From waste to value? Balancing climate and social outcomes in social supermarkets

Paediatric stroke (PS) is a heterogeneous, acute neurological condition that occurs in approximately 7 per 100 000 children. Associated sequelae, including intellectual impairment, specific cognitive deficits, and functional and emotional problems, have the potential to impact on social and psychiatric outcomes. However there has been limited research into psychosocial outcomes following focal brain insult such as PS. Considering the heterogeneous neuropathology and developmental timing of stroke, studies in this emerging area have the potential to inform the relationship between age at brain injury, lesion location and plasticity/vulnerability for psychosocial function. Findings may be clinically relevant to non-brain injured populations, considering the emerging neural understanding for social function. To clarify the nature of recovery in these ‘psychosocial’ domains after PS, a series of empirical papers were utilised to examine various aspects of social and behavioural adjustment as well as investigate the influence of brain insult-related factors and non-insult factors, including attention and family function. Firstly, a review paper examined the existing literature in psychosocial outcomes following PS. The paper highlighted the variability in outcomes, the potential impact of brain-related and non-insult factors and the dearth of theoretical research in the area. A series of studies was conducted, involving parent, child and teacher questionnaires, neurobehavioural assessment and brain imaging. A pilot study aimed to describe attention and social functioning in children with two types of early brain insult: malformations of cortical development (MCD) and stroke. Children with pre-natal MCD experienced more generalised, numerous and clinical levels of impairment than children with acquired stroke, though impairment was present in both groups. A strong association between everyday attention and social functioning was observed. Complex attention processes were also associated with social functioning. The next empirical paper examined PS specifically and aimed to describe attention and social adjustment and their inter-relationships. The stroke cohort was found to have significantly poorer outcomes in attention compared to normative expectations. Frontal and more diffuse lesions were associated with poorer attention skills. Impairment in shifting attention was predictive of social problems in the PS group. The third empirical paper investigated the impact of stroke pathology, including timing of insult, lesion location, lesion volume and functional outcome on measures of social adjustment, social participation and psychiatric functioning. There was a high frequency of psychosocial impairments following paediatric stroke. Generally, insult related characteristics, (lesion volume and broad lesion location) did not impact on social and behavioural outcomes. Findings regarding age at insult were inconclusive. Functional outcome was predictive of social participation. The final empirical paper examined the impact of non-insult factors, such as family function, on social outcomes in PS compared to a control group with a chronic illness not involving the central nervous system. The study also investigated the influences of the child's social environment, i.e. peer relationships on psychiatric outcomes. Notably, there were largely no differences between the stroke and control groups in social and psychiatric outcomes. Family function was found to be predictive of social problems in the entire cohort of children. In the PS group, level of peer group integration was found to be predictive of externalizing problems. Together, results of these papers indicate that the presence of a brain injury in early life such as PS is associated with an elevated risk of social and attentional dysfunction, with heterogeneous social and behavioural outcomes. Early insults prior to 12 months of age are associated with poorer outcomes. It appears that the injury-related risk factors (lesion volume, lesion location), established as predictors of cognitive and physical outcomes, are unable to predict social outcomes in isolation. Rather, findings suggest that environmental factors, such as family function, play a key role. Complex attention processes also appear to play a critical role in efficient social functioning. Findings emphasise the reciprocity between cognitive, behavioural and social outcomes, and highlight the prevalence of social problems in children with stroke. The similarities in social and behavioural outcomes across PS and chronic illness control groups further highlight the role of having a chronic illness and the importance of a child's adjustment to illness in determining social and behavioural outcomes.

Policy makers, academics, and media reports suggest that women could shrink the gender pay gap by negotiating more effectively for higher compensation. Yet women entering compensation negotiations face a dilemma: They have to weigh the benefits of negotiating against the social consequences of having negotiated. Research shows that women are penalized socially more than men for negotiating for higher pay. To address this dilemma, the authors test strategies to help women improve both their negotiation and social outcomes in compensation negotiations. In Study 1, communicating concern for organizational relationships improved female negotiators’ social outcomes, and offering a legitimate account for compensation requests improved negotiation outcomes. However, neither strategy—alone or in combination—improved both women’s social and negotiation outcomes. Study 2 tested two strategies devised to improve female negotiators’ social and negotiation outcomes by explaining why a compensation request is legitimate in relational terms. Results showed that, although adherence to the feminine stereotype is insufficient, using these “relational accounts” can improve women’s social and negotiation outcomes at the same time. Normative implications of conformity to gender stereotypes to reduce gender pay disparities are discussed.

A Framework for Islamic Social Banking

Ecosystem restoration has gained prominence as a response to global environmental challenges, with growing emphasis on integrating ecological and social dimensions. Although there is growing recognition of the importance of social inclusion and community participation in the success of ecosystem restoration, empirical research that simultaneously evaluates both social and ecological outcomes—and examines their relationship with community participation—remains limited. In this study, we conducted a systematic literature review to investigate: (1) the correlation between social and ecological outcomes in ecosystem restoration; (2) the relationship between the type of leading agent and the level of community participation in restoration projects; and (3) the influence of participation levels on the ecological and social outcomes of the projects. We also assessed the quality and robustness of the evidence supporting these relationships. We identified a moderate positive correlation between ecological and social results, with significant associations between species diversity and knowledge exchange, soil conditions with benefit distribution and community well‐being, and environmental stability with community well‐being. High levels of community involvement, land tenure security, and economic incentives were key factors for restoration success. In contrast, lack of continuous funding and land tenure insecurity were identified as major obstacles. Projects led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities and universities showed higher levels of community participation whereas government‐led projects and multi‐led projects were significantly associated with lower levels of community participation. While a positive association was observed between the level of participation and social outcomes, ecological results did not vary accordingly. The lack of correlation between ecological outcomes and community participation may be influenced by the indirect or delayed nature of participatory effects, the use of indicators that fail to capture such dynamics, or the overriding influence of other limiting factors—such as insufficient long‐term funding and insecure land tenure—on ecological outcomes. Regarding the weight of evidence, although the available indicators provide valuable insights into ecological and social outcomes, their limited robustness—particularly in capturing causal relationships between restoration outcomes and well‐being—remains a major challenge for strengthening outcome assessments. Bridging this gap will be essential for improving decision‐making processes in ecosystem restoration.

This is the first review of the evidence, based on longitudinal studies in the United Kingdom, on the association of ill health at any life stage and later social and economic outcomes. The review included a wide range of physical and mental health exposures, both self-reported and objectively measured, as well as social (e.g. life satisfaction) and economic (e.g. employment) outcomes. We searched the Web of Science, key longitudinal datasets based in the UK, major economic journals, Google Scholar and reference lists of relevant publications. The review includes 80 studies. There was strong evidence for the association between early mental health, mainly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and lifetime educational, occupational and various social outcomes. Also, both poor physical and mental health in early and middle adulthood, tended to be associated with unemployment and lower socioeconomic status. Among older adults, the evidence quite consistently indicated an association between mental health, chronic conditions, disability/functional limitations, self-rated general health and quality of life, life satisfaction and early retirement. Overall, mental health was consistently found to be associated with a range of social and economic outcomes throughout the lifespan. The evidence for the association between physical health and later outcomes is more inconsistent. A number of methodological challenges need to be addressed, particularly related to causal inference, to produce robust evidence with potential to inform public health policy.

Hypopituitarism diagnosed in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood has the potential to affect growth and somatic development. Less is known about the impact of such a diagnosis on other aspects of development. An analysis of the KIMS database (Pfizer International Metabolic Database) was performed to explore social, educational and vocational outcomes of adult patients diagnosed in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood compared with adult-onset controls. A total of 2952 adult patients diagnosed with hypothalamic pituitary conditions before the age of 25 were divided into two groups: childhood-onset [<16 years (CO)] (n = 1782) and young-adult-onset [16 to <25 years (YAO)] (n = 1170). A total of 1617 adult patients diagnosed with a nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma at the age of 25 or older formed the adult-onset control group (AO). KIMS Patient Life Situation Form which provided information on social, educational and vocational outcomes. Compared with the AO control group, CO and YAO patients were between 4·5 and 8·0 times more likely to live with their parents in adulthood; CO and YAO patients were also less likely to live in partnership and to have children. The impact on educational and vocational outcomes was less marked than on social outcomes with no significant differences compared with the AO control group. Educational and vocational outcomes showed the lowest level in male and female CO and YAO patients who had been previously diagnosed with a brain tumour. Social outcomes were more affected than educational and vocational outcomes. Although CO patients are more adversely affected, YAO patients were also failing to achieve social milestones. This has consequences for the delivery of endocrine care in both paediatric and adult services.

The cohort consists of all psychiatric patients (n = 53) admitted for the first time in 1972 from a well-defined catchment area with a population of 582,000 inhabitants aged 15 years and over. Furthermore, they were all registered with the diagnosis schizophrenia in the nation-wide psychiatric register at least once during an observation period from the day of the first admission in 1972 until August 31, 1983. The entire cohort was followed up on average 13 years after their first admission. Poor employment outcome (79%), poor social contact outcome (55%), and poor overall social outcome (76%) characterized the living conditions of the 42 patients alive at follow-up. Good employment outcome was predicted by "born in rural area." Good social contact outcome was predicted by full remission at first discharge and poor outcome by male sex. Good overall social outcome was predicted by "born in rural area" and of marginal significance by high social status at first admission. A comparison of parents' highest social group and patients' social group at follow-up supports previous findings on social drift.

BackgroundWhile existing research indicates that housing improvements are associated with health improvements, less is known about the wider social and health benefits of meeting national housing standards, as well as those of their specific constituent measures. This study evaluates the impacts of a managed housing upgrade programme through a repeated cross-sectional survey design.MethodsA five-wave repeated cross-sectional survey was conducted over a seven-year period from 2009 to 2016 (n = 2075; n = 2219; n = 2015; n = 1991; and n = 1709, respectively). The study followed a managed upgrade programme designed to meet a national social housing standard over an extended period. The data were analysed from a multilevel perspective to take account of the time-dependent nature of the observations and differences in socio-demographic composition.ResultsThe installation of the majority of individual housing measures (new windows and doors; boilers; kitchens; bathrooms; electrics; loft insulation; and cavity/external wall insulation) were associated with improvements in several social (housing suitability, satisfaction, and quality; thermal comfort and household finances) and health (mental, respiratory and general health) outcomes; and analyses showed relationships between the number of measures installed and the total amount invested on the one hand and the social and health outcomes on the other. There were however a few exceptions. Most notably, the installation of cavity wall insulation was associated with poorer health outcomes, and did not lead to better social outcomes. Also, no association was found between the number of measures installed and respiratory health.ConclusionsThe study suggests that substantial housing investments through a managed upgrade programme may result in better social and health outcomes, and that the size of the improvements are proportionate to the number of measures installed and amount invested. However, there may be risks associated with specific measures; and more attention is needed for mechanical ventilation when upgrading energy efficiency of houses through fabric work. In addition to providing new evidence regarding the wider social and health outcomes, the study provides an analytical approach to evaluate upgrade programmes that are delivered over multiple years.

Reports of increasing presentations of new cases of acute psychosis both locally, nationally and internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic, warranted further investigation. International case reports almost exclusively reported only clinical outcome (e.g. remission of psychotic symptoms), and fail to report on social precipitants or social outcomes. This is a common omission when investigating new psychosis cases such as acute and transient psychotic disorder (ATPD). In order to assess social impacts and outcomes, we conducted a rapid review of recent evidence. To conduct a rapid review of the recent evidence of social outcomes on new cases of psychosis emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four databases (Medline, Embase, Psychinfo and Cochrane COVID-19) were searched for ATPD, psychosis and social outcomes in adults aged 18+. Duplicates were removed. There were no language limitations. Results: There were 24 papers consisting of 18 original data research papers and 6 reviews. Additionally, 33 papers/letters, reporting on 60 individual cases of psychosis emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic. These two sets of papers were reviewed separately. Many original data research papers and reviews were sub optimal in their quality, with 44% online surveys, with the remainder being routinely collected data. There is a consensus that clinical outcomes of ATPD and other brief psychotic disorders (BPD) are good in the short term. The focus only on symptomatic clinical presentation and outcomes, leaves a gap in our understanding regarding social stressors and longer term social outcomes. ATPD and BPD often may not come to the attention of Early Intervention in Psychosis services, and if they do, are discharged following symptomatic remission. Without an understanding of the social stress factors and social outcomes, opportunities may be missed to prevent increased social disability and future relapse with these presentations.

Hearing loss is associated with social isolation and loneliness, which are known to negatively impact mental and cognitive health. However, high-quality evidence on the impact of hearing rehabilitation devices on social outcomes remains limited. To assess the impact of hearing rehabilitation device use on social outcomes in adults with hearing loss. Embase, MEDLINE, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched from database inception to March 13, 2024. Included studies used a hearing rehabilitation device and compared a validated social outcome score to a baseline or control. Studies with baseline and follow-up scores, including variability measures, were eligible for meta-analysis. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. This systematic review and meta-analysis followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) reporting guideline. Two independent reviewers screened studies and extracted data using a standardized template. The meta-analysis used restricted maximum likelihood-based random-effects models to estimate effect sizes. Hearing rehabilitation devices included hearing aids, cochlear implants, bone conduction hearing aids, and personal sound amplification. The main outcomes included quality of life, isolation, loneliness, and social engagement using the following validated measures: the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Short Form 36, Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire, Hearing Handicap Index for the Elderly, Hearing Handicap Index for Adults-Short, Cochlear Implant Quality of Life-35 Profile, Glasgow Benefit Inventory, and World Health Organization Quality of Life. Of 5847 studies screened, 295 underwent full-text review, 65 were included in the systematic review, and 35 in meta-analysis. A total of 5911 participants (weighted mean [SD] age, 64.1 [6.3] years; weighted mean [SD] percentage female, 49.4% [13.9%]) were included among the studies in the systematic review, and 2664 participants (mean age [SD] age, 65.9 [8.3] years; weighted mean [SD] percentage female, 46.3% [13.6%] female) among the studies in the meta-analysis. Hearing rehabilitation with hearing aids or cochlear implants was generally associated with improved social outcomes, including higher social quality of life (QoL) and decreased perceived social handicap and loneliness. The meta-analysis revealed that both hearing aid and cochlear implant use were associated with higher social QoL scores compared to baseline or control groups (SMD, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.88-1.57). Hearing aid use was linked to a moderate improvement in social QoL (SMD, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.13-1.10). Cochlear implant use, for those with moderate to profound hearing loss and limited benefits from hearing aids, was associated with a larger improvement in social QoL (SMD, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.01-1.74). Hearing rehabilitation was associated with decreased perceived social handicap (SMD, -3.41; 95% CI, -5.16 to -1.65). The findings from the meta-analysis on loneliness were inconclusive due to the limited number of studies. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, hearing rehabilitative devices were associated with improved social outcomes for adults with hearing loss. Their use should be encouraged for those with hearing loss to potentially enhance social engagement and functional outcomes.

The objective of this scoping review is to identify and describe existing research on the impact of sport and physical activity programs on social outcomes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. Physical activity can be particularly beneficial for groups such as Indigenous populations, who have increased rates of chronic disease. Systematic reviews have demonstrated the positive impact of physical activity on a range of health indicators, and there is also support for the positive impact of physical activity on wider social outcomes. However, there is a lack of evidence for the benefits of physical activity for broader social outcomes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This scoping review will consider studies that include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of any age from any setting or region of Australia. Studies will be considered if they report on programs or activities that use physical activity and sport participation as a component or tool to improve one or more of six social and community outcomes: education, employment, culture, social wellbeing, life skills and crime prevention. Nine databases will be searched, as well as a selection of websites containing resources related to physical activity, sport and social outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Studies published in English will be included. No date limits will be set. After screening the titles and abstracts of identified citations, potentially relevant studies will be retrieved in full. Data extraction will be presented in a table with accompanying narrative.

Association of Family History of Psychosis with Long-term Outcome in Schizophrenia – the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 Study

Kaizen initiatives are core organisational mechanisms in lean healthcare projects. Although they show specific peculiarities (e.g. a narrow goal and an accelerated timeframe), they can vary in the way they are planned and executed. This study investigates what types of configurations of kaizen initiatives (profiled as gestalts of specific characteristics) can exist in healthcare, if they differ for social and technical outcomes, and for their application context (here considered in terms of work area routineness and team composition). The study is based on data from 362 participants to 105 kaizen initiatives implemented in two public hospitals in Italy. It identifies three clusters (i.e. ‘hard practices-oriented’, ‘soft practices-oriented’ and ‘full-lean adherent’ kaizen initiatives) characterised by different social and technical outcomes. The original contribution to the lean healthcare literature is twofold: first, the simultaneous focus on performance improvement (technical outcome) and modification of operators’ mindset (social outcome); second, the adoption of a configurational approach to understand how gestalts of many variables explain the dynamics that lead to social and technical outcomes. No significant differences were found among clusters in terms of work area routineness and team composition, which also opens interesting directions for future research.

BackgroundThere is growing evidence that health and social outcomes following motor vehicle crash injury are related to cognitive and emotional responses of the injured individual, as well as relationships between the injured individual and the compensation systems with which they interact. As most of this evidence comes from other states in Australia or overseas, investigation is therefore warranted to identify the key determinants of health and social outcomes following injury in the context of the New South Wales motor accident insurance scheme.Methods/DesignIn this inception cohort study, 2400 participants, aged 17 years or more, injured in a motor vehicle crash in New South Wales will be identified though hospital emergency departments, general and physiotherapy practitioners, police records and a government insurance regulator database. Participants will be initially contacted through mail. Baseline interviews will be conducted by telephone within 28 days of the injury and participants will be followed up with interviews at 6, 12 and 24 months post-injury. Health insurance and pharmaceutical prescription data will also be collected.DiscussionThe study results will report short and long term health and social outcomes in the study sample. Identification of factors associated with health and social outcomes following injury, including related compensation factors will provide evidence for improved service delivery, post-injury management, and inform policy development and reforms.Trial registrationAustralia New Zealand Clinical trial registry identification number -ACTRN12613000889752. Available at: ANZCTR Registered FISH Study.

.This meta-analysis examined the direct (primary) and collateral (secondary) effects of peer tutoring on social and behavioral outcomes for 128 participants in prekindergarten through grade 12 across 20 studies using SCR designs. The overall TauU weighted effect size across studies was 0.62 (95% CI [0.58, 0.66]), indicating that a small to moderate effect on behavioral and social outcomes can be attributed to peer tutoring. Moderator analyses indicated that cross-age tutoring, peer tutoring interventions that did not use reward contingencies, and interventions that measured direct effects yielded higher effect sizes. The direct effect of peer tutoring on behavioral and social outcomes was moderately large (ES = 0.75), whereas the collateral effect was relatively small (ES = 0.43). Furthermore, peer tutoring had a greater effect on improving social skills and social interactions (ES = 0.69) and reducing disruptive and off-task behaviors (ES = 0.60) than academic engagement (ES = 0.38).