The New Urban Spiritual? Tentative Framings for a Debate and a Project

AHRC-funded project 'The Urban Spiritual: Placing Spiritual Practices in Context' (AH/H009108/1), Working Paper #1

Evaluation of fostering network Scottish care mentoring projects

Looked after children and young people are some of the most vulnerable in our society. For Scotland’s Children highlighted the ‘continuing failure of many local authorities as ‘corporate parents’ to provide these young people with the care and education they are entitled to by law’ (Scottish Executive, 2001, p. 10). One of the major issues facing looked after young people is the process of transition from care to independence. It is a time when they have ‘a right to expect the sort of help that loving parents would provide for their children, help to reach their full potential, and the same chance to make mistakes secure in the knowledge that there is a safety net of support’ (Jamieson, 2002, p. 2). However, over a number of years, research has highlighted the poor outcomes for children leaving care. Longitudinal studies which have followed up children and young people in care as part of national cohort studies present the stark contrast in life outcomes between those who have experienced care and those who have not. Cheung and Heath (1994) compare these two groups at age 33. Only one fifth of those who had been in care had achieved O levels compared to one-third of those who had not; only half as many had achieved A levels. Only one in a hundred of those who had been in care achieved a university degree compared to one on ten of those who had not. Two fifths of those who had been in care had no formal qualifications compared to one in seven (Cheung and Heath, 1994). This lack of qualifications converted into lack of success in the job market with three times as many being unemployed (10.8 % compared to 3.6 %) and larger proportions having manual jobs as opposed to professional or non-manual jobs

Exploring the acceptability of two self-sampling devices for human papillomavirus testing in the cervical screening context: a qualitative study of Muslim women in London

Objectives We explored Muslim women's attitudes to self-sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) in the context of cervical cancer screening and their responses to two self-sampling devices.Setting A Muslim community centre in north-east London.Methods Following a talk given on the subject of cervical cancer and HPV at the community centre, 28 women were recruited to take part in three focus group discussions. The discussion covered cervical screening, self-sampling and HPV testing. Women were also asked for their responses to a swab self-sampling kit and a cervico-vaginal lavage device. Discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim and the qualitative data were analysed using Framework Analysis.Results Participants were generally positive about cervical screening but acknowledged that some women in their community were reluctant to offend because of embarrassment, language difficulties, fear or because they were unmarried and did not want to communicate implicit messages about being sexually active. Self-sampling met a mixed response - women were concerned about not doing the test correctly, but thought that it might overcome barriers to screening for some women. HPV testing itself was thought to raise potentially difficult issues relating to trust and fidelity within marriages. Although most women said they would prefer to continue to have screening by a health professional, if they were to perform self-sampling, there was overwhelming preference for the swab over the lavage kit.Conclusions There was limited enthusiasm for self-sampling in this group of Muslim women who had mostly attended for cervical screening, but a clear preference for a swab rather than a cervico-vaginal lavage