“There’s none so deaf as those who will not hear”.
A report released this week by the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) shows that deaf children are falling even further behind their hearing peers in school than previously thought. Figures show that 30.6% of deaf children achieve a grade 5 or...
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Trouble in Arcadia: Citizen-led planning in the English countryside
The Localism Act (2011)identified local communities as best placed to determine the nature of development in their areas. Apparently, by empowering and responsibilising local communities, the rhetoric of localism in neighbourhood planning, marks an attempt to square democratic engagement with...
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Trade Unions: Working from the Margins
How UK trade unions can meet the needs of the contemporary labour force In a very poor attempt to offer up some ‘good’ news, Conservative party supporters continue to make much of the increased UK employment rate. Something that, on...
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Frankie Boyle’s hamster & the NHS long-term plan
Back in what now seems like a curiously quaint era for UK civil democracy, the Scottish Independence referendum was the once-in-a-generation opportunity for a group of people to take back control™ of their own political destiny. Despite what must have...
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Seeing Things
When people experience anxiety and become hyper-vigilant, mass psychogenic phenomena may become more common. The Gatwick drone drama of Christmas 2018 is a candidate. On the day that drones were spotted flying over Gatwick airport, we all wondered what was...
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The rise of veganism?
Sausage Rolls, Flexitarians and the Fight for Sustainability The beginning of a new year offers the chance for renewal (“new year, new you?”). Increasing numbers of people are subscribing to (orchestrated) campaigns to kickstart a healthier lifestyle. Giving up drinking...
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What is Resignation Syndrome
Reports from Nauru are raising concerns about an outbreak of a severe trauma-related mental disorder known as traumatic withdrawal syndrome, or resignation syndrome. Recent legal action resulted in urgent medical evacuation of a child in an unconscious state following a progressive social withdrawal...
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White fluff
Despite extensive awareness and evidence of the dangers of working with asbestos, it continues to feature in domestic and international decision making. The ramifications of its use are felt at an individual level in the experiences of people with asbestos...
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Barriers to impact? On research in the ‘real world’
These days academic research is expected to have some degree of impact ‘out there’, in the ‘real world’, away from the academy. This is not a bad thing, but the ways in which impact has played out in practice assumes...
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Does it matter who funds public health?
Public health researchers and practitioners are divided on the ethics of taking money from ‘harmful commodity’ industries. Ethical debates about collusion with specific industries are important, but they risk ignoring the wider consequences of the increasing privatisation of public health....
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Hygiene for all?
The Guardian this week reported on new kinds of outreach work for homeless people, with mobile laundries and shower units, reported in Australia, New Zealand and Greece as well as my own city of Brighton, England. A Christian charity in...
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Drugs: researchers shouldn’t just focus on the harms