el cambio léxico sugerido por la Associated Press al no encontrarse ningún ejemplo de “inmigrante ilegal” o “migrante ilegal” a partir del 2 de abril de 2013. En estos mismos resultados también se aprecia una representación más positiva de la figura del inmigrante en el segundo corpus, dónde el inmigrante abandona la categoría léxica de “criminal” para comenzar a ser visto cada vez más como la víctima. También a nivel léxico, se puede observar cómo los autores tienden a usar cada vez más el término “migrante” en lugar de “inmigrante”. A pesar de que este último continúa siendo el término más utilizado para referirse a la persona que llega desde otro país, el significativo incremento del uso de la palabra “migrante” en el segundo corpus es llamativo y puede deberse a que la palabra “inmigrante” haya adquirido connotaciones negativas por su repetido uso junto al adjetivo “ilegal”. De entre las estrategias discursivas empleadas en la representación de la sociedad maltesa, cabe destacar dos. Por un lado, tenemos el uso de la victimización, mediante la cual la población maltesa aparece como una víctima frente a la inmigración, que es vista como una amenaza, al mismo tiempo que Malta es también víctima de la falta de apoyo internacional. En segundo lugar, es también común encontrar artículos en donde el autor destaca las cualidades positivas de la sociedad maltesa, especialmente su generosidad. Esta última estrategia es lo que Van Dijk denomina national self-glorifiation (2000:220; 2006:738). En cuanto al uso de las metáforas, el cambio es menos significativo. En general, ambos corpus muestran ejemplos de metáforas en las que el inmigrante aparece conceptualizado como parte de un fenómeno natural incontrolable, un invasor o un organismo dispuesto a infectar o dañar de algún modo el país. En el segundo corpus, sin embargo, desaparecen las metáforas en las que el inmigrante se percibe como un animal inferior, que sí aparecían en el primer corpus. Esto supone un cambio positivo. Hasta este punto hemos resumido los cambios en la representación de los inmigrantes. Respecto al modo en el cual el fenómeno de la inmigración aparece representado en los periódicos, también encontramos cambios importantes. A nivel léxico, el cambio que mencionábamos relativo a los términos “inmigrante” y “migrante” también se produce a la hora de nombrar este fenómeno social. De este modo, la palabra “migración” es más usada en el segundo corpus que en el primero, aunque sigue ocupando el segundo lugar por detrás de la palabra “inmigración”. En cuanto a los contenidos, se puede observar un cambio positivo hacia una mayor concienciación social. Por ejemplo, vemos cómo en el segundo corpus en ocasiones se pide una respuesta estatal a temas como la integración de los inmigrantes o el racismo entre la sociedad, mientras que en el primer corpus la integración era una labor del inmigrante y el racismo era un tema incómodo. En el segundo corpus también encontramos la queja más clara hacia el uso de centros de detención en la isla. En el primer corpus, aunque algunos autores manifestaban su disconformidad con las condiciones en las cuales los inmigrantes vivían dentro de los centros de detención, todos asumían que tener dichos centros era una medida necesaria. Esta especie de consenso social y político acerca del uso de centros de detención se consigue mediante el empleo de herramientas discursivas que representen la inmigración como una amenaza de la cual hay que protegerse (negative other-presentation Van Dijk, 2000:221; 2006:738). En resumen, podemos decir que este trabajo muestra una progresión en el discurso de inmigración en Malta hacia una representación más positiva y amable del inmigrante y de la inmigración. Aunque las limitaciones de este estudio hacen imposible establecer una relación única y directa entre los cambios experimentados por el periódico y el cambio léxico sugerido por la Associated Press, lo cierto es que la descriminalización de los inmigrantes a nivel léxico (mediante la supresión de términos como “ilegal” o “detenidos”) ha influido de manera positiva en el tono y la forma en que este periódico se refiere al fenómeno social de la inmigración

Identity Change Impacts Autobiographical Reconstruction of Identity-Relevant Events: Influences of the Self-System on Remembering

The focus on how one is behaving, feeling, and thinking, provides a powerful source of self-knowledge. How is this self-knowledge utilized in the dynamic reconstruction of autobiographical memories? How, in turn, might autobiographical memories support identity and the self-system? I address these questions through a critical review of the literature on autobiographical memory and the self-system, with a special focus on the self-concept, self-knowledge, and identity. I then outline the methods and results of a prospective longitudinal study examining the effects of an identity change on memory for events related to that identity. Participant-rated memory characteristics, computer-generated ratings of narrative content and structure, and neutral-observer ratings of coherence were examined for changes over time related to an identity-change, as well as for their ability to predict an identity-change. The conclusions from this study are threefold: (1) when the rated centrality of an event decreases, the reported instances of retrieval, as well as the phenomenology associated with retrieval and the number of words used to describe the memory, also decrease; (2) memory accuracy (here, estimating past behaviors) was not influenced by an identity change; and (3) remembering is not unidirectional – characteristics of identity-relevant memories and the life story predict and may help support persistence with an identity (here, an academic trajectory).

Group problem-solving skills training for self-harm: randomised controlled trial

Background: Rates of self-harm are high and have recently increased. This trend and the repetitive nature of self-harm pose a significant challenge to mental health services. Aims: To determine the efficacy of a structured group problem-solving skills training (PST) programme as an intervention approach for self-harm in addition to treatment as usual (TAU) as offered by mental health services. Method: A total of 433 participants (aged 18-64 years) were randomly assigned to TAU plus PST or TAU alone. Assessments were carried out at baseline and at 6-week and 6-month follow-up and repeated hospital-treated self-harm was ascertained at 12-month follow-up. Results: The treatment groups did not differ in rates of repeated self-harm at 6-week, 6-month and 12-month follow-up. Both treatment groups showed significant improvements in psychological and social functioning at follow-up. Only one measure (needing and receiving practical help from those closest to them) showed a positive treatment effect at 6-week (P = 0.004) and 6-month (P = 0.01) follow-up. Repetition was not associated with waiting time in the PST group. Conclusions: This brief intervention for self-harm is no more effective than treatment as usual. Further work is required to establish whether a modified, more intensive programme delivered sooner after the index episode would be effective.

Self-organization and social science

Abstract Complexity science and its methodological applications have increased in popularity in social science during the last two decades. One key concept within complexity science is that of self-organization. Self-organization is used to refer to the emergence of stable patterns through autonomous and self-reinforcing dynamics at the micro-level. In spite of its potential relevance for the study of social dynamics, the articulation and use of the concept of self-organization has been kept within the boundaries of complexity science and links to and from mainstream social science are scarce. These links can be difficult to establish, even for researchers working in social complexity with a background in social science, because of the theoretical and conceptual diversity and fragmentation in traditional social science. This article is meant to serve as a first step in the process of overcoming this lack of cross-fertilization between complexity and mainstream social science. A systematic review of the concept of self-organization and a critical discussion of similar notions in mainstream social science is presented, in an effort to help practitioners within subareas of complexity science to identify literature from traditional social science that could potentially inform their research.

THE EFFECT OF PURPOSEFUL MATHEMATICS DISCOURSE IN THE CLASSROOM ON STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICS LANGUAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

This study examines how one secondary school teacher’s use of purposeful oral mathematics language impacted her students’ language use and overall communication in written solutions while working with word problems in a grade nine academic mathematics class. Mathematics is often described as a distinct language. As with all languages, students must develop a sense for oral language before developing social practices such as listening, respecting others ideas, and writing. Effective writing is often seen by students that have strong oral language skills. Classroom observations, teacher and student interviews, and collected student work served as evidence to demonstrate the nature of both the teacher’s and the students’ use of oral mathematical language in the classroom, as well as the effect the discourse and language use had on students’ individual written solutions while working on word problems. Inductive coding for themes revealed that the teacher’s purposeful use of oral mathematical language had a positive impact on students’ written solutions. The teacher’s development of a mathematical discourse community created a space for the students to explore mathematical language and concepts that facilitated a deeper level of conceptual understanding of the learned material. The teacher’s oral language appeared to transfer into students written work albeit not with the same complexity of use of the teacher’s oral expression of the mathematical register. Students that learn mathematical language and concepts better appear to have a growth mindset, feel they have ownership over their learning, use reorganizational strategies, and help develop a discourse community.

Not Belonging to one’s Self: Affect on Facebook’s Site Governance page

This article makes a contribution to a growing number of works that discuss affect and social media. I use Freudian affect theory to analyse user posts on the public Site Governance Facebook page. Freud’s work may help us to explore the affectivity within the user narratives and I suggest that they are expressions of alienation, dispossession and powerlessness that relate to the users’ relations with Facebook as well as to their internal and wider social relations. The article thus introduces a new angle on studies of negative user experiences that draws on psychoanalysis and critical theory.

The Worsening of the employment and work conditions and its relationship to the self-perceived health in European working population. Relevance and effects of the latest socioeconomic crisis

The recent crisis of the capitalistic economic system has altered the working conditions and occupations in the European Union. The recession situation has accelerated trends and has brought transformations that have been observed before. Changes have not looked the same way in all the countries of the Union. The social occupation norms, labour relations models and the type of global welfare provision can help underline some of these inequalities. Poor working conditions can expose workers to situations of great risk. This is one of the basic assumptions of the theoretical models and analytical studies of the approach to the psychosocial work environment. Changes in working conditions of the population seems to be important to explain in the worst health states. To observe these features in the current period of economic recession it has made a comparative study of trend through the possibilities of the European Working Conditions Survey in the 2005 and 2010 editions. It has also set different multivariate logistic regression models to explore potential partnerships with the worst conditions of employment and work. It seems that the economic crisis has intensified changes in working conditions and highlighted the effects of those conditions on the poor health of the working population. This conclusion can’t be extended for all EU countries; some differences were observed in terms of global welfare models.

Following instructions from working memory: Why does action at encoding and recall help?

Two experiments investigated the consequences of action at encoding and recall on the ability to follow sequences of instructions. Children aged 7–9 years recalled sequences of spoken action commands under presentation and recall conditions that either did or did not involve their physical performance. In both experiments, recall was enhanced by carrying out the instructions as they were being initially presented and also by performing them at recall. In contrast, the accuracy of instruction-following did not improve above spoken presentation alone, either when the instructions were silently read or heard by the child (Experiment 1), or when the child repeated the spoken instructions as they were presented (Experiment 2). These findings suggest that the enactment advantage at presentation does not simply reflect a general benefit of a dual exposure to instructions, and that it is not a result of their self-production at presentation. The benefits of action-based recall were reduced following enactment during presentation, suggesting that the positive effects of action at encoding and recall may have a common origin. It is proposed that the benefits of physical movement arise from the existence of a short-term motor store that maintains the temporal, spatial, and motoric features of either planned or already executed actions.

Understanding Suicide and Help-seeking in Urban and Rural Areas in Northern Ireland

Funded by HSC R&D Division, Public Health Agency Why did we start? Most people who complete suicide are in contact with their family doctors or other services in the months prior to death. A better understanding of the nature of these contacts and the various pathways experienced by suicidal people should reveal the gaps and barriers to effective service provision. We also need better information about the difficulties experienced by family carers, both prior to the death and afterwards. Of particular interest to policy makers in Northern Ireland was a concern that people from rural areas may be at increasing risk of suicide. We were commissioned by the Health and Social Care R&D Division of the Northern Ireland Public Health Agency to address the gaps in our understanding of suicide in NI. What did we do? We undertook a mixed methods study in which we examined the records of 403 people who took their own lives over a two-year period between March 2007 and February 2009. We linked these data to GP records and then examined help-seeking pathways of people and their contacts with services. We did in-depth face-to-face interviews with 72 bereaved relatives and friends who discussed their understanding of the events and circumstances surrounding the death, the experience of seeking help for the family member, the personal impact of the suicide, and use of support services. Additionally, we interviewed 19 General Practitioners about their experiences of managing people who died by suicide.            

Understanding the Patient Experience Through the Power of Film: a Mixed Method Qualitative Research Study

Background For decades film has proved to be a powerful form of communication. Whether produced as entertainment, art or documentary, films have the capacity to inform and move us. Films are a highly attractive teaching instrument and an appropriate teaching method in health education. It is a valuable tool for studying situations most transcendental to human beings such as pain, disease and death. Objectives The objectives were to determine how this helps students engage with their role as health care professionals; to determine how they view the personal experience of illness, disease, disability or death; and to determine how this may impact upon their provision of patient care. Design, Setting and Participants The project was underpinned by the film selection determined by considerate review, intensive scrutiny, contemplation and discourse by the research team. 7 films were selected, ranging from animation; foreign, documentary, biopic and Hollywood drama. Each film was shown discretely, in an acoustic lecture theatre projected onto a large screen to pre-registration student nurses (adult, child and mental health) across each year of study from different cohorts (n = 49). Method A mixed qualitative method approach consisted of audio-recorded 5-minute reactions post film screening; coded questionnaires; and focus group. Findings were drawn from the impact of the films through thematic analysis of data sets and subjective text condensation categorised as: new insights looking through patient eyes; evoking emotion in student nurses; spiritual care; going to the moves to learn about the patient experience; self discovery through films; using films to link theory to practice. Results Deeper learning through film as a powerful medium was identified in meeting the objectives of the study. Integration of film into pre registration curriculum, pedagogy, teaching and learning is recommended. Conclusion The teaching potential of film stems from the visual process linked to human emotion and experience. Its impact has the power to not only help in learning the values that underpin nursing, but also for respecting the patient experience of disease, disability, death and its reality.