scholarly journals Continuation of an eating disorders day programme during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Plumley ◽  
Anna Kristensen ◽  
Paul E. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Level Of Care ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Careful Management ◽  
Virtual Clinic

AbstractThe current paper describes an adaptation of a daypatient programme for adults with anorexia nervosa in the UK in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent government guidelines. The paper details how the programme, which is normally delivered face-to-face, became a ‘virtual’ clinic, providing support to a group of patients via the Internet and conducting its core activities almost exclusively via videoconferencing. Anxiety around the pandemic influenced patients’ feelings about recovery, and there were concerns about the programme moving online, which necessitated careful management. It has been possible to continue an intensive level of care given wider organisational backing and the support of the patients involved. Some of the patients’ reflections on the experience are included in the article. As well as the adaptations, the article also discusses some of the challenges and opportunities encountered, in the hope of guiding similar services.

scholarly journals Learning and assessment credibility: The design of examination strategies in a changing learning environment

2013 ◽  
pp. 104-116
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Academic Skills ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Careful Attention ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Uk ◽  
A Company

Learning environments for higher education have changed considerably in the last 20 years, especially since the advent of the internet. In addition to the change in learning technologies has come an increasing politicisation of higher education and in the UK a change from being virtually free in the 1980s to one where annual costs (Sheffield Press Release, 2012) can now be in excess of £9000 p.a. Since there are various routes to attaining higher education and commercialisation and competition are being introduced, the output of the systems, i.e. a student’s learning, is a factor which needs very careful attention and a moderating system is required, external to the educational providers, to ensure even quality. This should test a candidate’s learning, not the educational process. Academic skills are one measure of a candidate, but other qualities are often sought by employers, such as flexibility and breadth of learning to ensure that a company is able to respond to new market challenges and opportunities. Traditional examinations do not always test such skills. It is suggested in this paper, that in order to accommodate the wide variety of routes to education, some candidates might register only for examinations at a university and not the course itself. In addition some ways of obtaining more information about a candidate’s abilities are suggested.

scholarly journals A sieve that does hold a little water – gambling advertising and protection of the vulnerable in the UK

Legal Studies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Hörnle ◽  
Malgorzata A Carran
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory System ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Limited Effect ◽  
Regulatory Standards ◽  
Vulnerable People ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Vulnerable Persons

AbstractThe internet, social media and online profiling have fundamentally changed advertising, and the regulation of gambling advertising has not yet managed to address the challenges and opportunities arising from this technological shift. Furthermore, the regulation of gambling does not take into account sufficiently the needs of children and vulnerable persons. We review the empirical research on the impact of gambling advertising and show how regulatory standards firmly adhere to the transmission theory of communication that prioritises the communicative intent of the advertiser over how the advertising message is received by or impacts on vulnerable people. This article reviews the law on gambling advertising and argues that for gambling, the restrictions imposed by the largely co-regulatory system only have limited effect. We compare the regulation of gambling advertising, by way of analogy, to a sieve that holds only a little water, and make recommendations for legal reform.

User Attitudes to E-Government Citizen Services in Europe

2011 ◽  
pp. 2634-2642
Author(s):  
Jeremy Millard
Keyword(s):  
Data Privacy ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Government Services ◽  
New Information ◽  
User Attitudes ◽  
Potential Demand ◽  
The Uk ◽  
European Union Member States

In 2005, the eUSER project undertook a questionnaire survey covering about 10,000 households in 10 European Union member states, the purpose of which was to provide some of the first systematic evidence in Europe of citizen user behaviour and their attitudes to the use of public services, and particularly the role of e-services in this context. The survey focused on a number of themes — the public’s use of government services, the different channels (or media) employed, the nature of potential future demand for e-government, the barriers and experiences in using e-government, and the socio-economic attributes of e-government users compared with non-users. The results provide important new information on the role that the Internet is now playing in the delivery and take-up of government services by European citizens. Face-to-face contact is still the most important channel for contacting government in Europe. In some countries (e.g., the UK), however, telephone and post have overtaken face-to-face. Results also show that potential demand for e-government services is about 50% of all government users and could be higher. One quarter of individual e-government users have acted as intermediaries for family members or friends, and one quarter have also done so on behalf of their employer. Most barriers that users anticipate they will meet when using e-government relate to difficulty in actually starting, with a feeling that face-to-face is better and the fear about data privacy important. However, once citizens have used e-government services, the barriers appear less, though still important, and relate mainly to the difficulty of feeling left alone with problems or questions.

The health service use and cost of eating disorders

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (11) ◽  
pp. 1543-1551 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUDIT SIMON ◽  
ULRIKE SCHMIDT ◽  
STEPHEN PILLING
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Health Care Cost ◽  
Health Service Use ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Care Costs ◽  
Cost Of Illness Studies

Background. The economic burden and health service use of eating disorders have received little attention, although such data are necessary to estimate the implications of any changes in clinical practice for patient care and health care resource requirements. This systematic review reports the current international evidence on the resource use and cost of eating disorders.Method. Relevant literature (1980–2002) was identified from searches of electronic databases and expert contacts.Results. Two cost-of-illness studies from the UK and Germany, one burden-of-disease study from Australia and 14 other publications with relevant data from the UK, USA, Austria, Denmark and The Netherlands could be identified. In the UK, the health care cost of anorexia nervosa was estimated to be £4·2 million in 1990. In Germany, the health care cost was €65 million for anorexia nervosa and €10 million for bulimia nervosa during 1998. The Australian study reported the health care costs of eating disorders to be Aus$22 million for year 1993/1994. Other costing studies focused mostly on in-patient care reporting highly variable estimates. There is a dearth of research on non-health care costs.Conclusions. The limited available evidence reflects a general under-detection and under-treatment of eating disorders. Although both cost-of-illness studies may significantly underestimate the costs of eating disorders because of important omitted cost items, other evidence suggests that the economic burden is likely to be substantial. Comprehensive data on the resource use of patients with eating disorders are urgently needed for better estimations, and to be able to determine cost-effective treatment options.

scholarly journals The Internet Addiction Test: Factor structure, measurement invariance, and psychometric properties of a six-item version among Spanish women with eating disorders

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amira Mohammed Ali ◽  
Amin Omar Hendawy ◽  
Hiroshi Kunugi
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Eating Disorder ◽  
Internet Addiction ◽  
Criterion Validity ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Scalar Variance ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Group 1

Abstract Background: Eating disorders and internet addiction are widespread conditions that have considerably increased because of the current lockdown. Their comorbidity is frequently undiscovered, which may increase patients’ distress and hamper recovery. Identifying the constructs of internet addiction may facilitate its detection and management. The Internet Addiction Test is widely used to evaluate internet addiction among students and healthy adults, with less agreement on its dimensional structure.Objectives: To examine the structure of the Internet Addiction Test and its invariance among patients with eating disorders.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses evaluated the structure of the Internet Addiction Test among 123 women with eating disorders (59 women with anorexia nervosa (group 1) and 64 women with other eating disorders (group 2)) recruited from the General University Hospital of Ciudad Real between February and November 2018. Multigroup analysis examined invariance of the Internet Addiction Test across eating disorder groups, and correlation with the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale examined its criterion validity.Results: One factor explained 83.4%, 74.4%, and 87.4% of the variances in the whole sample, group 1, and group 2, with excellent reliability (coefficient alpha = 0.99, 0.98, and 0.99, respectively). In confirmatory factor analysis, two- and bifactor structures (a general factor with two specific factors: Emotional and cognitive preoccupation; Loss of control and interference with daily life) expressed some satisfactory fit in all groups, but they displayed metric and scalar variance—less tendency of women with anorexia nervosa to endorse items 14, 15, and 16. A 12-item version expressed a better fit. However, the six-item Internet Addiction Test expressed the best fit, along with configural and metric invariance across groups, and excellent reliability (coefficient alpha = 0.97, 0.95, and 0.98, respectively). The criterion validity of the Internet Addiction Test, the12-item version, and our six-item version was confirmed by strong positive correlations with the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (r = 0.906, 0.883, and 0.878, respectively).Conclusion: The Internet Addiction Test is a unidimensional or bidimensional measure. The six-item version expresses better fit, less variance, and comparable reliability and criterion validity to the Internet Addiction Test and the 12-item version. Its brevity allows test batteries to include several measures. Scalar variance implies that differences in the properties of the Internet Addiction Test across eating disorder groups may cause statistical differences in group means, which should be considered when conducting interventional studies. Further investigations are intensely needed.

scholarly journals The experiential perspectives of parents caring for a loved one with a restrictive eating disorder in the UK

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Cribben ◽  
Pamela Macdonald ◽  
Janet Treasure ◽  
Erica Cini ◽  
Dasha Nicholls ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Eating Disorder ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Experience Of Care ◽  
The Uk

Background Parents of a loved one with an eating disorder report high levels of unmet needs. Research is needed to understand whether clinical guidance designed to improve the experience of parents has been effective. Aims To establish parents’ experiential perspectives of eating disorder care in the UK, compared with guidance published by Beat, a UK eating disorders charity, and Academy for Eating Disorders, the leading international eating disorders professional association. Method A total of six focus groups (one online and five face-to-face) were held throughout the UK. A total of 32 parents attended. All participants were parents of a loved one with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa or atypical anorexia nervosa (mean age 22 years; mean duration of illness 4.4 years). Focus groups were transcribed, and the text was analysed with an inductive approach, to identify emerging themes. Results Four key themes were identified: (a) impact of eating disorder on one's life, (b) current service provisions, (c) navigating the transition process and (d) suggestions for improvement. Conclusions Current experiences of parents in the UK do not align with the guidelines published by Beat and Academy of Eating Disorders. Parents identified a number of changes that healthcare providers could make, including improved information and support for parents, enhanced training of professionals, consistent care across all UK service providers, policy changes and greater involvement of families in their loved one's care. Findings from this project informed the design of a national web-survey on loved ones’ experience of care in eating disorders.

scholarly journals P067 Virtual care: the future, but to what extent?

Rheumatology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe Rutter-locher ◽  
Nikita Arumalla ◽  
Zoe Bright ◽  
Toby Garrood
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Patient Survey ◽  
Outpatient Setting ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Virtual Care ◽  
Potential Strategy ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Feedback Data ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Virtual Clinic

Abstract Background/Aims  The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated profound changes to the delivery of healthcare in the UK. Our aim was to analyse whether a move to virtual care is beneficial and sustainable in a rheumatology outpatient setting. Methods  Data on volume of unscheduled access to an outpatient rheumatology service and questionnaire feedback responses from patients and rheumatology clinicians on virtual consultations, was analysed. Results  During the COVID-19 pandemic period of March - July 2020, our department saw a majority of face to face outpatient rheumatology clinic appointments transferred to virtual (telephone/video) with a significant reduction in the number of scheduled clinics. In addition, the volume of telephone appointments booked online by patients saw a 27.2% rise (n = 2248) compared to March - July 2019 (n = 1767), with a 23.7% increase in telephone helpline calls in the 2020 period (n = 3246) compared to 2019 (n = 2624) and over a 300% increase in email helpline activity. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 382 patients (Table 1). 86% of patients felt they got a lot out of a virtual appointment, but 13% would prefer not to use it again. Of the 16 healthcare providers that responded, 12 (75%) were satisfied with the virtual clinic set up, but only 2/16 (13%) felt the same could be achieved for patients in a virtual setting compared to a face-to-face visit. The lack of clinical examination was a major limitation for clinicians 12/16 (75%) and was similarly identified amongst patient feedback (42/260) (16%). Conclusion  Virtual care with the provision for patient-led care allows convenience for the patient with high patient satisfaction, however this is not necessarily an approach that suits all. Clinicians must beware the non-complaining patient, and careful selection of those suitable for virtual care may be needed. Our model of patient led care using telephone appointments booked online by patients coupled with telephone/email helplines is a potential strategy for other centers to develop. Ongoing patient and healthcare provider feedback, data on the effect on clinical outcomes and detailed quality improvement cycles are vital to adjust services over the coming months. P067 Table 1:Results of patient survey on Virtual Clinic experienceDemographicsGenderFemale293 (77%)AgeAge 16-64269 (70%)Age 65-80+94 (25%)RaceWhite British233 (60%)BAME72 (18%)ConsultationsModeTelephone366 (96%)Video11 (3%)TypeNew45 (13%)Follow up333 (87%)ClinicianDoctor324 (85%)Nurse32 (8%)AHP26 (7%)Time from appointment to contactOn time or early195(51%)Up to 15 minutes57 (15%)15-30 minutes36 (9%)>30 minutes41 (11%)Length of appointment<15 minutes184 (48%)15-30 minutes164 (43%)>30 minutes23 (6%)FeedbackWas the length of the appointment right?About right352 (92%)Too short19 (5%)Did you get everything out of this appointment as you would in a face-to-face session?Yes, definitely206 (54%)Yes, to some extent121 (32%)No49 (13%)Did you feel involved in the decision made about your care?Yes, definitely277 (73%)Yes, to some extent57 (15%)No21 (6%)Did you feel you received the information you required?Yes, definitely251 (66%)Yes, to some extent92 (24%)No16 (4%)How would you rate the appointment?Very good/good327 (86%)Neither good nor poor24 (6%)Poor/very poor14 (4%)Would you prefer to use this again for your next appointment?Yes, definitely124 (32%)Yes, to some extent182 (48%)No61 (16%)*Missing data if patient did not respond to the questions. Disclosure  Z. Rutter-locher: None. N. Arumalla: None. Z. Bright: None. T. Garrood: None.

scholarly journals Principles of protein structure: an established Internet-based course in structural biology

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Sansom ◽  
David Moss
Keyword(s):  
Protein Structure ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Virtual Education ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Educational Materials ◽  
Birkbeck College ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Traditional Courses ◽  
University Level ◽  
The Uk

The Internet is becoming an important medium for the delivery of educational materials. However, relatively few institutions are delivering whole courses using this medium. More often, the technologies are used to complement traditional courses, which may be given face-to-face or at a distance (Farrell, 1999). The Department of Crystallography at Birkbeck College, London, has been in the vanguard of the development of 'virtual education', providing some of the first accredited postgraduate courses in the UK to be offered entirely using the new technologies. For the past four years, we have been running an Advanced Certificate course entitled 'Principles of Protein Structure using the Internet'1 (Sansom, Walshaw and Moss, 1997) (PPS). See http://www.cryst.bbk.aauk/pps for more details. This was one of the first tutor-assisted, accredited, university-level courses to be taught entirely over the Internet, and is certainly the first in biochemistry in the UK.DOI:10.1080/0968776000080204 

scholarly journals Studying the Meta-Accuracy First Impressions in the Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Reality: Challenges and Opportunities Presented by Internet Research

E-methodology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 140-150
Author(s):  
ELENA TSANKOVA ◽  
ERGYUL TAIR
Keyword(s):  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Synchronous Communication ◽  
First Impressions ◽  
Internet Research ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
First Impression ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Internet Study

Aim. Studying first impressions meta-accuracy (how accurately we understand thefirst impressions others form about us) is central to enhancing the communication process.It typically requires experimental settings with at least minimal interactions between targets and perceivers. The COVID-19 pandemic has rendered face-to-face laboratory setupsalmost impossible. Fortunately, the Internet offers a virtual environment where the metaaccuracy of first impressions could be studied safely. We review the opportunities andchallenges associated with the Internet study of meta-accuracy and make a call for actionto address them.Concept. In certain ways the Internet facilitates the study of first impressions metaaccuracy. It is simpler and faster online, compared to the lab, to look at fi rst impressionsin asynchronous settings, such as email and social media updates, where targets presentthemselves via images and/or text and perceivers later form impressions based on thisinformation. The Internet research solution, however, also comes with an array of difficulties. Synchronous communication settings, where targets and perceivers exchange information without delay, (e.g., instant messaging), present three major types of challenges tostudy of first impression meta-accuracy—conceptual (e.g., differences between online andoffline first impression situations), technological (e.g., implementation of chat applications inInternet surveys), and policy-driven (e.g., GDPR).Conclusions. The opportunities and challenges presented by the Internet in the studyof first impression meta-accuracy also apply to the larger field of studying human interaction online. Discussing and addressing them has the potential to enhance Internet researchtools and practices for the humanities and social sciences.

scholarly journals Using an OCD formulation in the treatment of anorexia nervosa: a useful way to understand the illness?

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Treatment Techniques ◽  
Potential Benefits

AbstractAnorexia nervosa (AN) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) have been shown to have a number of commonalities, such as genetics, neurobiology, and symptoms. Approaches to treatment of AN have recently been described that take such findings into account, extending interventions recommended for obsessive compulsive and anxiety disorders to AN. The current paper aims to outline a formulation model of AN in adults, derived from the literature on OCD, and introduce this topic as a fruitful area to build on existing treatment techniques, and to prompt further discussion of such techniques. A formulation model is described, followed by a discussion of how this might be applied to AN, using examples from clinical practice. Potential benefits and difficulties are discussed. A formulation model is suggested that can easily be adapted to AN, complementing existing models in eating disorders.

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