Health and Social Care - OU Community Online

Using a novel combination of tissue engineering techniques, they have discovered how to grow artificial nerve tissue in the laboratory from natural proteins.

The team uses a three-dimensional collagen gel to control the natural behaviour of key nerve cells, called Schwann cells, causing them to recreate key features of normal nerve cells.

These pieces of engineered neural tissue (EngNT) contain no synthetic materials, so that the new tissue can integrate effectively with the damaged area of the body.

The use of EngNT could reduce the need for nerve grafts, a technique currently used which involves taking nerve material from a healthy part of the body and so causing damage to this area.

A report of their research, Engineered neural tissue for peripheral nerve repair, is published in Biomaterials journal online.

For fuller story see OU press release.

The cost of government spending cuts can be measured in human lives, reports Dick Skellington.

The Coalition Government is sticking to Plan A –A for Austerity – and carrying on regardless of any argument that insists other strategies may be more productive for delivering growth and economic stability. The next two years promise more cuts to welfare and local services as austerity bites. We have already witnessed a suicide by a woman so desperate about a bedroom tax designed to boost Government coffers, that she took her own life. But how common are such incidents? Is there a connection between austerity and a nation's public health? 

In a new book The Body Economic, researchers David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu present a convincing case that such suicides, and a consequent rise in physical and mental ill health, are a product of the austerity regimes gripping many of the world's developed economics since the global financial crisis of 2008.

The book puts forward a weight of evidence suggesting that the kind of policies adopted by the Coalition Government, designed to alleviate debt and reduce the deficit, have devastating consequences on people's lives.  If austerity had been run like a clinical trial, David Stuckler argues, it would have been discontinued. "The evidence of its deadly side-effects – of the profound effects of economic choices on health – is overwhelming."

Since 2008 in the United States over 5 million people have lost access to health care because they lost their jobs and with them their health insurance  In Greece, one of the hardest hit nations in the downturn, ill-health demographics have shown a disturbing upward trend. Greece has experienced a 200 per cent increase in HIV cases, for example, and across worst hit nations such as Spain, Portugal and Italy, suicide rates have increased. In the UK Stuckler found that 10,000 families have been pushed beyond welfare and into homelessness by the austerity cuts to housing benefits.

Stuckler is a distinguished Oxford academic who specialises in exploring the connections between political economy and public health. His book is a chilling warning about the impact of future austerity measures. "Recessions can hurt. But austerity kills," he concludes.

The most extreme case is Greece. "There, austerity to meet targets set by the troika is leading to a public-health disaster," says Stuckler. "Greece has cut its health system by more than 40 per cent. As the health minister said: 'These aren't cuts with a scalpel, they're cuts with a butcher's knife.' " 

For Stuckler what is most galling about the cuts is that they have been decided "not by doctors and healthcare professionals, but by economists and financial managers. The plan was simply to get health spending down to 6 per cent of GDP." Where did that number come from? he asks. It's less than the UK, less than Germany, and far less than the US.

Cuts in HIV-prevention budgets coincided with a 200 per cent increase in the virus in Greece, driven by a sharp rise in intravenous drug use against the background of a youth unemployment rate now running at more than 50 per cent and a spike in homelessness of around a quarter. The World Health Organisation, Stuckler says, recommends a supply of 200 clean needles a year for each intravenous drug user; groups that work with users in Athens estimate the current number available is about three.

The suicide rate in Greece was relatively low before 2008. Since then the rate has risen by an astonishing 60 per cent, while depression has doubled. Public health services have been overwhelmed and charities report a tenfold increase in cases. "There have been heavy cuts to many hospital sectors. Places lack surgical gloves, the most basic equipment. More than 200 medicines have been de-stocked by pharmacies who can't pay for them. When you cut with the butcher's knife, you cut both fat and lean. Ultimately, it's the patient who loses out."

While the book makes abundantly clear the cause-and-effect link between austerity and decreased levels of public health,  such public health disasters are not inevitable, even in the very worst economic downturns. Stuckler's analysis of data from the 1930s Great Depression in the US shows that every extra $100 of relief in states that adopted the American New Deal led to about 20 fewer deaths per 1,000 births, and four fewer suicides and 18 fewer pneumonia deaths per 100,000 people.

"When this recession started, we began to see history repeat itself," says Stuckler. In Spain, for example, where there was little investment in labour programmes, there was a spike in suicides. In Finland and Iceland, countries that took steps to protect their people in hard times, there was no noticeable impact on suicide rates or other health problems.

So in this current economic crisis, there are countries – Iceland, Sweden, Finland – that are showing positive health trends, and there are countries that are not: Greece, Spain, now maybe Italy. Teetering between the two extremes, Stuckler reckons, is Britain.

According to Stuckler, The UK is "one of the clearest expressions of how austerity kills". Suicides were falling in this country before the recession, he notes. Then, coinciding with a surge in unemployment, they spiked in 2008 and 2009. As unemployment dipped again in 2009 and 2010, so too did suicides. But since the election and the Coalition Government's introduction of austerity measures – and particularly cuts in public sector jobs across the country – suicides are back.
Ministers seem unwilling to address the increase in suicides, arguing it is too early to conclude anything from the data. But based on the actual data, Stuckler is in no doubt. "We've seen a second wave – of austerity suicides," he says. "And they've been concentrated in the north and north-east, places like Yorkshire and Humber, with large rises in unemployment. We're now seeing polarisation across the UK in mental-health issues."

He cites, also, the dire impact on homelessness – falling in Britain until 2010 – of government cuts to social housing budgets, and the human tragedies triggered by the fitness-for-work evaluations, designed to weed out disability benefit fraud.
Stuckler calls on governments to set our economies on track. The book publicity blurb sums it up succinctly. 

"We can prevent financial crises from becoming epidemics, but to do so, we must acknowledge what the hard data tells us: that, throughout history, there is a causal link between the strength of a community's health and its social protection systems. Now and for generations to come, our commitment to the building of fairer, more equal societies will determine the health of our body economic".
It is not to late. Almost, but not quite.
Dick Skellington 28 June 2013

The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills by David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu is published by Allen Lane. 
 

The views expressed in this post, as in all posts on Society Matters, are the views of the author, not The Open University.

Cartoon by Catherine Pain

Diabetes care which introduces various aspects of a patient’s diabetes annual check-up, together with activity files which can be used to increase understanding of how to control diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes portrays Clemmy who was diagnosed with diabetes at 13 and talks about living with this long-term condition.

You can also access a series of information called Diabetes Care on iTunes u

To find out more about Diabetes Week visit Diabetes UK

Posted 9 June 2013

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) is holding an event entitled Social work theory and practice in Derby on 16 October. The aim of the event is to discuss professional practice from around the region.

It will also provide an excellent opportunity to hear from Siobhan Maclean, who has written extensively on the subject of social work theory and practice, and to take part in plenary and workshop sessions throughout the day. The event is open to members and non-members and BASW advise that advance booking is essential.

Full details can be found here or you can email Sarah Richards at BASW with any queries.

Posted 3 June 2013

Children, families and neighbourhoods: new directions in policy and research

Convenors: Dr Eleanor Jupp and Dr Helen Lomax
This event will bring together practitioners, researchers and policy makers with an interest in children, families, and parenting in disadvantaged communities and current issues around policy and service provision. It forms part of the development of new Open University research projects on families and parenting in community contexts.

Aims of the workshop:
- To explore current issues in this area including shifting models and resources for interventions with families; and the needs of families in neighbourhoods in the current economic climate
- To discuss some recent innovative research on parenting, children and families in neighbourhood contexts and how insights from this might be translated into practical resources for practitioners

The event will involve two panels of short presentations followed by group discussions. We will be inviting delegates from councils, children’s services and centres as well as researchers and policy makers.

Attendance is free and funding is available for expenses for delegates from policy and practice backgrounds.

1030 Welcome and Introduction: Dr Eleanor Jupp - Health and Social Care, the OU

1045 - 1200 Panel One: Current and future issues for neighbourhood services for children and families. Speakers to include:

• Naomi Eisenstadt (University of Oxford, former national director of Sure Start)
• Professor Brid Featherstone (Health and Social Care, the Open University)   
• Amanda Powell (Head of the Leys Children’s Centre, Oxford)

1200 - 13.15 Panel Two: Understanding neighbourhoods for children and families: new methods and approaches from research. Chair: Dr Janet Fink (Social Policy, the OU). Speakers to include:

• Dr Helen Lomax (Health and Social Care, the OU ) and Miranda Sharp (Visual artist)
• Catherine Pratt (Project Director, The Knee High Project, The Design Council)
• Bart Gamber (Director of Programmes, Vital Signs project, MK Community Foundation)

13.15 - 1400 Lunch
 

For further information or to book a place please email Eleanor.jupp@open.ac.uk
 

Like millions of others, Paul Conwell struggled at school. He thought he couldn’t achieve anything. And work proved to be just as much of a stumbling block as he was constantly passed over for management roles. Then he discovered the OU and everything changed.

“I found school very difficult, mainly because I have a shorter attention span than most people. So when I left school I tried college, doing a course in pre-nursing. But that wasn’t much better. The teachers just focused on the brighter pupils rather than people who didn’t understand the course or the text.”

So Paul left and joined a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) instead, working in a care home. “I decided I liked it and would stay and develop my skills and try to progress in my career.”

But as the years went by, Paul noticed time and time again he was being passed over for management roles. When he asked why he was told it was because he didn’t have a diploma or degree. Then eight years ago his wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter, followed two years later by twin boys. The children developed health problems so he left work to look after them. It was then he decided it was time to get some decent training and get the degree his employers wanted in order for him to progress

“I tried various universities but no one was interested. So then I spoke to someone at the OU and they said they’d try me on a starter course to see if I liked it, if it suited me. It did and I haven’t looked back.”

When Paul’s children recovered, he returned to his job with Care UK as a Support Worker for people with learning disabilities. He’s now been studying with the OU for six years and in May takes his degree. “And they’ve said at work they’ll consider me now for higher management when I get my degree.” Which is fitting as Paul’s degree is in Care Management. So his studies and working life complement each other.

“The OU has been really supportive and that’s made all the difference. There are loads of people I could talk to whenever anything came up that affected my studies. The tutors are really understanding and were happy to give extensions whenever I needed them. I have no hesitation recommending it to anyone else.”

He says it’s been a bit tricky studying with small children in the house and like many OU students has to wait for them to go to bed before he can study. He often begins at 6am and then after work manages a couple of hours a night reading his textbooks and writing assignments.

“It’s been a real eye opener for me after the tough time I had at school and college. When I first came to the OU I didn’t think I could do it but after the starter course, I realised I can. It’s just that my learning style is different from other people’s. But just because I’ve got a shorter attention span than most, I am still able to soak information up quite easily and for some reason seem to understand everything that’s written and said to me on my OU course. In fact, I find this easier at university level than I did on my pre-nursing course at a Further Education College.”

He thinks this is partly because teaching is more individually tailored with the OU. So from thinking he couldn’t possibly study at that level, he progressed quickly through his course and is now doing quite well. “It has to be said that I’m not a true academic but my scores have been fairly good.”

Feedback is also positive and constructive, never negative he adds. He finds this far more encouraging than any of his previous brushes with the education world.
 

Posted 23 May 2013

NCDs such as diabetes, heart disease, strokes, cancers and chronic lung conditions kill 36 million people a year - that is more than half of all deaths worldwide.

And these conditions are rising rapidly in many low- and middle-income countries in South East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South America.

The OU and C3 are supporting the development of freely available open educational resources, to increase in the numbers of effective NCD-trained health professionals. 

The project is being piloted in india. For more information see International Development Office news.

Posted 14 May 2013

The new partners are joining FutureLearn, which was launched in December 2012 and includes several universities as well as the British Library and the British Council. Each is committed to providing engaging and entertaining courses through the online site.

FutureLearn was founded in December 2012 and now has 24 partners including those announced today.
FutureLearn CEO, Simon Nelson, said:

“We are delighted that more of the UK’s leading universities, along with one of its most popular cultural institutions, have agreed to work with FutureLearn and will join the growing ranks of institutions that will offer high quality, entertaining and enjoyable courses to people across the world. We are committed to removing the barriers to education by making learning more accessible, inspiring and useful to people, no matter what stage of life they are at. These partnerships will enable us to open up access to the best academics from world-class universities and cultural institutions and deliver new forms of social learning at large scale.”

Professor Frank Coton, Vice-Principal for Learning and Teaching at the University of Glasgow said:
“We are delighted to be joining the strong grouping of other leading UK universities that have already joined with FutureLearn. Our partnership with FutureLearn will allow us to reach out to a whole new group of learners and underlines the commitment of this University to widening access to education. The prospect of doing this through the innovative delivery platform that FutureLearn has developed is a very exciting one that we hope will inspire and engage those who choose to study with us.”

Professor Colin Grant, Associate Deputy Principal at the University of Strathclyde, said:
“As a leading international university with students from more than 120 countries, we have great pleasure in joining a programme which opens access to our learning to students around the world. Our Centre for Forensic Science is internationally renowned in its field and is an ideal starting point for our participation in FutureLearn.
“Teaching is one of the key pillars of Strathclyde’s strategy and FutureLearn also offers an ideal opportunity for us to explore innovation in learning. We look forward to a successful programme alongside our partners around the UK.”

Professor Morag Bell, Pro Vice Chancellor for Teaching at Loughborough University, said:
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with FutureLearn. Loughborough has a well-established reputation for providing its students with a first-class education. Through these online courses, we will be able to make these outstanding learning opportunities available to even greater numbers of students.”

Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching at the University of Sheffield, Professor Paul White, said:
"The digital world is the future. Online education provides a means for the University of Sheffield to engage with learners from around the world and in circumstances we would otherwise never be able to reach out too. The courses are an important way for more people to access the high quality education that the University of Sheffield delivers."

More on Futurelearn
FutureLearn will make it possible to learn for life, offering unique access to some of the most inspiring learning opportunities from the world’s greatest learning centres.

FutureLearn.com will offer free, accessible courses to people wherever they are in the world. Courses will be created by the Universities of Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Anglia, Exeter, Glasgow, Leicester, Loughborough, Kings College London, Lancaster, Leeds, Nottingham, The Open University, Queen’s Belfast, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, St Andrews, Strathclyde and Warwick. In addition, the British Museum, British Library and British Council have all signed MoUs to share content and their expertise and collaborate in the development of courses through FutureLearn.com.

Danny, who’s working towards an OU degree in Sport Fitness and Coaching, is planning to run more than 60 miles competing in four races to raise money for his local hospice – all within a single week.

More information

• BSc Honours Sport, Fitness and Coaching
• Foundation degree in Sport and Fitness 
• Introduction to sport, fitness and management E112