Pilot Research Project Research Articles

Student nurses’ experiences of the body in aged care

Little is known about how student nurses deal with ‘old bodies’ in the process of providing nursing care to nursing home residents. It was an issue raised by student nurse participants involved in a pilot research project designed to develop support structures for students on placement in aged care settings. During the research discussions, where students explored their experiences of working in aged care, it became apparent that the process of providing ‘hands on’ care to residents with ‘old wrinkly bodies’ was very confronting. However, in the context of the research project, students had an opportunity to share stories of their experiences of providing care to residents and critically reflect on the issues raised. Participation in these critically reflective discussions facilitated a process whereby students could challenge taken for granted understandings of older people and their bodies and develop a new appreciation of aged care. This was most evident in a significant positive shift in their attitude to working in the sector following graduation.

Conflicts of Liveability in the 24-hour City: Learning from 48 Hours in the Life of London's Soho

The 24-hour city has been put forward as the urbane solution to many of the problems of the central city. As a development from the 24-hour city concept, the expansion of the night-time economy has become a contentious issue in neighbourhoods with established or expanding residential populations. This pilot research project focused on a small area in Soho, London, to examine in depth, over 48 hours, the extent and nature of the problems associated with the night-time economy. The investigation employed video surveillance to observe and record such problems. The study demonstrates that residents' complaints of unacceptable levels of noise, activity and waste can be substantiated. By contrast, detailed police statistics do not support a picture of exceptional crime. The main outcome of this investigation is to suggest that mixed-use, late-night centres are viable but emphasizes that they require more careful regulation and management in order to achieve comfortable liveability. The video recording technique also has the potential to provide objective evidence at licensing hearings.

HIV/AIDS in Dance Education: A Pilot Study in Higher Education

A pilot research project was conducted to address issues related to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in dance in higher education. The primary goals were to summarize the impact of HIV/AIDS on dance and dance education, to document the profession's response (research, curricula, programs, interventions), to identify past and current efforts in HIV/AIDS awareness and education employed by dance educators, to explore current policies, content and delivery mechanisms, and to survey the attitudes and perceptions of dance administrators in higher education about HIV/AIDS education. The different approaches to HIV/AIDS education employed by those in other related education disciples, as well as in sexual education, health, and physical education, are also reviewed.

Quality early education—quality food and nutrition pracices? Some initial results from a pilot research project into food and nutrition practices in early years settings in Kent, UK

This paper draws upon work conducted as part of a research project into food and nutrition in the early years, and looks very specifically at the way in which practitioners in the field are both aware of current debates around such issues and how they put good policy into their practice. In drawing out such debates with practitioners, it also offers a useful insight into the way in which research, policy and practice either come together within the sector or actually operate within different ambits. The findings show that there is a lack of knowledge amongst early years practitioners on food and nutrition issues, and that this can lead to less than effective practice in some instances.

Linguistic sensitivity, indigenous peoples and the mental health system in Wales

This paper presents findings from a pilot research project to explore the significance and availability of mental health services in the medium of Welsh in Wales, UK. Based on small-scale research with Welsh-speaking mental health service users this article argues that being bilingual can be a significant factor in the complex biopsychosocial matrix that underpins mental health problems amongst Welsh speakers. It also argues that the destructive effects of linguistic oppression, and the difficulties of second language communication for mental health service users, are such that an appropriate health and social care response in Wales involves providing services in a user's preferred language. Service users' views about the current state of bilingual service provision in Wales are presented, which suggests that insufficient attention is being paid to the linguistic needs of Welsh speakers. Eight principles are proposed for mental health service policy and practice in Wales.

Empowering teachers: empowering children? How can researchers initiate and research empowerment?

The relationship between reading and empowerment, though often taken for granted, is complex. The paper describes a pilot research project, which sought to explore how teachers might change their practice in such a way as to empower the children in their care, rather than enculture them into the rather more passive and compliant practices of schooled literacy in the time of the National Literacy Strategy. The paper particularly explores the challenge of methodology: a project about empowerment needs emancipatory research methods. Can research empower, and can teachers, so dominated by the status quo, find the confidence to take on the responsibility that power confers? The paper describes the attempt to empower teachers and the researchers' attempt to gather evidence of that empowerment.

Action research in scaling up rural water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia and the Philippines

The international NGO Plan is using its experience in two countries to establish two action research pilot projects, involving government agencies, CBOs and NGOs, with the potential to be scaled up to the national level.

Computer-assisted Vs. Traditional Homework:Results Of A Pilot Research Project

The CAPA pilot research project tested the effectiveness of computer-assisted homework assignments as a complement to teacher led instruction in high school physics at three suburban high schools in Florida during the first nine-week grading period of the semester beginning in January 2004. The study involved three physics teachers (one per school), nine high school physics classes populated by 219 students. The project consisted of a randomized experimental design, with CAPA homework assignments as the treatment and traditional homework assignments (on paper and hand-graded) as the control. Classes of students were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The effectiveness of CAPA homework compared with traditional homework was assessed through (1) preand post-test gains on physics test items accepted by the physics education research community, (2) responses to a student satisfaction survey and (3) differences in accuracy between initial responses and final responses for the treatment group. Preand post-test results for students at each of the three sites indicated there were no significant differences between the treatment and control groups. Further, student responses to a satisfaction survey indicated that students preferred more traditional homework assignments. For students using CAPA at each of the three sites, accuracy of responses improved significantly from the first attempt to the final attempt. The improved performance is attributed to the immediate feedback provided to students regarding the accuracy of their initial answers. Key insights gleaned from the pilot research project will improve the quality of the yearlong research project planned for the 2004-2005 school year.

Transcript: ‘Can Run, Play on Bikes, Jump the Zoom Slide, and Play on the Swings’: Exploring the Value of Outdoor Play

This paper explores some questions surrounding the provision of outdoor play for young children, and challenges adults who share responsibility for ‘creating future play’ to consider not only what we as adults value but also what children value about the outdoor environment The question is raised as to how the values we hold and the images we have of children impact on playground design. This paper shares some of the findings from a small pilot research project, which endeavoured to genuinely listen to children's views about their early childhood centre playground through the medium of photography. The findings endorsed the view that outdoor spaces are of significant importance to children and that children's voices not only need to be listened to but also are worthy of being listened to.

Emerging area of aging research: long-lived animals with "negligible senescence".

Field observations have suggested for quite some time that certain fish, turtles, and invertebrates have extremely long maximum life span potential. Age validation techniques have since confirmed these observations, but scientific analysis to understand the genetic and biochemical basis of this longevity has occurred only recently. The Centenarian Species and Rockfish Project now encompasses 13 pilot research projects, including such diverse investigations as histology, a cDNA library, and mitochondrial mutation analysis. In this document, the term "negligible senescence" is defined, and its background is given; age validation techniques are listed, and the various projects to date, including research results, are summarized.

An application of health literacy research

Finding methods to improve the delivery of educational materials by the practicing nurse is imperative in the current health care arena. Time, energy, and effectiveness are all aspects that are critical as the health care provider attempts to meet the growing needs of the compromised client. Low functional health literacy is one public health problem that impacts the nurse’s ability to effectively provide health instruction in a timely, organized manner. This article presents a pilot research project used to investigate the mastery of educational information by clients in a West Texas area. The research project is used as the foundation for discussion of several interesting facets resulting from the initial research. Ideas are presented as a direction for implementation for practice within the health care community. Low health literacy is a grave challenge, which currently is not understood nor considered by the nurse at the bedside. Practicing health care providers need the opportunity to carefully and specifically investigate the role of health care literacy in producing positive client outcomes.

An Epidemiological Study of Migraine with Aura in the San Severo General Population: A Pilot Research Project of Cooperation between Neurologists and General Practitioners

Objectives: (A) To define the lifetime prevalence of migraine with aura (MA) in patients recruited in general practices for an epidemiologic study by the University of Parma Headache Centre from the general population of San Severo, Italy, and (B) to assess the recognition of MA in general practice. Methods: The study was conducted over a period of 5 consecutive months (January to May 2001) on patients aged 18–65, taken from the following general practice populations: (a) from the patient population of 4 general practitioners (GPs; 3,616 patients) and (b) from the patient population of 12 GPs (12,996 patients). The clinical diagnosis of MA was subsequently confirmed by a headache specialist. Results: For objective A, 648 patients (420 women and 228 men) were interviewed; MA diagnosis was confirmed in 10 patients (7 women and 3 men), lifetime MA prevalence being 1.5%. For objective B, 150 ‘suspected’ MA cases (96 women and 54 men) were reported by the 12 GPs; however, the diagnosis of MA was confirmed in only 3 cases (2 women and 1 man). Conclusion: The prevalence of MA observed in our small sample of the general practice patient population was comparable with that observed in the general population of San Severo, Italy. The results also suggest that GPs may be overestimating the number of cases of MA in their patient population.

Self-representations of International Women Postgraduate Students in the Global University 'Contact Zone'

This article explores some aspects of the role of race and gender in shaping women postgraduate students' experience of intercultural study. It focuses on various social and cultural aspects of their sojourn. These were suggested by data from two small pilot research projects investigating the experiences of two cohorts of international women postgraduate students, the one studying in an Australian university and the other, a Canadian. The authors focus particularly on the intersections between the students' representation of themselves as women and the way they see themselves represented by their host cultures. In other words, they are interested in the students' understandings of themselves as 'other', and how this impacts on their representations of 'self'. The authors suggest that these representations reflect a process of negotiation of identity that occurs in what they call the globalising university 'contact zone'. The concept of contact zones derives from post-colonial theory. A further goal of this article, then, is to examine how such data appear when viewed from a post-colonial perspective.

Competitive intelligence in UK firms: a typology

There is a danger of allowing competitive analysis to receive less than adequate attention in the marketing‐planning process as it is subordinated to a customer‐driven focus. Clearly important though customers are, they should not dominate marketing strategy and planning to the exclusion of other influential groups, one of these being competitors. With this in mind, a pilot research project was undertaken to gain a better understanding of how UK companies conduct competitive intelligence. From this pilot, a tentative typology of companies was developed to reflect four attributes of competitive intelligence activity: attitude, gathering, use, and location. Further research was subsequently undertaken to corroborate the findings of the pilot study, test the appropriateness of the typology and further develop the classification definitions. The research has resulted in a typology that illustrates a continuum of behaviour on the four strands of investigation. From this, an understanding of CI best practice can be deduced.

How much law should librarians know?

The paper discusses the teaching of elements of law within the Library and Information Studies (LIS) curriculum, using the programmes at the University of Brighton as an exemplar. The inclusion of legal topics in LIS teaching has been endorsed by professional associations, but has not been extensively discussed in the literature. A small‐scale pilot research project is described, which sought to characterise senior library and information service managers’ views about legal knowledge and expertise. A series of legal topics is reviewed, and discussed in the light of the pilot project results. The topics covered are: Computer Misuse; Contracts; Copyright; Court Procedures; Data Protection; Freedom of Information; Libel and Defamation; Official Secrets; Patents; and Human Rights. The project results appear to validate the assumptions underlying the University of Brighton’s provision, and suggest that teaching elements of law is worthwhile. However, further work is required and is in progress.

The Inaugural Winter Senior Olympic Games

Introduction: Regular exercise can slow physiological decline of aging by 50%. Competitive and sport oriented older adults represent a kind of “elderly elite” and provide a gold standard against which age-related physical decline can be compared (O'Brien & Conger, 1991). However, older athletes are at greater risk for cardiac events than younger adults. Safety issues are always of paramount importance with any competition, which is especially true with older adults. This pilot research project identified risk factors and subsequent precautions to older athletes through baseline screenings and physiological assessments conducted during their competitive events. Methods: This cross-sectional research project began profiling senior athletes (≥ 50 years of age) across multiple sports in terms of their physiological responses to competition. Subjects were recruited from the Winter Senior Olympic Games held in Lake Placid, New York in 2000. Data collection consisted of two phases: Phase I - informed consent, medical history questionnaires (MHQs), and baseline health screenings (resting heart rate and blood pressure, fasting blood work, body composition, etc.); and Phase II - physiological assessments (predicted, average and maximum heart rates, intensity level, pre- and post exercise blood lactate levels) assessed by Polar heart rate monitoring at several Olympic venues (See Table 1). The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software package (version 9.0) was used for data entry and analyses. One-way ANOVA was used to determine differences between sports. All reported p values are two-tailed with an alpha of .05.Table 1Results: Of the 148 senior athletes assessed in Lake Placid, 59 alpine skiers and hockey players were tested during their events. Their ages ranged from 50–83 years (x = 62, ± 7.6), 77% were men; 98% were Caucasian. The MHQs asked about exercise safety practices including warm-up (77% men, 55% women), cool-down (55% men, 48% women) and monitoring heart rate during regular exercise (21% men, 14% women). Seventy six percent of the athletes engage in cardiovascular exercise year round and 13% do not perform any form of aerobic exercise. Based on the athletes' cardiovascular responses both hockey and the alpine (slalom and giant slalom) events would be classified as vigorous exercise (> 70% of maximum heart rate, MHR). Significant differences exist between the average heart rates sustained during the two sporting events (p = .01*) and the intensity of those events (p = .0001 ‡). Discussion: The majority of senior athletes fall in the “moderate risk” category identified by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). This is mainly due to their ages (men ≥ 45 years, women ≥ 55 years) and they would be advised to have a graded exercise stress test (GXT) prior to engaging in “vigorous” exercise. However, only 21% of the athletes indicated they had had a GXT. Also, as evident in Table 1 the MHR achieved during both events places the intensity levels well into the “vigorous” exercise classification. Physical activity is perhaps the most obvious lifestyle variable by which overall lifetime morbidity and mortality might be reduced. However, the vast majority of these senior athletes lack the proper screening for safe and effective exercise programming especially when engaging in such high intensity sporting activities. Acknowledgements: Supported in part by a grant from Loma Linda University's Center for Health Research and T.E.A.M.

Caregivers’ and Care Recipients’ Perceptions of Dealing with Urinary Incontinence

A phenomenological study was conducted to answer the question: What can you tell me about dealing with urinary incontinence (UI)? This study was a pilot research project by the Maumee Bay Chapter of the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses. Four dyads, caregivers and care recipients, living in home settings in northwestern Ohio composed the purposive sample. Transcription of each 1-hour interview was reviewed with Colaizzi's (1978) method of data analysis. The analysis identified two themes: coping with care deficits, and supporting care abilities in the caregiver-care recipient dyads. Caregiver suggestions were found that enhanced abilities to manage problems with UI. The study's findings contribute to rehabilitation nursing by providing important insights into dealing with UI from the perspectives of both caregivers and care recipients, by offering direction for nursing practice and education, and by being an impetus for further nursing research.

Innocence Lost: Case Studies of Children in the Juvenile Justice System

Increasing numbers of young children enter the juvenile justice system each year while the system has few supports to work effectively with children, families, and communities to turn children's lives toward healthy pathways. This article examines the complexity of this process in one community of 500 children under the age of 14. We assess many factors that influence the developmental trajectories of young children who are at risk for harm to themselves and others. Young offenders and their families receive myriad services, most of which are disjointed and focused on specific problems or issues, rather than family systems. Findings are discussed and we offer a set of preliminary recommendations. During the last decade of the 20th century, juvenile violence spread like an epidemic among America's young people. Juvenile arrests for violent crime offenses increased 67% between 1986 and 1995 (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999). In 1997, 3,593 youth ages 15-19 died by gunshot. Among younger children, guns were involved in 439 deaths of 10-14 year olds, 107 deaths of 5-9 year olds, and 84 deaths of children under 5. This is a total of 4,223 children and youth under age 20 killed by a gun in 1997 (Child Trends, 2000). From 1991 to 1995, female juvenile arrests for violent crime offenses increased 34%, nearly four times the male juvenile increase of 9% (Snyder, 1997). Overall, youth violence increased among both males and females (Youth Violence, 1991). Nearly everyday there are reports in the media highlighting the crimes committed by children 10 years old and younger. Recently, in March 2000, the nation's youngest school killer emerged before us. A six-year old boy shot and killed an age-mate girl after a fight they had on the playground the day before. Both children were put at risk by families who were in vulnerable situations. Although juvenile crime is not a new phenomenon (Krisberg & Austin, 1993), given this downward age trend, we need to examine the issue from a developmental perspective.1 Scholars in the social sciences, especially developmental psychology, need to provide data to those in fields such as juvenile justice, education, and social service to create a safety net for children vulnerable and at risk for harm to self and others. What follows is an accounting of a pilot research project that was conducted to assess factors contributing to criminal behavior among young offenders ages 10-13. The research was executed to provide the foundation for an intervention of very young juvenile offenders. The intervention is called Project Turnaround. In the specific community for this project, there was little question that the juvenile justice system was ill-equipped to address the needs of this young segment of its clientele. Equally apparent was that we had little information on who these children were or their families, and how they had engaged various parts of the justice and social service systems over time. Specifically, the aim of the project was to create alternative paths for the development of these children. METHOD We relied on several conceptualizations and perspectives including the ecology of child development (e. g. , Bronfenbrenner, 1979, 1989; Erikson, 1963; Mclaughlin, Irby, & Langman, 1994), life course development (e. g. , Baltes & Brim, 1979; Elder, 1974; Elder& Caspi, 1988) resilience and risk (e. g. , Cicchetti & Garmezy, 1993; Luther, 1991; Radke-- Yarrow & Brown, 1993; Rutter, 1992; Spencer, Cole, Dupree, Glymph, & Pierre, 1993), and clinical research that provide underpinnings for understanding the etiology of delinquency and other antisocial behaviors (e. g. , Frick et al. , 1992; Kazdin, 1987; Kazdin, Siegel, & Bass, 1992; Loeber, 1982; Moffit, 1990; Stouthamer-Loeber et al. , 1993). Most of the extant literature focuses on adolescents and not middle and elementary school-aged children. …

Learning about Global Issues: Why most educators only make things worse

Over the last 25 years many educators have stressed the need for students to learn about global issues and have often taken this to be a relatively unproblematic area of pedagogy. An important Canadian study on the impact of teaching about such issues, however, suggests that the learning process may be much more complex than was previously assumed. This article reports on a pilot research project in the UK which monitored student responses to learning about global futures and found much more going on beneath the surface than meets the eye. It would seem that strong cognitive, affective and existential responses need to be recognised and acknowledged as part of any journey towards personal and political change.

Evidence-based practice: tap water cleansing of leg ulcers in the community.

To establish and encourage wound management practices based on evidence, a Community Nursing Organization in metropolitan Adelaide began a series of research initiatives in 1997. Based on the results of a wound management survey, and through the processes of participatory action research with clinicians, many wound management practice changes were instigated throughout the Community Nursing Organization. One question remains unanswered: What is the evidence for the use of sterile saline or clean tap water for cleansing of leg ulcers in the community? In this paper we describe a project where we applied the three principles of planning, action and evaluation. Application of these principles enabled clinicians to collaborate in the search for evidence to support or refute tap water cleansing of leg ulcers. To conclude, we report on a pilot research project undertaken to obtain further evidence either to support or refute the use of tap water cleansing for leg ulcers in the community.