The Feelings Group: A Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of the Outcomes of a Smaller Anger Management Group for Clients who have a Learning Disability

Referrals concerning problems with anger for people with learning disability (LD) are relatively common as they are thought to be prone to difficulty in managing their anger (Willner, et al., 2002), a problem associated with aggressive behaviour (Novaco, 1994). Aggression is also prevalent in this population, with obvious inherent risks to themselves and others (Harris, 1993; Kiely & Pankhurst, 1998). Research on direct therapy in people with a learning disability (LD) indicates that there was a period of disdain for these types of approaches (Sinason, 1992). This was followed by a period marked by doubt around the value of using cognitive principles in particular (Willner, 2006), which was eventually overcome by a more positive and less discriminatory approach (Willner, 2005). This hesitancy has delayed the generation of robust empirical evaluation, which has yet to catch up (Willner, Jones, Tams & Green, 2002). The guidelines from the NHS are then activated whereby “in the absence of well designed randomised trials, clinicians may legitimately draw upon analysis of expert opinion and past experience” (Department of Health, 1996; p26). In some ways this offers freedom to adopt novel approaches or ones adapted from principle applied in other areas of clinical work, however, it also represents a difficulty in operating using evidence-based practice (Willner, 2005), which to some may represent a ‘professional minefield’ (Mead, 2000). In the emergent evidence-base for interventions for anger in this group, one important distinction has been made between ‘anger management’ and ‘anger treatment’ (Novaco et al., 2000), where the former is seen as a psycho educational approach whilst the latter explicitly combines assessment with treatment. Anger treatment also “centrally involves substantial cognitive restructuring and the acquisition of arousal reduction and behavioural coping skills” (Rose, et al., 2000, p172) This article presents the results from a small anger-management group for clients with a learning disability that was to be called “The Feelings Group”, which was based on the “Self awareness group” resource pack from Willner & Tomlinson (Psychology Department, Learning Disabilities Directorate, Bro Morgannwg NHS trust). This intervention boasted effectiveness in an RCT evaluation published in an article by Willner and colleagues (2002). The data was taken as part of service evaluation for the group. Informed consent was given by the clients involved to write about the group in an article

STELLAR (Semantic Technologies Enhancing the Lifecycle of Learning Resources): Jisc Final Report

[Project Summary] As one of the earliest distance learning providers The Open University (OU) has a rich heritage of archived learning materials. An ever increasing amount of that is in digital form and is being deposited with the University Archive. This growth has been driven by digitisation activity from projects such as AVA (Access to Video Assets) and the Fedora-based Open University Digital Library ‘a place to discover digital and digitised archival content from the OU Library, from videos and images to digitised documents’. Other digital content is being captured from web archiving activities, such as work to preserve Moodle Virtual Learning Environment course websites. An evidence based understanding is required to inform digital preservation policies, curation strategy and investment in digital library development. Following the Pre-enhancement, Enhancement and Post-enhancement methodology set out by Jisc, STELLAR adopted the model of a balanced scorecard to ascertain the value ascribed to the non-current learning materials. Four aspects were considered: Personal and professional perspectives of value; Value to the Higher Educational and academic communities; Value to internal processes and cultures; Financial perspectives of value. The outcomes of the survey indicated that stakeholders place a high value on the materials, and that they perceived them to have value in all areas evaluated. Three OU courses were chosen from the digital library for the transformation stage. These materials were enhanced and transformed into RDF, a process that required more extensive metadata expertise and effort than was expected. Following enhancement the RDF was accessed through a tool called DiscOU, created by a member of the project team from the OU’s Knowledge Media Institute. DiscOU uses both linked data and a semantic meaning engine to analyse the meaning of the text in a search query. This is matched against the meaning of the content derived from an index of the full-text of the digital library content. In the final stage stakeholders were asked through a survey and series of workshops to use the DiscOU proof-of-concept tool to assess their perception of the value of this transformation. This has revealed that overall, academics and other stakeholders in the university do believe that the value of the selected materials was positively impacted by the application of semantic technologies

Collateral risk management at the Bank of England

In response to the financial crisis the Bank of England has expanded the range of collateral accepted in its market operations to include private sector assets, notably asset-backed securities and covered bonds. Such assets have different risk characteristics to the forms of collateral previously accepted, presenting new risk management challenges. This article sets out how the Bank of England undertakes collateral risk management, highlighting in particular the significant degree of protection taken by the Bank in its operations.

What can we learn from retirement expectations data?

This paper analyses retirement expectations and outcomes using the two waves of the UK Retirement Survey, undertaken in 1988-89 and 1994. We argue that responses to questions on expectations are not straightforward to interpret where individuals are asked to report point expectations. As in the studies for the US by Bernheim, the evidence here suggests that individuals tend to report their most likely retirement date. About half of the sample retired when they expected. Men tend to retire earlier than expected on average, but with only two waves of data we cannot reject that this is caused by a common shock over the period. Changes in health and marital status are linked to divergences between expectations and realisations. We extend the analysis to consider ѤonҴ know' responses, which we argue may be a rational response when individuals face greater uncertainty over their future retirement date. We provide evidence to support this hypothesis. Finally, we show that information on expectations can improve the accuracy of models of actual retirement behaviour, most likely because they provide a suitable proxy for unobserved tastes for income and leisure.Retirement behaviour, expectations

The abolition of the earnings rule for UK pensioners

The US has legislated to abolish its social security earnings test. A priori it is not possible to predict the effect this will have on work incentives. Using data from the Family Expenditure Survey we show that the abolition of the earnings rule in the UK increased the number of hours worked by men. The lack of any evidence of a reduction in hours may be a consequence of those who previously earned more than the earnings threshold deferring pension receipt at an actuarially favourable rate. This is consistent with there being little evidence of a significant change in the number of deferrals after the earnings rule was abolished.

Debt and depression

The paper examines the effect of household financial indebtedness on the psychological well-being of mothers, using a large household survey of families with children for Britain. Although some existing studies find a link between debt and depression, they tend to utilise small and often highly selective samples of people and only self-reported measures of financial stress, responses to which are likely to correlate with other subjective measures of health. Our study constructs a variety of quantitative measures of financial stress and debt difficulties in order to validate selfreported measures. It examines the potential simultaneity of financial and psychological health by appropriate statistical techniques. The results confirm both a direct link between indebtedness and psychological stress and an indirect link through the impact of poor health on economic status.Financial indebtedness, psychological well-being, self-reported measures.