scholarly journals Pushing the limits of recovery in chronic stroke survivors: User perceptions of the Queen Square Upper Limb Neurorehabilitation Programme

Author(s):  
K Kelly ◽  
F Brander ◽  
A Strawson ◽  
NS Ward ◽  
KS Hayward

AbstractIntroductionThe Queen Square Upper Limb (QSUL) Neurorehabilitation Programme is a clinical service within the National Health Service in the United Kingdom that provides 90 hours of therapy over three weeks to stroke survivors with persistent upper limb impairment. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of participants of this programme, including clinicians, stroke survivors and carers.DesignDescriptive qualitative.SettingClinical outpatient neurorehabilitation service.ParticipantsClinicians (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation assistants) involved in the delivery of the QSUL Programme, as well as stroke survivors and carers who had participated in the programme were purposively sampled. Each focus group followed a series of semi-structured, open questions that were tailored to the clinical or stroke group. One independent researcher facilitated all focus groups, which were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed by four researchers using a thematic approach to identify main themes.ResultsFour focus groups were completed: three including stroke survivors (n = 16) and carers (n =2), and one including clinicians (n = 11). The main stroke survivor themes related to psychosocial aspects of the programme (“you feel valued as an individual”), as well as the behavioural training provided (“gruelling, yet rewarding”). The main clinician themes also included psychosocial aspects of the programme (“patient driven ethos – no barriers, no rules”), and knowledge, skills and resources of clinicians (“it is more than intensity, it is complex”).ConclusionsAs an intervention, the QSUL Programme is both comprehensive and complex. The impact of participation in the programme spans psychosocial and behavioural domains from the perspectives of both the stroke survivor and clinician.Strengths and limitationsDescriptive qualitative study of the perception of users (stroke survivor, carer, clinician) engaged in the delivery of the Queen Square Upper Limb Neurorehabilitation Programme, which is run at a single centre in the United Kingdom.Focus groups were completed by a researcher independent of the programme, without the involvement of senior management to facilitate open discussion and critical reflection of the programme.This study involved a sample of users that were involved in the programme in the previous 12-months.Data coding was performed by four researchers enhancing the validity of the results.As only two carers were included in the focus groups, their experience has limited representation in the results.

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e036481
Author(s):  
Kate Kelly ◽  
Fran Brander ◽  
Amanda Strawson ◽  
Nick Ward ◽  
Kathryn Hayward

IntroductionThe Queen Square Upper Limb (QSUL) Neurorehabilitation Programme is a clinical service within the National Health Service in the UK that provides 90-hours of therapy over 3-weeks to stroke survivors with persistent upper limb impairment. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of participants of this programme, including clinicians, stroke survivors and caregivers.DesignDescriptive qualitative. Data analysis was performed using a conventional thematic content approach to identify main themes by four researchers to avoid any potential bias or personal motivations, promoting confirmability.SettingClinical outpatient neurorehabilitation service.ParticipantsClinicians (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation assistants) involved in the delivery of the QSUL Programme, as well as stroke survivors and caregivers who had participated in the programme were purposively sampled. Each focus group followed a series of semi-structured, open questions that were tailored to the clinical or stroke group. One independent researcher facilitated all focus groups, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim by a professional transcription agency.ResultsFour focus groups were completed: three including stroke survivors (n=16) and caregivers (n=2), and one including clinicians (n=11). The main stroke survivor themes related to psychosocial aspects of the programme (‘you feel valued as an individual’), as well as the behavioural training provided (‘gruelling, yet rewarding’). The main clinician themes also included psychosocial aspects of the programme (‘patient driven ethos—no barriers, no rules’) and knowledge, skills and resources of clinicians (‘it is more than intensity, it is complex’).ConclusionsAs an intervention, stroke survivors and clinicians consider the QSUL Programme to be both comprehensive and complex. The nature of the interventions in the programme spans psychosocial and behavioural domains. We suggest the future clinical trials of upper limb rehabilitation consider testing the efficacy of these multiple interacting components.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Aura Goldman ◽  
Misia Gervis

Though sexism has been recognized as problematic in sport, its impact on female sport psychologists in the United Kingdom has not yet been investigated. The purpose of this research was to explore the impact of sexism and its influence on practice. Four semistructured focus groups were conducted, comprising 11 sport psychologists who worked in the United Kingdom. Thematic analysis revealed four general themes: the environment, privileging masculinity, acts of sexism, and the feminine. Participants’ discourse suggests that female sport psychologists are impacted by sexism in their workplaces. Gendered power differentials, coupled with the low status of sport psychology within sport, exacerbated the challenges faced by female sport psychologists. This study contributes to making up for the dearth of research on the impact of sexism on sport psychologists. Suggestions are made with regard to implications for practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-151
Author(s):  
Andrea Circolo ◽  
Ondrej Hamuľák

Abstract The paper focuses on the very topical issue of conclusion of the membership of the State, namely the United Kingdom, in European integration structures. The ques­tion of termination of membership in European Communities and European Union has not been tackled for a long time in the sources of European law. With the adop­tion of the Treaty of Lisbon (2009), the institute of 'unilateral' withdrawal was intro­duced. It´s worth to say that exit clause was intended as symbolic in its nature, in fact underlining the status of Member States as sovereign entities. That is why this institute is very general and the legal regulation of the exercise of withdrawal contains many gaps. One of them is a question of absolute or relative nature of exiting from integration structures. Today’s “exit clause” (Art. 50 of Treaty on European Union) regulates only the termination of membership in the European Union and is silent on the impact of such a step on membership in the European Atomic Energy Community. The presented paper offers an analysis of different variations of the interpretation and solution of the problem. It´s based on the independent solution thesis and therefore rejects an automa­tism approach. The paper and topic is important and original especially because in the multitude of scholarly writings devoted to Brexit questions, vast majority of them deals with institutional questions, the interpretation of Art. 50 of Treaty on European Union; the constitutional matters at national UK level; future relation between EU and UK and political bargaining behind such as all that. The question of impact on withdrawal on Euratom membership is somehow underrepresented. Present paper attempts to fill this gap and accelerate the scholarly debate on this matter globally, because all consequences of Brexit already have and will definitely give rise to more world-wide effects.


2021 ◽  
pp. 203228442199492
Author(s):  
Catherine Van de Heyning

The submission discusses the provisions in the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement on data protection as well as the consequences for the exchange of passenger name record data in the field of criminal and judicial cooperation. The author concludes that the impact of the Agreement will depend on the resolvement of the United Kingdom to uphold the standards of protection of personal data equivalent to the EU’s in order to reach an adequacy decision.


Author(s):  
Ming-Bo Liu ◽  
Géraldine Dufour ◽  
Zhuo-Er Sun ◽  
Julieta Galante ◽  
Chen-Qi Xing ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Funda Hatice Sezgin ◽  
Yilmaz Bayar ◽  
Laura Herta ◽  
Marius Dan Gavriletea

This study explores the impact of environmental policies and human development on the CO2 emissions for the period of 1995–2015 in the Group of Seven and BRICS economies in the long run through panel cointegration and causality tests. The causality analysis revealed a bilateral causality between environmental stringency policies and CO2 emissions for Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and a unilateral causality from CO2 emissions to the environmental stringency policies for Canada, China, and France. On the other hand, the analysis showed a bilateral causality between human development and CO2 emissions for Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and unilateral causality from CO2 emissions to human development in Brazil, Canada, China, and France. Furthermore, the cointegration analysis indicated that both environmental stringency policies and human development had a decreasing impact on the CO2 emissions.


Author(s):  
Harriet Samuels

Abstract The article investigates the negative attitude towards civil society over the last decade in the United Kingdom and the repercussions for human rights. It considers this in the context of the United Kingdom government’s implementation of the policy of austerity. It reflects on the various policy and legal changes, and the impact on the campaigning and advocacy work of civil society organizations, particularly those that work on social and economic rights.


1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (6) ◽  
pp. S18
Author(s):  
E M Tansey

Animal experimentation has been subject to legislative control in the United Kingdom since 1876. This paper reviews the impact of that legislation, which was replaced in 1986, on the teaching of practical physiology to undergraduate students. Highlights and case studies are also presented, drawing on Government reports and statistics, published books and papers, and unpublished archival data.


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