A qualitative study of women's experiences of communication in antenatal care: Identifying areas for action

To identify key features of communication across antenatal (prenatal) care that are evaluated positively or negatively by service users. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were used to explore communication experiences of thirty pregnant women from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds affiliated to a large London hospital. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Women reported a wide diversity of experiences. From the users’ perspective, constructive communication on the part of health care providers was characterised by an empathic conversational style, openness to questions, allowing sufficient time to talk through any concerns, and pro-active contact by providers (e.g. text message appointment reminders). These features created reassurance, facilitated information exchange, improved appointment attendance and fostered tolerance in stressful situations. Salient features of poor communication were a lack of information provision, especially about the overal

What do we need to know to safely store CO2 beneath our shelf seas? Stakeholder workshop report

This report summarises the content and discussion of an Agile Initiative workshop held at the University of Oxford on March 1st 2024, discussing “what do we need to know to safely store CO2 in our UK continental shelf seas?

Filling in the evidence gaps for the safe deployment of offshore geological carbon storage

The Agile Initiative at the Oxford Martin School (funded by the Natural Environment Research Council) aims to transform how research responds to the needs of policymakers through timely, policy-oriented research Sprints that focus on critical environmental issues. This report is the final output of an Agile Initiative Sprint, addressing the question, “What do we need to know to safely store CO2 beneath our shelf seas?” The writers aim to improve understanding of the environmental risks and opportunities associated with CO2 storage in offshore reservoirs, to deliver new research, and to integrate existing knowledge from across research and policy areas, identifying gaps and areas requiring further research. This Sprint concluded in June 2024

Melancholic features and dream masochism in patients with major depression

To investigate whether untreated depressed subjects with melancholic features have higher dream masochism scores than those without melancholic features, the dreams of a group of community volunteers undergoing divorce were recorded in the sleep laboratory. A second question of interest was whether there was a gender difference in dream masochism. We also examined whether melancholic depressed individuals tend to report masochistic dreams closer to morning. Three groups of depressed with and without melancholic features and a non-depressed group had three laboratory nights of sleep. On the third night, dream reports were elicited from each period of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Dream masochism, as defined by Beck (1967), was scored as present if the dreams had any one of ten characteristics. Subjects with melancholic features had higher dream masochism scores than those who did not meet depression criteria. Presence of melancholic features did not affect gender difference in dream masochism. Melancholic depressed individuals had higher DM scores in the second half than the first half night, whereas nonmelancholic depressed individuals and non-depressed subjects did not differ between the halves of the night. These findings suggest that melancholic depressed individuals express deeper levels of self-criticism and self-blaming in their dreams. REM sleep deprivation closer to morning by dream collection method may improve diurnal mood symptoms and negative dream content in major depression.National Institute of Mental Health: MH-5047