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Research highlights that residential care experienced children and young people in Scotland have poorer educational outcomes than their peers within the wider population. Despite this, poor educational attainment is not inevitable, and further research is needed to increase the understanding of long-term trajectories. This paper aims to address a gap in contemporary literature that is of benefit to practitioners, academics and policymakers. Despite experiencing adversity, attachment, separation and loss, school attainment data on leaving care only reflects part of the educational journey.

Using a mixed methodology and social constructionist theoretical framework, a practitioner-led PhD study gathered data from questionnaires and qualitative information from 13 semi-structured interviews with young people who had experienced residential care in Scotland. Recruitment was through a gatekeeper within a national third-sector organisation. The educational trajectories for young people with experience of residential care in Scotland are complex. A lived experience perspective from a PhD study illustrates that statistical data only captures part of the journey and the author needs to reconsider how success is measured.

Of the 13 participants in the study, 12 achieved success educationally, although for the majority of those interviewed, attainment continued after leaving compulsory education. Barriers to greater success included placement uncertainty and movement, stigma, low expectations, pressure to not become a statistic, procedural obstacles and inconsistency or poor relationships.

Supportive relationships and stable placements can create circumstances conducive to effective learning, but evidence reflects that support is necessary throughout the life course if children, young people and adults with care experience are to reach their full academic potential.

Research into the educational outcomes for those with experience of residential care in Scotland is limited. This paper, from a PhD, provides lived experience accounts from a practitioner-led study.

First-generation college students in the United States are a unique demographic that is often characterized by the institutions that serve them with a risk-laden and deficit-based model. However, our analysis of the transcripts of open-ended, semi-structured interviews with 22 “first-gen” respondents suggests they are actively deft, agentic, self-determining parties to processes of identity construction that are both externally imposed and potentially stigmatizing, as well as exemplars of survivance and determination. We deploy a grounded theory approach to an open-coding process, modeled after the extended case method, while viewing our data through a novel synthesis of the dual theoretical lenses of structural and radical/structural symbolic interactionism and intersectional/standpoint feminist traditions, in order to reveal the complex, unfolding, active strategies students used to make sense of their obstacles, successes, co-created identities, and distinctive institutional encounters. We find that contrary to the dictates of prevailing paradigms, identity-building among first-gens is an incremental and bidirectional process through which students actively perceive and engage existing power structures to persist and even thrive amid incredibly trying, challenging, distressing, and even traumatic circumstances. Our findings suggest that successful institutional interventional strategies designed to serve this functionally unique student population (and particularly those tailored to the COVID-moment) would do well to listen deeply to their voices, consider the secondary consequences of “protectionary” policies as potentially more harmful than helpful, and fundamentally, to reexamine the presumption that such students present just institutional risk and vulnerability, but also present a valuable addition to university environments, due to the unique perspective and broader scale of vision their experiences afford them.

This paper aims to investigate the influence of health beliefs and trust by senior adults as associated with the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, for the acceptance of smart technology with a focus on smartwatch technology.

Structural equation modeling is used to conceptualize the model using survey data collected from 243 randomly selected senior adults 60+ years of age.

This paper presents that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust and health belief are direct and indirect predictors of senior adults’ technology acceptance and intention to use smartwatch technology.

The study reveals the moderator effect of social influence on relation between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and intention to use. The authors highlight the effect of health belief and trust on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use and the role of intention to use smartwatch technology.

The authors contribute bridging developers of health technologists and senior adults as end-user perspectives. For marketing of health-care technology products, specifically smartwatch, to seniors, a focus on health beliefs and trust is essential to build, maintain and improve perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.

The present study contributes empirical evidence to the literature on factors affecting the acceptance of the smartwatch technology by senior adults.

Gender-diverse people experience unique cultural and interpersonal stigma in mainstream society and sometimes within their own communities; they face allegations of inauthenticity based on their nonconformity to either cisnormative or transnormative gender regimes. Based on 21 in-depth life history interviews, we unveil the intricate interactional process of negotiating identity and authenticity in the biographical work of gender-diverse individuals. In this study, gender-diverse people engaged in a “gender audit” with their gender-diverse interviewer. Gender audits yield verbal performances of gender with oneself and others. Ambiguity was “accounted for” or “embraced and created” in their biographical work to organize their life stories and undermine binary essentialism – a discourse that was “discursively constraining.” Gender audits took place in participants' day-to-day lives, either through self-audits, questioning from others, or both. In the final analysis, we assert that we all engage in gender auditing. Gender audits are intersubjective sites of domination, subordination, resistance, and social change. Gender diversity, then, can be viewed as a product of gender in flux.

This paper aims to define intergenerational housing support and assesses and synthesizes the existing literature on intergenerational support for housing to identify trends and possible areas for future research.

The methodology employed in this paper is a systematic literature review. A total of 32 articles were chosen for assessment. Upon thorough review, summary and synthesis, general trends and three specific themes were identified.

The review of 32 papers found that intergenerational support is a crucial strategy to help younger generations achieve homeownership. However, it also highlights the potential for social inequity resulting from unequal distribution of housing resources within families, especially regarding housing. Several potential gaps in the current research are identified, including the need for explicit attention to the provider's intention, exploration into the size and form of financial support for housing, understanding how parental housing resources differ in their transfer behaviors, and examining how parental motivations influence them to provide housing support.

This paper provides recommendations for further research on the topic, while also adding perspective to understand the micro-social mechanisms behind the intergenerational reproduction of socioeconomic inequality, especially in the housing market.

This scoping review article aimed to systematically search the literature on the use, purpose and barriers of information and communication technology (ICT) for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) older adults in the host country. The review also conducted a search for literature on programs that aim to develop digital literacy skills for CALD older adults.

A scoping review approach was utilized to identify and search the available literature, and to map the key concepts. A total of 23 relevant articles were included following a systematic search across seven databases.

The review suggests that CALD older adults use ICT for various purposes, including social interaction, health management, information gathering, immigration, everyday routines and leisure. The barriers faced by these older adults in using ICT encompass fear and limited knowledge, language issues, lack of interest, limited access to technology and health concerns. The existing training programs focus on enhancing self-efficacy and confidence and promoting attitudinal changes toward ICT.

Despite the presence of empirical studies, few scoping or systematic reviews have focused on CALD older adults and technology. Research developments related to the technology use of CALD older adults and associated training programs have been fragmented and sporadic, resulting in gaps in the evidence base. This review fills such a gap to better understand the research status connected to CALD older people’s technology adoption and use.

A region’s transforming care partnership identified that autistic adults without an intellectual disability (ID) may be falling through gaps in services when presenting with a significant emotional and/or behavioural need in the absence of a mental health diagnosis. The region’s intensive support teams (ISTs) for adults with ID therefore piloted a short-term “behavioural support service” for this population. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate this pilot.

This study represents a mixed-methods service evaluation over a four year pilot period. The quantitative component examined referral rates and demographic data of accepted and declined referrals; and length of referral episodes and Health of The Nation Outcomes Scores (HoNOS) for accepted referrals. The qualitative component used thematic analysis to identify key themes relating to reasons for referral, clinical/therapeutic needs, and the models of support that most informed assessments and interventions at individual and systems levels.

The ISTs accepted 30 referrals and declined 53. Most accepted referrals were male (83%), and under 24 years old (57%). Average HoNOS scores were above the thresholds generally associated with hospital admission. Key qualitative themes were: transitional support; sexual risks/vulnerabilities; physical aggression; domestic violence; and attachment, trauma and personality difficulties. Support mostly followed psychotherapeutic modalities couched in trauma, attachment and second- and third-wave cognitive behavioural therapies. Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) did not emerge as a model of preference for service users or professionals.

This project represents one of the first of this type for autistic adults without an ID in the UK. It provides recommendations for future service development and research, with implications for Transforming Care policy and guidance.

To facilitate the reception and care of discharged patients, streamlining processes at the University Hospital and promoting a seamless transition to continuity of care services post-discharge.

Hospitalised patients undergo the Blaylock risk assessment screening score (BRASS), a screening tool identifying those at risk of complex discharge.

Pre-pandemic, patients with a medium-to-high risk of complex discharge were predominantly discharged to their residence or long-term care facilities. During the pandemic, coinciding with an overall reduction in hospitalisation rates, there was a decrease in patients being discharged to their residence.

The analysis of discharges, with the classification of patients into risk groups, revealed a coherence between the BRASS score and the characteristics of the studied sample. This tool aids physicians in decision-making by identifying the need for a planned discharge in a systematic and organised manner, preventing the loss of crucial information.

Values have long guided special education services and supports for students with extensive support needs; over the past four decades, those values have been backed by research evidence demonstrating the critical nature of values related to inclusive education, self-determination, and seeking strengths and assets. In this chapter, we investigate these values and their supporting research, documenting strengths and needs in extant research. We emphasize the need to continue to embrace and maintain these values while pursuing research that addresses research gaps while centering the priorities, perspectives, and preferences of people with extensive support needs.

This theoretical paper introduces a conceptual framework for Personal Cultural Heritage Management (PCHM), derived from prior research on migrants' information practices. It elaborates on the literature background and the development of the PCHM framework, highlighting the role of personal information management (PIM) and personal collections in the creation, access and utilization of cultural heritage information.

The study describes and explains the construction of the PCHM framework as a structured and self-motivated approach to personal heritage and identity learning.

Following the theoretical background and assumptions, along with the presentation of the key building blocks, the paper describes the key components of the framework, outlines their definitions and provides examples.

Theoretically, PCHM extends the current literature by encapsulating processes and actions employed by individuals to manage personal collections for cultural identity purposes, thereby underscoring the critical role personal collections play in both preserving and communicating cultural heritage.

PCHM can guide the development of support systems and policies to enhance cultural continuity and integration, thus empowering individuals to navigate their cultural identities confidently.

The PCHM framework creates a unique intersection between PIM and cultural heritage, providing a new perspective for understanding the dynamic evolution and formation of cultural identity among migrants.