Search results

The purpose of this study is to describe peer support work in a men’s mental health unit from a lived experience and service user’s perspective. The intertwining of process (a lived experience perspective) and subject (the therapeutic value of peer support) leads to greater knowledge and insight into peer support for people with mental health problems.

This service user narrative draws on the extracts from a reflective journal of interactions and conversations with people with mental health problems as well as feedback from service users and staff about the value of peer support. These methods allow a first-person, service user’s, reflective and narrative account of peer support work.

Peer support work, particularly hearing voices sessions, are found to be highly therapeutic and worthwhile. They promote insight and create feelings of safety and hope in what can sometimes be a frightening and hostile ward environment. Peer support provides emotional and practical support. Sharing stories and experiences of mental illness with people leads to trust, feelings of being valued, heard and accepted as well as better experiences of care and being seen as a person first. Due to their shared experiences, peer support workers are able to befriend people with mental health problems on the ward. Peer support work bridges the gap and vacuum of care between people with mental health problems and staff. It compensates for understaffing to provide more holistic and person-centred care and support.

Lived experience/ service user perspectives and narratives on peer support are rare, particularly in a hospital setting. This article provides a rich, perhaps overlooked and hidden narrative on the nature of peer support work. People with mental health problems, like Ben, are often excluded from society, health and social care, education, employment and research. This narrative opens up a pathway to understanding peer support from a service user perspective.

It is now forty years since there appeared H. R. Plomer's first volume Dictionary of the booksellers and printers who were at work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1641 to 1667. This has been followed by additional Bibliographical Society publications covering similarly the years up to 1775. From the short sketches given in this series, indicating changes of imprint and type of work undertaken, scholars working with English books issued before the closing years of the eighteenth century have had great assistance in dating the undated and in determining the colour and calibre of any work before it is consulted.

This chapter intends to contribute to the debate on the determinants of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their impact on performance measurement and communication systems. It aims at analyzing the relationship between the reasons why firms adopt CSR and the importance given to voluntary CSR disclosure.

Two main categories of CSR determinants have been identified: the external ones, coming from the environment outside the firm, and the internal determinants, which are linked to some specific characteristics of the enterprise and to the objectives it pursues.

The analyzed sample consists of 120 large Italian manufacturing and nonmanufacturing enterprises. The research hypotheses concerning the relationship between external and internal determinants of CSR and CSR disclosure were verified using an independent sample t-test, evaluating the equal variances of clusters using the Levene’s test.

Main results point out that in companies giving importance to CSR disclosure, the internal drivers are more relevant than the external ones in determining the attitude toward CSR. Among the internal determinants, drivers related to company and management values and ethics are quite relevant.

This study is subject to the limitations that generally apply to cross-sectional survey-based research.

Our research findings show that legitimacy theory represents the most relevant theory in explaining CSR disclosure practices of Italian large firms, as well as the operational implementation of stakeholder theory, such as stakeholder management. On the contrary, institutional theory only partially explains CSR disclosure, with respect to the pressures coming from financial markets.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

The body design of the lorry was then modified to be of the “cupboard” type, with the refrigerant in the storage chamber for the goods. A revolutionary step was taken by the introduction of solid carbon dioxide as refrigerant. This material is made by supercooling liquid carbon dioxide by its own evaporation until a “snow” is formed and then compressing this “snow” to a specific gravity of 1·5. The solid block so formed has a greater refrigerating effect per pound than ice, and a much lower temperature (=108° F.). It evaporates without passing through the liquid stage and on account of this property it has been called “Dry‐Ice” in America and “Dri‐Kold” in England. It is clean in use, but relatively expensive (about 2d. a lb.), and its low working temperature is a disadvantage, as it makes difficulties in controlling the temperature of the refrigerated space. Its use has eliminated all corrosion and enabled the insulation design and body building design to be simplified and made more efficient. The presence of carbon dioxide gas in the refrigerated space is often a disadvantage; when this occurs the solid carbon dioxide has to be held in a separate container and the heat from the refrigerated chamber led to it by conductor plates, or by a secondary refrigerant, or by a moving air stream. The high price of solid carbon dioxide and the difficulty of controlling the temperature with it have led many engineers to seek other solutions of the problem of refrigerating vehicles. The use of a small compressor outfit, which has its own motive power (either internal combustion engine or electric motor) or is driven from the axle of the vehicle, has been developed and has a following. The small size of these units causes inefficiency and uneconomical running, and the possibility of breakdown, with consequent loss of refrigerating power and spoiling of the load, is a nightmare to the operator. Most recently of all a return has been made to the eutectic tank method. This method suffered from the necessity of removing the tanks on the return of the empty vehicle and replacing them by a fresh set which had been freezing in a special equipment. This took time and two sets of tanks were needed besides the freezing equipment. Now the tanks are fixed in the vehicle; they have internal pipes which, when the vehicle is docked, are connected to a main refrigerating system, and flooded with liquid ammonia. This ammonia is evaporated by the compressor and freezes the eutectic solution which in turn refrigerates the vehicle when it is on the road. The system has the advantage of a stable, readily‐controlled temperature, absence of all mess, and the reliability and cheap running costs of a fixed large capacity refrigerating plant. The amount of eutectic used is such as to provide about 36 hours refrigeration on the road, so that no breakdown can result in the loss of the load. Mr. Milner Gray, in a section of his lecture in 1939 to the Royal Society of Arts on “The History and Development of Packaging” has already pointed out how social and economic changes in recent years have affected the distribution of foodstuffs. Smaller families and residences, and the increased pace of living have made popular the packaged food unit, which is easily purchased, handled and stored. The lecture dealt with the subject from the point of view of the designer of artistic packages, but the food manufacturer is obviously concerned with the effect of the package itself on the food it contains. It is a matter of commercial necessity for the large food factories of to‐day (with sales areas covering the whole of the United Kingdom) to ensure that their products shall reach all their customers in a satisfactory condition. The period which elapses between the goods leaving the factory and their reaching the customer varies, but the package must be such that the quality of the foodstuff is maintained for the desired period or “life” of the goods. A packaged foodstuff may be made or marred by its wrappings. Generally speaking, the main causes of spoiling in manufactured foodstuffs are mechanical damage, temperature effects, insect infestation, putrefaction, moisture‐exchange (dependent upon weather conditions), flavour contamination, and chemical changes such as development of rancidity and metallic contamination. The package can be constructed to give reasonable protection against all these factors, and a few illustrations will be given of how this is done. A package must necessarily be strong enough to prevent physical distortion of the product wrapped, but the question of functional designing of packages is not germane to the present lecture: the general principles of the strength of bulk containers was explained in lectures to the Royal Society of Arts by Mr. Chaplin and his colleagues from the Container Testing Laboratory at Princes Risborough. Prevention of insect infestation from outside sources is, of course, simply a matter of proper closure and choice of materials. Prevention of putrefaction, or spoiling by micro‐organisms is one of the chief purposes of a food wrapping, and bound up with the question of prevention of access to the food of putrefying organisms is that of prevention of infection of the food by organisms which might not themselves spoil it but which are harmful to human beings if eaten with the food. Medical Officers of Health have been concerned with the latter aspect for many years, and the present public demand for milk in individual containers, such as cartons or bottles, and for the large quantities of bread sold in sealed wrappers is no doubt due largely to their education of public opinion. Wrapped bread is usually sold in a sealed waxed paper packing, which, in addition to keeping the bread clean, also delays drying of crumb through moisture loss. The baker must, however, guard against the actual spoiling of his bread through wrapping. If the bread is packed too warm, mould growth in or on it may be promoted by the high moisture content of the atmosphere inside the waxed wrapper which is impermeable to moisture vapour. This impermeability has other effects, which will be considered later. Various proposals have been made to prevent mould growth on foods inside wrappers by impregnating the latter with compounds which volatilise slowly and inhibit the development of moulds and micro‐organisms. Compounds of the type of chloramine T (liberating chlorine in a damp atmosphere) have been patented for treating bread wrappers, while iodine, diphenyl and many other compounds have been proposed for treating wrappers to be placed round fruit. Some years ago a wrapper marketed to prevent meat spoiling was found to depend on the liberation of formaldehyde. Wrappers of these types cannot, however, be used on account of the danger of infringement of the Foods and Drugs Regulations if the foodstuff should absorb any of the volatile compound. The loss or gain of moisture by manufactured foodstuffs are two very important causes of food spoiling. Sponge cakes, under ordinary conditions of storage, soon become dry and unpalatable, while boiled sweets and toffee can be kept in good condition for a considerable time by the use of a suitably selected wrapper. Different types of wrappers allow the passage of moisture vapour at different rates, but for practical purposes they can be considered as either permeable or practically impermeable to moisture vapour. The rate of passage of moisture vapour through a wrapper has not necessarily any connection with the “airtightness.”

Briefly reviews previous literature by the author before presenting an original 12 step system integration protocol designed to ensure the success of companies or countries in their efforts to develop and market new products. Looks at the issues from different strategic levels such as corporate, international, military and economic. Presents 31 case studies, including the success of Japan in microchips to the failure of Xerox to sell its invention of the Alto personal computer 3 years before Apple: from the success in DNA and Superconductor research to the success of Sunbeam in inventing and marketing food processors: and from the daring invention and production of atomic energy for survival to the successes of sewing machine inventor Howe in co‐operating on patents to compete in markets. Includes 306 questions and answers in order to qualify concepts introduced.

Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.

A Report has been issued by the Medical Research Council upon the investigations of the Salmonella Group, with special reference to food‐poisoning, conducted by Dr. William G. Savage and Mr. P. Bruce White. In a preface to the report, it is stated that early in 1921 the Ministry of Health invited the co‐operation of the Medical Research Council in the promotion of a scheme of investigation into outbreaks of food‐poisoning, of which the general lines had been arranged by the Ministry in consultation with Dr. W. G. Savage, medical officer of health for Somersetshire. Nearly nine‐tenths of food‐poisoning outbreaks are due to organisms of the Salmonella or Gaertner group of bacteria, and although much successful work has been done in the identification and classification of these organisms and in tracing the causes of particular outbreaks of poisoning, we have very little knowledge of the paths, whether through animal infections or otherwise, by which these organisms have found their way originally into the food to which their subsequent ill‐effects may have been traced. The council undertook to promote further investigation. They secured the whole‐time services of Mr. P. Bruce White for the bacteriological work required, and by the courtesy of Professor Walker Hall he was enabled to work in the bacteriological laboratories of the University of Bristol, in close touch with Dr. Savage at Weston‐super‐Mare. The field inquiries were arranged by the Food Department of the Ministry of Health, with the assistance of medical officers of health and of veterinary surgeons. In these, Dr. Savage and Mr. Bruce‐White co‐operated while conducting the laboratory investigations. The results already gained include some important advances in our knowledge of the natural history of organisms of the Salmonella group, and a record of the details of many varieties of outbreaks of food‐poisoning among human beings. That side of the inquiry, in which it was hoped to deal effectively with the paths of infection through domestic or agricultural animals, has halted, in spite of much effort, for want of better facilities in this country for systematic studies of comparative pathology, but it is hoped that in the early future the work can be extended successfully in this direction. The introduction to the report explains that the primary object of the investigation has been the elucidation, not merely of the causes of bacterial food‐poisoning outbreaks, which are for the most part known, but the paths by which infection is transmitted to the food. The latter, in spite of much work, remains largely unascertained. Since the majority of outbreaks, and practically all of any importance, which occur in this country are due to specific infection or intoxication with bacilli of the Salmonella group, work has been restricted to that group. The problem is so complex that the investigators have repeatedly been compelled to branch off into studies which at first may not seem to be germane to the primary object, but they are necessary deviations and bear directlv upon the work. The report is divided into three parts. Part I. contains an extensive survey of the serological properties of the group. It shows that the sub‐grounds described are definite entities which arc fairly clear‐cut, and which do not pass into one another under any known conditions. It is hoped that these studies, following on the valuable work of Schütze and others, will establish the different sub‐groups or types on a clearly recognizable basis. In Part 2 the investigators have tried to demonstrate that these sub‐groups not only have a definite distribution in nature, but have become somewhat specialised in their disease‐producing characters. It is obvious that until this is done it is not possible to disentangle their relationships to disease or to place the aetiology of food‐poisoning on a firm basis. The definitions and distinctions between the different sub‐groups have been so confused in the past that the essential importance of this relationship has largely been overlooked. In Part 3 experimental work is advanced which the investigators consider helps to explain the differing disease‐producing rôles of these sub‐groups.

This article addresses the critical need for exceptional leaders to shepherd the nationʼs Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in a post-Brown era where African American students enjoy unlimited access to higher education in the United States. The article spotlights the many contributions Black colleges and universities have made to American society against insuperable odds since their inception in the mid-nineteenth century. It studies selected examples of HBCUs whose graduates have distinguished themselves in areas where other institutions enjoy centers of excellence. The article traces the historical inequities between major and minority institutions, the challenges HBCUs face in surmounting these disparities, and the growing tendency of Black students to exercise their options by enrolling at White colleges and universities. With the loss of a pure monopoly on African American students, Black colleges now must find leaders of exceptional talent and vision in order to ensure their survival. The article recommends strategies designed to surmount hurdles and enhance the viability of Black colleges and universities in an increasingly competitive environment.

A dynamic retailing format is emerging in metropolitan cities across the USA: the underground mall (UGM). The UGM is a place of trade where a cluster of socially networked buyers (i.e. potential customers) and sellers (i.e. retailers) meet face‐to‐face in a private setting (i.e. in the seller's garage or in a neighborhood clubhouse) for the purpose of trade. This study seeks to detail how this unique retailing format operates and examines factors influencing consumption within this gray market.

Two theories were utilized in developing a framework for data collection: gray markets and market embeddedness. Data were collected via in‐depth interviews with 16 UGM shoppers. The data were analyzed and interpreted according to the protocol for phenomenology.

A combination of diverse retailing and socialization benefits drives the gray market of the UGM. Retailing benefits include a wide variety of vendors and products, unique items, convenience, a personalized shopping experience, and a comfortable shopping context. Socialization benefits include strengthening interpersonal relationships and building connections within one's community.

This study makes an important contribution to the gray marketing literature. The findings illustrate that a combination of diverse retailing and socialization benefits, not price, drives this particular gray market.

This research is original to the gray market, market embeddedness, and retailing literatures within the field of marketing. The findings of this study suggest that consumer motives for shopping in the gray market of the UGM are more hedonic than utilitarian in nature.