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1 – 10 of over 2000Rosaline Keenan, Ryan Lumber, Miles Richardson and David Sheffield
Visiting and connecting with nature through psychological interventions improves well-being within the general population. However, few such interventions have been conducted in…
Abstract
Purpose
Visiting and connecting with nature through psychological interventions improves well-being within the general population. However, few such interventions have been conducted in clinically relevant populations. This paper aims to address this gap by investigating the effectiveness of a nature-based psychological intervention within a clinically relevant sample.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental design using a noticing Three Good Things in Nature (TGTiN) task during a nature based or urban (control) walk was conducted with nature connectedness, well-being, positive and negative affect measured at baseline, post and six-week follow-up. Individuals living with depression and/or anxiety (n = 50; 39 having a diagnosis) were randomly allocated to 30 min walking in nature or urban environments for five consecutive days.
Findings
An ANCOVA, with age as co-variate, showed a significant effect of time by condition on all variables: nature connectedness ηp2 = 0.34; positive affect ηp2 = 0.42; negative affect ηp2 = 0.66; well-being ηp2 = 0.29. Post-hoc tests indicated a significant increase in nature connectedness and positive affect in the nature versus an urban walk at post and follow-up. Negative affect decreased in the nature walk at post intervention, while well-being was significantly greater in the nature walk at follow-up.
Originality/value
The TGTiN intervention effectively improves positive affect, and well-being in clinically relevant populations, although replication with a larger sample is warranted.
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Yasuhiro Kotera and David Sheffield
Although numerous national and organisational level approaches have taken to improve their mental health, Japanese workers still suffer from high rates of mental health problems…
Abstract
Purpose
Although numerous national and organisational level approaches have taken to improve their mental health, Japanese workers still suffer from high rates of mental health problems. Despite its worldwide application, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) has not been evaluated for these problems in-depth. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of NLP training for mental health among Japanese workers.
Design/methodology/approach
A pre-post test design with repeated measurements was used with 30 Japanese workers, who were undertaking NLP Practitioner Certification training. The effects on mental health were assessed with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale at pre-training, post-training and a three-month follow-up.
Findings
The mean scores of depression and stress decreased significantly, and mental well-being increased significantly between pre-training and post-training and between pre-training and follow-up. There was no significant difference between post-training and the follow-up for any of the measures.
Practical implications
The results suggest this training was effective for mental health of Japanese workers, and the positive effects on mental well-being were sustained.
Originality/value
This is the first ever study to empirically evaluate the effects of the regulated NLP training on the mental health of Japanese workers, conducted by researchers well-versed in NLP. This training might be conducive to improving the mental health of the Japanese workforce. Larger scale and/or controlled studies are needed.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the aims, objectives and approach to change adopted by the e3i CETL for Employability at Sheffield Hallam University and illustrates the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the aims, objectives and approach to change adopted by the e3i CETL for Employability at Sheffield Hallam University and illustrates the impact of change via three thematic case studies and an organising framework for understanding the locus of change with respect to work‐related learning: module curriculum and pedagogy (micro level), Faculty and Departmental strategies and operations, course design, structure and delivery (meso level), and institutional policies and processes (the macro level). These experiences are distilled to formulate recommendations for a modus operandi for those interested or involved with transforming higher education institutions (HEIs) to create a greater emphasis on and enhanced opportunities for students to engage with work‐related learning.
Design
A case studies approach is utilised to illustrate the work of the CETL in practice and generate insights.
Findings
Findings suggest that HEIs can successfully embrace the WRL agenda and make a significant contribution to achieving its aims and objectives. Central to this success is encouraging institutions to absorb WRL into their mission in an overt manner, providing guidance, support, encouragement, inspiration, resources and reward to colleagues involved in creating and facilitating WRL, and adopting a modus operandi with regards to change that resonates with institutional academic culture.
Practical implications
The paper suggests an approach to strategic and transformative change in HEIs that will be of interest to change agents across the sector.
Originality/value
The paper adds insights to the expanding literature on managing large‐scale change initiatives in HEIs.
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C.W. Neale and David D. Shipley
Provides insight into the credit offerings of manufacturers via an analysis of data which are unique in several ways. Focuses specifically on the dimensions of the credit package…
Abstract
Provides insight into the credit offerings of manufacturers via an analysis of data which are unique in several ways. Focuses specifically on the dimensions of the credit package supplied to customers for consumer and industrial goods in both domestic and export markets in the USA and the UK. Offers an analytical model for use in improving credit policy. Concludes first that, bi‐nationally, consumer goods firms tend to be more generous than industrial goods sellers, except in the matter of maximum credit duration; and second, that UK firms are more generous than their US counterparts in export markets.
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The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the life of Tony Lowe, Emeritus Professor of Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Sheffield, who died on 5 March…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the life of Tony Lowe, Emeritus Professor of Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Sheffield, who died on 5 March 2014. It celebrates Tony Lowe’s considerable direct contributions to accounting knowledge and, possibly more significantly, his indirect contribution through his enabling of a range of those associated with him at Sheffield to become scholars of distinction in their own right.
Design/methodology/approach
Publication review, personal reflections and argument.
Findings
Apart from providing insight into Tony Lowe's direct contribution to accounting knowledge through an analysis of a range of significant sole authored and joint authored publications, the paper gives rather more attention to his more indirect enabling contribution. In this regard it traces the development of initially the Management Control Association and subsequently the “Sheffield School” to Tony Lowe, clarifying the values that underlie these groups. It also clarifies how some of the key elements that have allowed the now global Interdisciplinary and Critical Perspectives on Accounting (ICPA) Project to exist and flourish are traceable to Tony Lowe and the “Sheffield School” he created.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides an important historical analysis of the direct and indirect influence of a unique scholar on the beginnings and development of particularly the now global ICPA Project. This history is personal and maybe selective and possibly limited because of this but hopefully will encourage others to investigate the claims further.
Originality/value
The history of the ICPA Project has only partially been told before. This is another part of this history that has not been analysed before on which further work can build.
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Jon Painter, Winola Chio, Liam Black and David Newman
This study aims to understand whether psychotropic prescribing practices for people with intellectual disabilities are in keeping with best practice guidelines.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand whether psychotropic prescribing practices for people with intellectual disabilities are in keeping with best practice guidelines.
Design/methodology/approach
This service evaluation project was a retrospective analysis of routinely collected data from the care records of all 36 people with intellectual disability discharged from an intellectual disability assessment and treatment unit during the first five years of the Stop Over medicating People with Intellectual Disabilities and/or autistic people (STOMP) initiative. Data were gathered at four time points (pre-admission, discharge, 6- and 12-month follow-up) before being analysed to understand whether psychotropic prescribing differed among people with different clinical characteristics/traits/diagnoses. Changes over time were also explored to ascertain whether and how prescribing altered from admission to discharge, and over the subsequent year of community living.
Findings
Most people with intellectual disabilities left the assessment and treatment unit on fewer regular psychotropic medications and at lower doses than at admission. These optimised regimes were still apparent 12 months post-discharge, suggesting effective discharge planning and community care packages. Inpatients with severe intellectual disabilities generally received more anxiolytics and hypnotics, at higher doses. Autistic people tended to receive more psychotropics in total and at higher cumulative doses, a pattern that persisted post discharge. A third of the sample were admitted on regular anti-psychotic medications despite having no corresponding psychotic diagnosis, a proportion that remained relatively stable through discharge and into the community.
Originality/value
This study highlights subsets of the intellectual disability population at particular risk of receiving high doses of psychotropics and a feasible template for providers intending to undertake STOMP-focused evaluations.
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Natalie Claire Haynes and David Egan
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the continued interest in the concept of “miniaturism” has seen the micropub develop into the new format of the microbar and examines…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the continued interest in the concept of “miniaturism” has seen the micropub develop into the new format of the microbar and examines the drivers of this trend. It then reflects on the possible implications of the rise of the microbar concept on the future of the urban tourism destination landscape.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper that is built on the natural curiosity of future studies to use an understanding of the present to predict what will happen next and what the implications of those developments will be.
Findings
The paper provides a clear definition of the microbar and identifies four distinctive drivers behind its conception, linked to changes in consumer behaviour. These cover the rise of the micro-break, the need for responsible urban regeneration, consumers desire for immediate and unique experiences and increasingly diverse populations. The paper predicts that these trends will drive an increase in microbars leading to greater tourist mobility in the urban tourism destination, more fragmentation and heterogeneity of products and services as well as an intensification in the need for authentic experiences and opportunity driven development giving rise to a hybrid form of guerrilla hospitality. Ultimately the authors predict that the venue will become more important than the specific location when consumers view the landscape of the urban tourism destination.
Originality/value
The focus of previous academic research has been on the historic development of the micropub and its impact on regeneration and communities, but very little literature has examined the rise of the microbar and the potential implications for the urban tourism destination.
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