scholarly journals Should we give military families a break? A call for research on military family holidays

2021 ◽  
pp. bmjmilitary-2021-001844
Author(s):  
Nick Caddick ◽  
M Fossey
Keyword(s):  
Military Families ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Military Family ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Tourism Studies ◽  
The Uk

While the well-being of the family unit is increasingly acknowledged (eg, in academic research, policy debate and podcast media) as central to the fitness and resilience of the Armed Forces, initiatives to support family well-being have been slow to emerge. One proposed means of support is the provision of holidays (whether abroad or ‘staycations’) to families who may be struggling to cope with stressors related to military life. Building on evidence from leisure and tourism studies, holidays are understood as providing benefits to family well-being, including rest and recuperation, respite from the stressors of everyday life, and building resilience and social capital. With a view to developing policy and practice, we suggest that research could meaningfully examine the use of holidays as a means of supporting military families. This article aims to stimulate debate regarding how families are supported within the UK Armed Forces.

scholarly journals Precarious Hope: Situated Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic from Undergraduate Students in Manchester, UK

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin Nunn ◽  
Chloe Germaine ◽  
Charlotte Ogden ◽  
Yasmin Miah ◽  
Jessica Marsh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Family Networks ◽  
Unique Event ◽  
Gig Economy ◽  
Transnational Family ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Opening Up

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the lives of young people, transforming and disrupting education provision, employment opportunities, social practices, mobilities, and experiences of health and well-being. In the UK context, the pandemic can be understood as both a unique event and as a further addition to the intersecting crises—including austerity and Brexit—that are increasingly shaping and constraining youth experiences and aspirations and exacerbating precarity and inequality. In this article, seven undergraduate students from Manchester, UK, with two academic co-authors, employ a co-productive approach to reflect on our experiences of the pandemic. Our autoethnographic accounts draw attention to the situated effects of the pandemic, and its intersection with existing challenges and pressures, including the gig economy, mental and physical ill health, and transnational family networks. At the same time, our narratives capture a sense of precarious hope: hopefulness that is both a product of precarity and itself precarious, opening up new possibilities for collectively imagining and pursuing viable and meaningful futures in uncertain times. Supporting our endeavours requires the inclusion of youth voices in research, policy, and practice; work we begin here.

scholarly journals Military Veterans and Welfare Reform: Bridging Two Policy Worlds through Qualitative Longitudinal Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Lisa Scullion ◽  
Katy Jones ◽  
Peter Dwyer ◽  
Celia Hynes ◽  
Philip Martin
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Military Veterans ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Veterans Affairs ◽  
Civilian Life ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk

There has been an increasing focus in the UK on the support provided to the Armed Forces community, with the publication of the Armed Forces Covenant (2011), the Strategy for our Veterans (2018) and the first ever Office for Veterans’ Affairs (2019). There is also an important body of research – including longitudinal research – focusing on transitions from military to civilian life, much of which is quantitative. At the same time, the UK has witnessed a period of unprecedented welfare reform. However, research focused on veterans’ interactions with the social security system has been largely absent. This article draws on the authors’ experiences of undertaking qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) to address this knowledge gap. We reflect on how QLR was essential in engaging policy makers enabling the research to bridge the two parallel policy worlds of veterans’ support and welfare reform, leading to significant policy and practice impact.

scholarly journals Historical Racist Violence and Intergenerational Harms: Accounts from Descendants of Lynching Victims

2021 ◽  
Vol 694 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-91
Author(s):  
Shytierra Gaston
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Violent Event ◽  
History Of ◽  
Racialized Violence ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
The U.S

African Americans are disproportionately victimized by various forms of racialized violence. This long-standing reality is rooted in America’s history of racist violence, one manifestation being racial lynchings. This article investigates the long-term, intergenerational consequences of racial lynchings by centering the voices and experiences of victims’ families. The data comprise in-depth interviews with twenty-two descendants of twenty-two victims lynched between 1883 and 1972 in the U.S. South. I employed a multistage qualitative analysis, revealing three main domains of harmful impacts: psychological, familial, and economic. The findings underscore that racist violence has imposed harm beyond victims and for many decades and generations after the violent event. These long-term, intergenerational harms, especially if multiplied across countless incidents, can fundamentally impact the well-being of individuals, families, and communities as well as contribute to structural and macrolevel forces. Findings from this study have implications for research, policy, and practice, including efforts toward redress and reparations.

scholarly journals Users and Social Science Research: Policy, Problems and Possibilities

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Rappert
Keyword(s):  
Research Policy ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Policy Problems

Recent times have seen a significant reorientation in public funding for academic research across many countries. Public bodies in the UK have been at the forefront of such activities, typically justified in terms of a need to meet the challenges of international competitiveness and improve quality of life. One set of mechanisms advanced for further achieving these goals is the incorporation of users’ needs into various aspects of the research process. This paper examines some of the consequences of greater user involvement in the UK Economic and Social Research Council by drawing on both empirical evidence and more speculative argumentation. In doing so it poses some of the dilemmas for conceptualizing proper user involvement.

Retrospective cohort study of outpatient mental health visits in children and youth in Canadian military families

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyson L. Mahar ◽  
Heidi Cramm ◽  
Isabel Garces ◽  
Alice B. Aiken ◽  
Simon Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Population ◽  
Military Families ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Health Services Use ◽  
Physician Visits ◽  
Outpatient Mental Health ◽  
Canadian Armed Forces

LAY SUMMARY This study tried to answer the question “Do children and youth in military families have a greater risk of emotional and behavioural problems than children and youth in the general population?” The authors used routinely collected health data from children and youth in Canadian Armed Forces families who relocated to Ontario, matched to data from children and youth in non-military families. They compared outpatient mental health services use, such as physician visits, and the reasons for those visits, such as depression. They found that children and youth in military families were more likely to visit a physician for specific mental health diagnoses than children and youth in the general population. More programming and resources supporting the mental health and well-being of children and youth in military families may be needed.

Reflex syncope in the UK Armed Forces

2021 ◽  
pp. bmjmilitary-2021-001945
Author(s):  
Iain Parsons ◽  
J Ellwood ◽  
M J Stacey ◽  
N Gall ◽  
M Grundy-Bowers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Information ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Well Being ◽  
British Army ◽  
Royal Air Force ◽  
Reflex Syncope ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Case Rate ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Military

IntroductionReflex syncope is the most common subtype of syncope and, despite not being associated with increased mortality, often results in significant morbidity and costly diagnostics. Reflex syncope can be of concern for certain occupational groups and may be exacerbated by some occupations. Reflex syncope in the military is anecdotally common but the extent in the UK Armed Forces (UKAF) is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence and prevalence of reflex syncope in the UKAF.MethodsA retrospective search of the Defence Medical Information Capability Programme using prespecified read-codes was performed at defence primary healthcare centres over the period of 1 January 2019 to 1 January 2020. Data were obtained on 76 103 service personnel (SP) (53% of the UKAF).ResultsThe overall syncope case rate for the UKAF was 10.5 per 1000 person-years (p-yrs). In comparing services there was a significantly increased risk of syncope in the British Army (10.7 per 1000 p-yrs) compared with the Royal Air Force (8.6 per 1000 p-yrs) (p=0.0365), SP who served overseas (16.7 per 1000 p-yrs) in comparison with UK medical centres (10.3 per 1000 p-yrs) (p<0.0001), and British Army units that regularly took part in State Ceremonial and Public Duties (15.8 per 1000 p-yrs vs 10.2 per 1000 p-yrs) (p=0.0035). Army training units conferred a significantly reduced risk of syncope (p<0.0001).ConclusionsThese data are the first to define the incidence and prevalence of syncope in the UKAF. Orthostasis and heat are probable triggers, although recruits are potentially protected. These data offer opportunities to improve the health and well-being of SP, with economic, logistical and reputational benefits for the UKAF. Further research to identify personnel at risk of future syncopal events may allow for targeted use of countermeasures.

Wellness tourism: a perspective article

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Kazakov ◽  
Olga Oyner
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tourism Studies ◽  
Wellness Tourism ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Research Stream ◽  
Economic Well Being

Purpose This paper aims to examine the development and significant contributions in a growing array of relevant publications spanning from 1946 to date and discuss future developments of the wellness tourism topic until the year 2095. Design/methodology/approach This perspective study traces down the wellness tourism evolution research by re-viewing and analysing an extant body of the relevant literature over the last 75 years. This paper builds a rigorous perspective review by examination of publications derived from several scientific domains, including tourism, medicine, economics and social sciences. Findings As a result of this study, wellness tourism can be attributed as a profuse and proliferating research stream in the recent 75 years. Its relevance to significant aspects of life, such as health and also due to effects on human, social, and economic well-being, drives its proliferation. The paper anticipates the relevance and topicality of wellness tourism studies for academic research in the next 75 years. Originality/value This paper contributes to the theory by addressing the ambiguous nature of wellness tourism, recapping the debate on the most debated research questions, and revealing the perspectives for future research in this area.

scholarly journals Working out What Works: The Role of Tacit Knowledge Where Urban Greenspace Research, Policy and Practice Intersect

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 5029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Dobson ◽  
Nicola Dempsey
Keyword(s):  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Urban Greenspace

Policymakers and practitioners working in urban greenspace management want to know what kind of interventions are effective in promoting mental wellbeing. In practice, however, they rely on multiple forms of knowledge, often in unwritten form. This paper considers how such knowledge is interpreted and used by a range of stakeholders to identify greenspace interventions to support residents’ health and wellbeing in one UK city. It examines the interface between academic research, policy and practice, drawing on the findings of a three-year study in Sheffield, UK. The Improving Wellbeing through the Urban Nature project investigated the links between ‘urban nature’ and mental health. One strand of the research sought to influence policy and practice, and this article presents findings and reflects on some of the processes of this exercise. It highlights the role of tacit knowledge in practice and its influence on practitioners’ choice of greenspace interventions and the challenges in drawing on such knowledge to influence policy. The findings affirm practice-based knowledge as socially situated, interpretively fashioned and politically weighted. This paper concludes by demonstrating the importance of considering the local context when devising policy prescriptions for greenspace provision and management.

Towards a holistic conceptualisation of early childhood educators’ work-related well-being

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Cumming ◽  
Sandie Wong
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Early Childhood Educators ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Key Aspects

Both the concept of well-being and the work of early childhood educators are complex. To date, research concerning educators’ well-being has lacked a comprehensive conceptualisation that reflects these complexities. With increased research, policy and practice attention, a clearly articulated conceptualisation is now needed to guide empirical research and practical efforts to better support educators’ well-being. In this article, the authors draw on multidisciplinary perspectives to propose such a conceptualisation. Philosophical, psychological, physiological, organisational science and sociological sources are explored and critiqued for their relevance to early childhood educators’ well-being. Key aspects of these sources, and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, are brought together to argue for a morally anchored conceptualisation which acknowledges that educators’ well-being is indivisible from the contexts in which it is experienced.

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