Psychology
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/31846
2024-03-28T13:16:39Z
2024-03-28T13:16:39Z
The Hummingbird Project Year 2: Decreasing Distress and Fostering Flourishing in a Pragmatic Pre-Post Study
Platt, Ian A.
Hochard, Kevin
Kannangara, Chathurika
Tytherleigh, Michelle
Carson, Jerome
McFaul, Claudine
North, Catherine
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/628557
2024-03-22T01:35:57Z
The Hummingbird Project Year 2: Decreasing Distress and Fostering Flourishing in a Pragmatic Pre-Post Study
Platt, Ian A.; Hochard, Kevin; Kannangara, Chathurika; Tytherleigh, Michelle; Carson, Jerome; McFaul, Claudine; North, Catherine
Multi-component Positive Psychology Interventions (mPPIs) in secondary schools have been shown to improve mental health outcomes for young people. The Hummingbird Project mPPI is a six-week program of workshops designed to introduce a variety of positive psychology (PP) concepts to secondary school aged children in schools to improve well-being, resilience, and hope. The effects on mental distress, however, were not explored. The current study, therefore, was designed to replicate the effects of the Hummingbird Project mPPI on positive mental health and to also explore the effects on symptoms of mental distress. Secondary school-aged children (N = 614; mean age = 11.46 years) from a sample of secondary schools located across the North West of England (N = 7) participated in the study; the majority of children were in Year 7 (94%). The PP concepts explored included happiness, hope, resilience, mindfulness, character strengths, growth mindset, and gratitude. The results showed significant improvements associated with the mPPI in well-being (as measured by the World Health Organization Well-Being Index; WHO-5), hope (as measured by the Children’s Hope Scale; CHS), and symptoms of mental distress (as measured by the Young Person’s Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation; YP-CORE) from pre- to post-intervention. While acknowledging the limits due to pragmatic concerns regarding the implementation of a control group, the effectiveness of the Hummingbird Project mPPI on well-being was replicated alongside reducing the symptoms of mental distress. Future evaluation, however, will need to implement more robust designs and consider follow-up duration to assess the longer-term effects of the Hummingbird Project mPPI.
How do we know educational interventions work?
Hochard, Kevin
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/628556
2024-03-21T04:39:25Z
2024-02-13T00:00:00Z
How do we know educational interventions work?
Hochard, Kevin
The overall aim of this chapter is to focus on the process of, and issues warranting consideration for, the evaluation of educational interventions. In particular, to outline some key considerations for educators to follow when assessing the evidence-base for interventions they might be considering for use in their practice. Also, important considerations for those wishing to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention they have initiated, as well as a useful checklist which summarises this all. Recognising that some readers of this chapter might be practitioners rather than researchers, it has been written with the practitioner in mind in, hopefully, a simple and practical way. There are, however, further opportunities for additional reading and resources signposted throughout for those who wish to read up on any of these areas more. In addition to those cited throughout and referenced in the Reference list at the end, there is also section that provides the author’s Additional recommended Readings and Resources to follow-up on. Readers might also want to refer to Chapter 3 in this book which
discusses Single versus Multiple PPI approaches.
© 2024 Kevin D. Hochard. This AAM is provided for your own personal use only. It may not be used for resale, reprinting, systematic distribution, emailing, or for any other commercial purpose without the permission of the publisher.
2024-02-13T00:00:00Z
Demographic and clinical characteristics impact the use of restrictive interventions in an adolescent inpatient unit
Doyle, Lesley
Hochard, Kevin
Wadsworth, Robynne
Pender, Fiona
Watkin, Anna
Jaydeokar, Sujeet
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/628555
2024-03-21T04:40:50Z
Demographic and clinical characteristics impact the use of restrictive interventions in an adolescent inpatient unit
Doyle, Lesley; Hochard, Kevin; Wadsworth, Robynne; Pender, Fiona; Watkin, Anna; Jaydeokar, Sujeet
In adolescents admitted to mental health inpatient units, restrictive interventions are associated with a risk of physical and psychological harm. Mental health policy and legal frameworks advocate least restrictive options and there is a drive to reduce the use of restrictive interventions in inpatient units. There is insufficient evidence pertaining to the characteristics of UK adolescents who are at risk of experiencing restrictive interventions within general adolescent mental health units. This study aimed to determine whether demographic and clinical characteristics are associated with the use and type of restrictive interventions.
A retrospective cohort study was conducted using routinely collected data from a general adolescent unit in the National Health Service (NHS) in England, UK, over a 2-year period (1st January 2021 to 31st December 2022).
There were three key findings. Of the 122 adolescents admitted, 46(38%) experienced restrictive intervention. Characteristics associated with the increased use of restrictive interventions included diagnosis of behavioural and emotional disorders and being a child looked after by the local authority. Being male was significantly associated with seclusion and being a child looked after was significantly associated with the use of physical and chemical interventions.
These findings have important implications for policy and practice; they highlight the need for careful consideration by professionals, as to whether the risks of admission including the increased risk of restrictive interventions outweigh the potential benefits and for further consideration of the most appropriate strategies for reducing the need for and use of restrictive interventions.
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health on PUBLICATION DATE, available online: doi
Ape recognition of familiar human faces changed by time and COVID-19 face masks
Murray, Lindsay
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/628532
2024-03-09T02:31:59Z
Ape recognition of familiar human faces changed by time and COVID-19 face masks
Murray, Lindsay
Reports of primates being able to recognise familiar humans are rare in the literature and tend to be regarded as anecdotal. The COVID-19 pandemic created two unique conditions facilitating the observation of spontaneous face recognition in zoo apes: i) lengthy gaps in contact with human visitors due to lockdowns and zoo closures, and ii) the wearing of face masks obscuring at least half the face of familiar individuals. Here, I report on the historical context of the familiarity between a primatologist and individual apes of two species, how those apes consistently showed recognition of this particular human over a time span of up to thirty years, how facial recognition was extended to family members, and how recognition persisted even when a significant portion of the face was obscured by a mask. This constitutes, to my knowledge, the first documented cases of recognition of familiar human faces changed by time and COVID-19 face masks in two great ape species. Although based on just two individuals, the documentation of this ability is important because it arose in a more naturalistic and spontaneous context compared to typical face processing research in which primates are tested with experimental stimuli in a laboratory setting. Implications for face processing theory and applications for the therapeutic utility of faces are discussed. These observations provide insight into the evolutionary origins of face recognition and, sitting at the interface of science and society, are of interest to a wide audience.