Ann Hemingway

Reducing social isolation and promoting well being in older people

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a three year research project exploring the impacts of an intervention seeking to reduce social isolation in older people.Design/methodology/approach – This study used qualitative research methods and a participative approach to facilitate the generation of the research objectives and process. Participant observation and individual/focus group interviews were used to collect data from 100 participants.Findings – Overall the perceived benefits for attendees of attending the friendship clubs fell into three key areas: improved well being, social relations and mental and physical health.Research limitations/implications – A weakness of the participant observation method includes the possibility that the presence of the researcher influenced the findings. The process of gaining different data sets (observation, interviews and focus groups) and checking findings with another researcher and the research participants as the study progressed reduced the likeliho...

Tourism engaging with the public health agenda: Can we promote 'wellville' as a destination of choice?

The aim of this paper is to introduce well-being as a potential concept to guide tourism destination strategy development, where the destination enhances and promotes physical and mental health for residents and tourists alike. Well-being is a complex concept concerning both objective, in terms of tourism destination, and subjective, in terms of health, affect and other personal goals. Currently, the debate in health considers two perspectives: the hedonic approach, which focuses on happiness and defines well-being in terms of pleasure attainment; and the eudaimonic approach, which focuses on meaning and self-realization. Pleasure is the hallmark of hedonism, and engagement serves as the core feeling of eudaimonia. Clearly, engagement with a well-being agenda is central to a public health strategy, but could also form the basis for a well-being concept of tourism. A hedonistic product development approach that, for example, highlights the night-time economy, drinking and eating to excess, would sit uncomfortably within a health paradigm, and arguably within local society. Alternatively, a eudaimonic product fit that emphasizes human flourishing could be more contemporary and acceptable. In the UK, with the re-

Lifeworld-led care: Is it relevant for well-being and the fifth wave of public health action?

A recent paper has made the case for a “fifth wave” of public health action. The paper articulated the first four waves as focusing on civil engineering, the germ theory of disease, welfare reforms and lifestyle issues. This article will focus on well-being and will expand on the authors’ articulation of a current need to “discover a new image of what it is to be human” to begin to address the challenges of promoting well-being. This article will consider an alternative way of viewing human beings within a “caring” context and how this alternative view may aid this potential fifth wave of public health action. This alternative view has emerged from the work of Husserl who suggested that any human view of the world without subjectivity has excluded its basic foundation. The phenomenological understanding of “lifeworld” is articulated through five elements, temporality, spaciality, intersubjectivity, embodiment and mood that are all discussed here in detail. A world of colours, sparkling stars, memories, happiness, joy, anger and sadness. It is this “lifeworld’ that when health care or as argued in this article as public health becomes overly focused on decontextualized goals, and measuring quality superficially can be neglected.

The emergence of public health open educational resources

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify key concepts in the literature relating to the release of open educational resources (OER), with specific reference to the emergence of public health OER.Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature relating to the development of OER was followed by an online search for OER literature relating specifically to public health. This was supplemented with evidence gathered during the Public Health Open Resources for the University Sector (PHORUS) project.Findings – A wide array of OER literature was identified, although there was a limited number of public health‐related papers. The key concepts influencing public health OER release were identified as quality, ethics and values, rewards, risks and practical aspects, such as technological developments.Research limitations/implications – There is a limited amount of public health‐related OER literature. Whilst it was possible to draw some conclusions using more general OER literature there is a need ...

A European union and Canadian review of public health nursing preparation and practice.

OBJECTIVE This study explores the preparation and role of the public health nurse (PHN) across European Union (EU) countries (Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) and Canadian provinces (Alberta, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island). METHODS A literature review including relevant peer reviewed articles from 2000 on, in conjunction, with critical debate was undertaken. The results were considered in relation to the three essential areas of PHN practice, outlined in the World Health Organization (Moving on from Munich: A reference guide to the implementation of the declaration on nurses and midwives: A force for health, 2001b) recommendations, family oriented care, public health action, and policy making. RESULTS The major challenge the review revealed across a variety of international education and practice environments was the lack of consistent preparation for and engagement with leadership and policy making in practice.

Surfing the net for public health resources

OBJECTIVES To identify public health open educational resources (OER) available online, map the identified OER to The Public Health Skills and Career Framework (PHSCF), and triangulate these findings with public health practitioners. STUDY DESIGN Systematic online search for public health OER. METHODS An online search was undertaken using a pre-defined set of search terms and inclusion/exclusion criteria. Public health OER were then mapped against the UK PHSCF. The findings of the search were discussed with public health specialists to determine whether or not they used these resources. RESULTS A number of public health OER were identified, located on 42 websites from around the world. Mapping against the UK PHSCF demonstrated a lack of coverage in some areas of public health education. It was noted that many of the OER websites identified were not those generally used in practice, and those sites preferred by public health specialists were not identified by the online search. CONCLUSIONS Public health OER are available from a number of providers, frequently universities and government organizations. However, these reflect a relatively small pool of original OER providers. Tagging of websites does not always identify their public health content. In addition, users of public health OER may not use search engines to identify resources but locate them using other means.

Progress in tourism and destination wellbeing research

A proliferation of research in recent years has revealed a myriad of relationships between tourism and the concept of wellbeing. These include health benefits of visiting tourist destinations, a product focus on wellness and maintaining good health. Broader interpretations emphasize the complex ways in which tourism can influence the emotional, psychological, cognitive and spiritual dimensions of wellbeing, both for tourists and for destination communities. This study reflects an emerging paradigm shift that incorporates a deeper appreciation of the benefits derived at the destination level from a focus on health and wellbeing. The study highlights three key perspectives, namely the tourist, the destination community and the destination itself. The study concludes that research in this area is critical to the future development, management and marketing of sustainable and competitive destinations with the wellbeing of tourists, their destination host communities, and the overall destination experience, critical to their ultimate success.

Innovating to achieve sustainable wellbeing inside the built environment

Dr Ann Hemingway and Dr Paul Steven from the Centre for Wellbeing and Quality of Life at Bournemouth University look at the importance of creating a supportive environment to encourage people to have the confidence to take risks and move out of their comfort zone.

An emerging model for publishing and using open educational resources in public health

Introduction: The open source revolution has enabled the development of open educational resources (OER) and the potential for sharing lessons learned. We present a potential model for publishing OER in public health to inform workforce development. Methods: As part of the PHORUS (Public Health Open Resources for the University Sector) Project, a review of the literature relating to the development of OER was followed by an online search for OER resources relating specifically to public health. Furthermore, a Delphi study was conducted to identify and prioritize barriers and enablers to the production and use of public health OER. Results: A wide array of OER literature was identified, although there were a limited Number of public health-related papers. The key concepts influencing public health OER release found in the literature were identified as quality, ethics and values, rewards, risks and practical aspects, such as technological developments. These concepts were then further developed through the PHORUS project research findings to produce the basis of a potential model for OER development in public health. Discussion/Conclusion: The synthesis of a literature review and Delphi study has produced a potential model to guide the development of OER in public health. The model provides a matrix where the questions about whether and how an academic can produce and publish OER are answered, according to various risks and benefits to them and their institution. We hope that this will provide practical assistance and encouragement for the academic public health community to create and share OER.

Efficacy of Telephone Information and Advice on Welfare: the Need for Realist Evaluation

In the context of increased marketisation in welfare provision, formal information and advice (I&A) is widely assumed to enable users, as consumers, to make informed choices about services, support and care. There is emerging evidence that telephone I&A services represent important ways of providing such services. This article proposes a framework that identifies key areas of focus delineating the efficacy of I&A, which is then used in a comprehensive literature review to critique existing research on outcomes and/or impact of telephone I&A. Existing, predominately quantitative, research has critical weaknesses. There is a lack of adequate contextual focus, understanding agency, and how I&A is used in different contexts to influence causal processes. The article contends that the efficacy of I&A is not adequately reported and provides much needed theoretical clarity in key areas, including the desirability of further realist evaluation approaches.