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Item Open Access Scoping a Muslim friendly Universities audit: DMU Interim Report(De Montfort University and The Aziz Foundation, 2024-09-27) Hall, Richard; Ansley, Lucy; Loonat, Sumeya; Nemouchi, LamiaThe De Montfort University (DMU), Muslim-Friendly Universities audit focuses upon the student experience of British Muslim, first-year undergraduate students. It situates this experience against those students’ conceptions of their faith, and also in relation to ethnicity, gender and disability. The primary intention is to understand how these students experience their Muslimness in HE. A secondary intention is that this research will materially impact the ways in which universities can recognise intersectional and faith-based complexities in the undergraduate student experience. We intend to understand these experiences, in order to define a co-created action plan to ensure that HE is as inclusive for British Muslim students as their non-Muslim/religious peers. Our starting point for this is through partnerships with students, facilitated with support, advice and guidance from the Aziz Foundation.Item Open Access Quality Criteria: General and Specific Guidelines for Qualitative Approaches in Psychology Research. A Concise Guide for Novice Researchers and Reviewers(Sage, 2024-09-19) Cena, Elida; Brooks, Joanna; Day, William; Goodman, Simon; Rousaki, Anastasia; Ruby‐Granger, Victoria; Seymour-Smith, SarahThe purpose of this paper is to offer a comprehensive guide for novice researchers (mostly applicable to PhD students and those new to qualitative research), teachers, and reviewers of qualitative psychology research methods. This paper delineates the main quality criteria across qualitative methods: providing a holistic framework that covers fundamental principles as well as nuanced, context-specific guidelines relevant to a chosen qualitative approach. First, we demonstrate why this overview is needed, in part because of an increasing emphasis on finding sound ways of appraising qualitative studies, the lack of agreement on quality markers, and the variety of qualitative research methodologies available. Next, we present general criteria for quality across all qualitative methods, before setting out method specific criteria for four commonly used qualitative research approaches: Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA), Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), Critical Discursive Psychology/Discursive Psychology (CDP/DP) and Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT). While the focus is on providing criteria specific to these methodological approaches, we also describe the broader philosophical foundations underpinning these approaches and other branches within these philosophies, recognising that methodological criteria can be contrasting and competing even within methodologies. The integration of general and approach-specific criteria cultivates a deeper understanding of both the philosophical underpinnings and practical intricacies of qualitative inquiry, empowering researchers to navigate the methodological landscape with critical acumen and intellectual humility. Finally, we compare the four methodologies in terms of key features and qualities they aim to achieve. The paper emphasizes that even though there are criteria that are common across the field, it is essential to maintain the specific stance of each individual methodological approach.Item Open Access Exploring lived experience with wooden treasures(2024) Nemouchi, Lamia; Gill, Rajvir; Oliveira, GiselaThis workshop will introduce an innovative creative method of exploring the lived experiences of students through the use of Wooden Treasures. These are sensory wooden shapes that come in different colours and formats, commonly used in children's play to support their emotional and social development, but with wider unexplored potential. The workshop will include an interactive and hands-on activity using Wooden Treasures, where the participants will have an opportunity to reflect on their approaches to improve student experience and success. We will frame this method through ‘decolonising methodologies’ (Smith, 2012), and as an embodied methodology (Leigh and Brown, 2021) with a focus on co-created and reflexive practice. Finally, the workshop will be relevant for academics and future educators who have an interest in developing their expertise in creative methods and investigating lived experiences. Participants will leave the workshop with a toolkit consisting of guidelines, suggested materials and a resource list. References: - Leigh, J. and Brown, N. (2021) Embodied Inquiry: Research Methods. London: Bloomsbury. - Smith, L.T. (2012) Decolonising Methodologies. London: Zed Books.Item Metadata only A service evaluation of more than 1 million self-funding adults attending a community weight management programme.(Wiley, 2024-04-24) Toon, Josef; Bennett, Sarah-Elizabeth; Lavin, Jacquie; Pallister, Carolyn; Avery, AmandaScaled interventions are required to address levels of overweight and obesity and reduce health inequalities. Little data is available on the effectiveness of community weight management programmes for participants self-selecting to attend across different socio-economic backgrounds. This analysis investigates 3, 6, and 12-month outcomes of adults joining a real-life community weight management programme. Weight, attendance and Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) data from all fee-paying adults joining Slimming World in 2016 were collated. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics to determine predictors of weight loss. Mean BMI of 1 094 676 adults (7.6% male) was 33.0 ± 6.4 kg/m. Mean % weight change at 3, 6, and 12 months was -5.0% ± 3.6%, -5.9% ± 5.2%, and -6.0% ± 5.8%. Those attending 75% sessions achieved greater weight loss with mean weight losses at 3, 6, and 12-months of 7.7% ± 3.3%, 11.3% ± 5.2%, and 14.1% ± 7.5%, respectively. Effect sizes from comparison of weight change between deprivation deciles were negligible, with similar outcomes in the most and least deprived deciles at 12-months (-5.7% ± 5.9% vs. -6.2% ± 5.9%). This service evaluation of more than 1 million adults attending a community weight management programme found they were able to achieve and/or maintain an average 6% weight loss at 12 months, with high attenders achieving >14% loss. Men and those with higher levels of deprivation were accessing the support and achieving significant weight losses. Slimming World as a real-life, scalable weight management programme is well placed to help adults manage their weight and address health inequalities.Item Metadata only Weight loss outcomes achieved by adults accessing an online programme offered as part of Public Health England's 'Better Health' campaign.(Springer Nature, 2022-07-30) Toon, Josef; Geneva, Martina; Sharpe, Paul; Lavin, Jacquie; Bennett, Sarah; Avery, AmandaEffective use of health technology may offer a scalable solution to the obesity pandemic. Online digital programmes provide a convenient and flexible way for more people to access regular support. This service evaluation aims to determine whether adults accessing an online weight management programme via a national campaign are successful in losing weight.Data was analysed for adults registering with Slimming World's online programme using a discounted membership offered as part of PHE's 'Better Health' campaign between July and December 2020. Last-weight carried forward was used to calculate weight outcomes for participants who had the opportunity to complete 12-weeks and recorded ≥ one weight besides baseline. Engagement was determined using number of online weekly weights recorded with high engagers having weight data for ≥ 9 occasions. Socioeconomic status was assessed using postcode data. Resubscription and uploaded weight data were used to determine numbers who continued beyond the offer period.Twenty-seven thousand two hundred forty-eight adults (5.3% males) with mean age 41.0 ± 11.4 years met inclusion criteria. Mean baseline BMI was 33.4 ± 6.8 kg/m (29.2% 30-34.9, 18.3% 35-39.9 and 15.1% > 40 kg/m). Mean weight loss at 12 weeks was 2.7 (± 3) kg representing a mean loss of 3% (± 3.1) body weight with 42.3% achieving ≥ 3% and 22.1% weight loss ≥ 5%. Median number of weigh-ins was six. Men had greater weight losses compared to women (p < 0.001). High engagers, both men and women, achieved greater weight losses (p < 0.001). Absolute weight loss was associated with joining BMI (r = -0.15, p < 0.001) but for % weight change only small differences were seen (max effect size = 0.03) with no differences in weight change for high engagers between different baseline BMI categories (p > 0.05). 30.9% were in the lowest two IMD quintiles and absolute and percentage weight change did not differ across deprivation quintiles (p > 0.05). 34.9% continued to access the online support after the offer period.This service evaluation shows that an online programme, offered as part of a national campaign, can offer effective support to a large number of people with different starting BMIs and from different socioeconomic backgrounds. An increased level of engagement leads to better weight losses.Item Metadata only Long-term weight loss maintenance in females after participation in a community weight management programme – A feasibility study(Elsevier, 2023-08-03) Avery, Amanda; Toon, Josef; Holloway, Laura; Bennett, Sarah; Lavin, Jacquie; Pallister, CarolynItem Metadata only Impact of COVID-19 on health-related behaviours, well-being and weight management(Springer Nature, 2021-06-16) Avery, Amanda; Toon, Josef; Kent, Jennifer; Holloway, Laura; Lavin, Jacquie; Bennett, Sarah-ElizabethBackground Weight management is complex for people even in times of stability. Supporting individuals to develop strategies to maintain a healthier weight when there are additional life challenges may prevent relapse. This mixed-methods study describes the impact the COVID-19 restrictions had on adults engaged in weight management before and during the pandemic in order to determine helpful strategies. Methods Longitudinal data was captured from online surveys completed by Slimming World (SW) members 0–4 weeks after joining, October/November 2019, providing pre-joining and baseline (T0 & T1), 3- (T2) and 6- month (T3-during COVID-19) data. Representatives from the general population, not attending a weight management service, completed the same questionnaires providing cross-sectional control data. All weights are self-reported. For this study, questions assessing the impact of the COVID-19 challenges on health-related behaviours and well-being are included comparing responses at T0/T1, T2 & T3. Longitudinal data were analysed using repeated measures ANOVA and cross-sectional data, one-way independent ANOVAs to compare means. Comparisons between SW members and controls were determined using z-proportion tests. Qualitative data generated was thematically analysed using a six-step approach to produce the key emerging themes. Results 222 SW members completed all three surveys, achieving a weight loss of 7.7 ± 7.5%. They maintained positive health-related behaviour changes made since joining, including increased fruit and vegetables p<0.001, fewer sugary drinks p<0.001, cooking from scratch p<0.001) and increased activity levels p0.001). Despite COVID-19 restrictions, they were still reporting improvements in all behaviours and had healthier scores than the controls on all but alcohol intake, although still within guidelines. Qualitative data indicated that the situation created various challenges to managing weight with fresh foods harder to access, comfort eating, drinking more alcohol, eating more sugary foods and snacking through boredom. However, some reported having more free time enabling better planning, more time to cook from scratch and increased physical activity. Conclusions The findings highlight the value of peer, group and online support and guidance for individuals to develop sustainable behaviour changes and a level of resilience. These strategies can then be drawn upon enabling maintenance of lifestyle changes and management of weight even in challenging times.Item Metadata only The impacts and implications of the community face mask use during the Covid‐19 pandemic: A qualitative narrative interview study(Wiley, 2023-03-21) Hanna, Esmee; Martin, Graham; Campbell, Anne; Connolly, Paris; Fearon, KrissIntroduction A range of nonpharmaceutical public health interventions has been introduced in many countries following the rapid spread of Covid-19 since 2020, including recommendations or mandates for the use of face masks or coverings in the community. While the effectiveness of face masks in reducing Covid-19 transmission has been extensively discussed, scant attention has been paid to the lived experience of those wearing face masks. Method Drawing on 40 narrative interviews with a purposive sample of people in the United Kingdom, with a particular focus on marginalised and minoritized groups, our paper explores experiences of face mask use during the pandemic. Results We find that face masks have a range of societal, health and safety impacts, and prompted positive and negative emotional responses for users. We map our findings onto Lorenc and Oliver's framework for intervention risks. We suggest that qualitative data offer particular insights into the experiences of public health interventions, allowing the potential downsides and risks of interventions to be more fully considered and informing public health policies that might avoid inadvertent harm, particularly towards marginalised groups. Patient or Public Contribution The study primarily involved members of the public in the conduct of the research, namely through participation in interviews (email and telephone). The conception for the study involved extensive discussions on social media with a range of people, and we received input and ideas from presentations we delivered on the preliminary analysis.Item Metadata only Transitioning services for eating disorder treatment, the relative importance of factors from patient, carer and clinician perspectives: a Q-methodology study(Emerald, 2022-03-15) Wales, Jackie; Brewin, Nicola; Williamson, I. R.; Štický, Jakub; Lawrence, Rachael; Eivors, AlisonPurpose Effective transitions from child and adolescent to adult services are important for continuity of care for patients with eating disorders. This study aims to examine the relative importance of a series of statements about the transition process, elicited from an earlier service evaluation, from the perspectives of patients, parents/carers and clinicians. Design/methodology/approach Twenty-eight participants completed a Q-sort task ranking 40 statements, developed from an earlier study, using a normal distribution pattern on a scale, which ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree, to identify their priorities for transition. Analysis resulted in the extraction of four factors explaining 52% of the variance. Findings Four distinct factors were elicited: “parents and carers need including too”, “facilitating effective transfer between services”, “supporting the patient through transition” and providing “timely, patient-centred care”. The study enabled similarities and differences in priorities to be observed for the three respondent groups. Practical implications These rankings, noting the differences between the respondent groups, can be used to inform the development of effective transition protocols. This study suggests these protocols should ensure a person-centred approach; timely planning; include parents/carers; provide continuous care and have good transfer of information and sensible timing of transitions. Differences in priorities/opinions can be addressed through open communication channels. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first UK-wide study examining priorities for transition from the perspectives of patients, parents/carers and clinicians.Item Open Access Exploring dental anxiety as a mediator in the relationship between mindfulness or self-compassion and dental neglect(Elsevier, 2024-08-29) Giannou, Kyriaki; Beltes, Charalampos; Mantzios, MichailDental anxiety and dental neglect are interconnected constructs with profound consequences for oral health and corresponding challenges for dental professionals. Meanwhile, other literature has indicated that mindfulness and self-compassion relate negatively to different forms of anxiety, and propose elements of potential interventions. This study aimed to explore the potential impact of dental anxiety as a mediator on the relationships between mindfulness or self-compassion and dental neglect. The results showed significant negative associations between mindfulness and self-compassion with dental anxiety and dental neglect. Mediation analyses supported the hypothesis that dental anxiety mediates the positive associations between mindfulness or self-compassion and dental neglect, providing preliminary evidence for the potential effectiveness of mindfulness and self-compassion interventions in addressing dental anxiety and dental neglect. Future research and potential clinical implications are discussed.Item Open Access Labor Market Reentry Among White-Collar Female Ex-Prisoners in China: A Feminist Desistance Perspective(Sage, 2024-03-07) Zhang, XiaoyeThis study, part of a collaborative project with the women’s prison in City A, China, aims to understand the experience of regaining employment among 21 white-collar ex-prisoners. Findings include shame and internalized stigmatization, labor market marginalization, and the political background check as a central part of the Chinese motherhood penalty. This paper demonstrates how the consequences of the women’s conviction and incarceration interact with individual, familial, and structural factors, leading some to return to domestic gender roles and pushing most into a state of precariousness. The study aims to contribute to the emerging field of feminist desistance research.Item Open Access Functions of background music among prisoners and staff in the Chinese prison workplace(Sage, 2022-12-24) Zhang, XiaoyeMusic listening is one of the most popular leisure activities in our lives, and it can also be found in prisons across the globe. However, most research on music in prison are concerned with its rehabilitative functions and not as an everyday activity. This study collected qualitative questionnaires and interview data from 14 prisons to illustrate the soundscape of music listening in Chinese prisons. The main access to music listening happens at the workspace and it is only available in the form of background music. This study considers the various functions of background music for both prisoners and officers. Music curation and access are about power and control, and it reveals a mostly hierarchical yet also dynamic pattern in the Chinese staff–prisoner relationship. Listening to music has also been found to be one of the coping mechanisms for officers and prisoners who share similar working conditions where conformity to authority is inevitable for all.Item Open Access Administrative Governance and Frontline Officers in the Chinese Prison System During the COVID-19 Pandemic(Sage, 2021-03-12) Zhang, Xiaoye; Wang, LanruiThe spread of COVID-19 put prisons across the globe into an emergency state where extraordinary reactions and measures have been taken. Prison governance and management under such circumstances have facilitated the revelation of existing mechanisms of control. Focusing on the experience of frontline officers, this paper explores how the Chinese prison system contained the spread of COVID-19 inside its walls by demanding officers work on ‘lockdown shifts’, and what we can learn about its governing logic. Multi-sourced data is utilized, including government-issued policies and reports, media reports, blog posts written by prison officers and participant observation as well as semi-structured interviews with frontline prison officers. This study offers a diachronic analysis of pandemic control within the prison system, focusing on key turning points. By examining frontline prison officers’ accounts through first- and second-hand data, the study explores the execution of control policies and how they affect individual lives. The study found that prison officers were ordered to fight at the forefront of pandemic control in prisons by working on shifts inside for an extended and indefinite period of time, which proved effective in terminating the spread of the virus, but placed a heavy burden on the personal lives of the officers. The findings also reveal new facets in the mobility and experience of frontline officers. While effective in terms of what the statistics have demonstrated, the Chinese measures have been less effective in adjusting to the needs of frontline staff and acknowledging the personal sacrifices demanded and made in this process.Item Open Access Prison Theatre as Method: Focused Ethnography and Auto-ethnography in a Chinese Prison(EG Press, 2017-05-05) Zhang, XiaoyeItem Open Access Participatory Theater as Fieldwork in Chinese Prisons: A Research Note(Sage, 2021-12-07) Zhang, XiaoyeThis methodological reflection is based on the author's own experience taking part in participatory theater projects in mainland Chinese prisons over the past 5 years. This article demonstrates how the author's participation in prison theater projects secured otherwise unattainable research access by forming collaborations with various organizations. Participatory theater workshops also offered the space for sustaining long-term rapport. This research note discusses why trusting relationships are the most important guarantee to obtaining valid data in Chinese prison research. The findings contribute to understanding methodological challenges and innovations of conducting fieldwork in criminal justice systems with no formal research access channels.Item Open Access Narrative Rehabilitation: Manifestation of Chinese and Western Reform Ideals and Practices(Sage, 2020-09-11) Zhang, XiaoyeThe existing literature has shown that in Western penal systems there is often an official demand for narrative rehabilitation during treatment programs, and has criticized the requirement for a narrative change to correspond with the “judicial-correctional truth.” This study is based on participant observation in a male prison in mainland China. Through a comparative lens, this paper found that offenders in Western treatment programs are required to demonstrate a change in narrative identity that is immersed in details from their personal history and from judicial discourse, whereas the Chinese penal system scrutinizes individuality less and focuses more on adherence to a unified narrative form and structure. While both systems are concerned with social control and the legitimation of penal power, Chinese prisons are less concerned with cognitive specifics and more with overt behavioral compliance. Both practices of narrative rehabilitation may be insufficient in facilitating the complex needs of offenders to desist from reoffending.Item Embargo Review of Peng Wang, The Chinese Mafia: Organized Crime, Corruption, and Extra-legal Protection.(Springer, 2020-02-03) Zhang, XiaoyeItem Open Access Review of Vincent Shing Cheng, Hypocrisy: The Tales and Realities of Drug Detainees in China(Springer, 2020-01-14) Zhang, XiaoyeItem Embargo Chongqing's Red Culture Campaign: Simulation and Its Social Implications Mei Xiao London and New York: Routledge, 2018 viii + 153 pp. £105.00 ISBN 978-1-138-22231-1(Cambridge University Press, 2018-09-13) Zhang, XiaoyeItem Open Access Producing exemplarity: Performance making in a Chinese prison(Sage Publications, 2022-03-07) Zhang, XiaoyePenal order is closely linked to the broader social order in China and the disciplinary side of its maintenance. This article seeks to demonstrate, through the case of performance making, what order means to the Chinese prison authority, and how prisoners comply with and sometimes defy the system based upon various motivations. Using data from an ethnographic study on performance making in a men's prison during 2015–2018, this study aims to understand how an 'exemplary order' is maintained, and what kinds of compliance and resistance can be found. The findings suggest that “theatre in prisons” is not a Western invention to be borrowed, but a long-established institutional mechanism of order mainetence in China, as participation in prison's activities represents compliance with the regime order. However, compliance is also utilized by the prisoners not only for hedonistic gains but also for gaining social capital, which can have a strong positive influence on their quality of life inside and earlier release. This study will also demonstrate how the Chinese penal order maintenance shares similirities with modes of soft power found in British prisons, as well prisoner-officer collaboration found in other Global South countries, with a twist