Health and Social Care around the OU
- Platform
- Your subject
- Health and Social Care - OU Community Online
Health and Social Care - OU Community Online
(3 votes)
For those working in, studying, or with an interest in, Health and Social Care
Why our hair (or lack of it) says something about our position in society...
People are judged every day by the way they look. But what does your hair say about you and does it flag up your age? We’ve all stood in a queue at the petrol station admiring the long, shiny blonde locks of the young woman in front, only to be surprised that she’s in her late 50s when she turns around. Whether we like it or not, our hair (or lack of it) says something about our position in society. Platform talks to Caroline Holland, a research academic in the OU’s Faculty of Health and Social Care, to find out more…
“There has been something of a revival of academic interest in what it means to be living in an ageing body,” says Caroline, “but relatively little serious attention has been paid to ageing hair and, indeed, it might seem a trivial interest given many other pressing issues about ageing populations. But the more we read and thought about it, the more hair and hairdressing seemed to symbolise very neatly many of the dilemmas of ageing in contemporary society.”
Caroline is conducting some research around how hair can affect people’s perceptions of you in old age.
“We became interested in greying hair as a result of some work we did a couple of years ago on ‘everyday’ age discrimination (RoAD) – those subtle or not so subtle slights that people often experience just because they’re clearly a bit older. There was discussion about what some people identified as the ‘pensioner’s hairdo’ – short, white, tight curls – and what this said about images of the older woman, the realities of ageing bodies, and the kinds of consumer products aimed at people in later life.
Affects of old age
“Whether we like it or not hair (or lack of it) says something about our position in society. In all cultures people have used hairstyling, or in some cases covering hair, to make a statement. In Britain young people in particular have used hairstyles to show their allegiance to a group, style or movement – crew cuts, bobs, beehives, afros, dreadlocks, mullets, to name but a few. Adults working in certain businesses and professions are expected to conform to particular standards of styling and grooming. Some styles are considered ‘sexier’ than others – though the details tend to change over time. So hair styling and maintenance comes to be associated with belonging, vitality, and desirability; see the girl flick her long smooth hair in the shampoo commercial.”
More so in modern society, people attempt to hide the affects of old age or actively try to make themselves appear younger – some successfully, others not.
“At some point the first few grey hairs begin to appear, and as they increase in number so does the reality of bodily ageing. Men as well as women are affected by this, and some men have the added challenge of receding hair, but by far the most comment in the media and product advertising is aimed at women,” explains Caroline.
To dye or not to dye
In their journal article - If I look old, I will be treated old: hair and later-life image dilemmas (Ageing & Society, 31, 2011 288-307) – Caroline and her colleague Richard Ward, of Manchester University, discuss some of the responses to a pervasive social dislike of the look of age compared to the look of youth. To dye or not to dye – and if you do, when to stop? Is there a time when shorter hair looks better/is more age-appropriate? How does an older woman navigate between looking frumpy and looking like ‘mutton dressed as lamb’?
“In later life, many women cannot manage their hair without some help, and this becomes very important when ‘wild’ or dirty hair might be taken as a sign of inability to cope or the onset of senility,” says Caroline.
“Our research suggested that hairstyle is far from inconsequential in later life. Discussions in the RoAD study revealed the constraining, disciplining and even moralising dimensions inherent in the ways older people are treated and how this relates to the appearance of age.”
(20 votes)
People are judged every day by the way they look. But what does your hair say about you and does it flag up your age? We’ve all stood in a queue at the petrol station admiring the long, shiny blonde locks of the young woman in front, only to be surprised that she’s in her late 50s when she turns around. Whether we like it or not, our hair (or lack of it) says ...
OU offers new professional qualifications for childcare workers
The postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice (Children and Families) (K14) is ideal for professionally qualified childcare workers with a DipHE or higher who have one year's post-qualifying experience working in childcare. The certificate offers continuous professional development through a flexible study pattern and curriculum, enabling you to tailor the course to your needs. Subjects available include child development, safeguarding, parenting, communication, professional supervision and working with marginalised communities.
The postgraduate Diploma in Advancing Professional Practice (Children and Families) (E70) builds on the postgraduate Certificate to enable you to develop your professional skills through studying a broader range of subjects. These include research for practice and an ‘open’ option through which you can select your own individual area of study with the support of tutors. The flexible study pattern and curriculum can be tailored to your needs. Teaching and assessment is closely linked to your practice enabling you to integrate your learning and prepare yourself for career progression.
Both the Certificate and Diploma qualifications are equivalent to General Social Care Council (GSCC) Higher Specialist Post Qualification awards.
The Social Work Task Force (2010) recommended that childcare social workers should undertake post registration training at postgraduate level, and this recommendation has been accepted by government. These qualifications map closely onto the priority curriculum areas outlined in this report and also on the current GSCC’s Skills for Care Post Qualifying awards which it is likely to replace. They have been developed in liaison with social work employers and current sponsors on the BA (Hons) Social Work (B32/B41/B42), ensuring that the qualification will meet the workforce development priorities of employers.
Those successfully completing these qualifications will be well positioned to pursue senior roles in social work, youth justice, residential childcare, youth and community work and also specialist childcare posts in educational, health and day care settings.
(1 vote)
The postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice (Children and Families) (K14) is ideal for professionally qualified childcare workers with a DipHE or higher who have one year's post-qualifying experience working in childcare. The certificate offers continuous professional development through a flexible study pattern and curriculum, enabling you to tailor the course ...
OU and WHO work together on Africa's health needs
The OU and the World Health Organization (WHO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to address some of the world's urgent health needs. They will focus particularly on issues relating to child and maternal health in sub-Saharan Africa.
Find out more about this project here.
Find out about the OU’s Health Education and Training (HEAT) project in Africa here.
(1 vote)
The OU and the World Health Organization (WHO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to address some of the world's urgent health needs. They will focus particularly on issues relating to child and maternal health in sub-Saharan Africa. Find out more about this project here. Find out about the OU’s Health Education and Training (HEAT) project ...
Attitudes to mental illness survey
On the whole there is understanding and tolerance for people with mental illness, but where should mental health care take place? In general community care is deemed the best option but some would rather see mental illness confined to a hospital. Here John Rowe, a Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing, looks at some survey results and examines attitudes towards the mentally ill …
There has been a lot of market research conducted into the public’s attitude to mental illness in England, including this recent report entitled Attitudes to Mental Illness 2010.
Similar surveys have been carried out since 1994; they are intended to monitor attitudes to mental illness and track changes over time. They have, though, further potential uses: they provide an ongoing indicator of how people with a mental health problem are perceived by society as a whole, but also the way that mental health is portrayed, and the degree to which policy influences people’s opinion.
More tolerance
Opinions as to where mental health care takes place suggest that, on the whole, there is general agreement that community care is the best option, but with a firm view that there remains a place for the mental hospital. Indeed, there is a marked shift towards more tolerance towards people with a mental illness. This shift in attitude, though, is not reflected in each of the questions about integration into the community.
Understanding for people with a mental illness is high with 78 per cent of respondents agreeing that ‘people with mental illness have far too long been the subject of ridicule.’
Worryingly, though, these figures suggest that 22 per cent of people, over a fifth of the participants in the survey, do not agree that people have been ridiculed too long. What do they believe then? It is the youngest generation of participants who are more likely to be intolerant, with the oldest, those over 55 years in age being the most understanding and thinking the ridicule has been going on too long? When the responses to this question are examined in respect of social grade, the people at the disadvantaged end of the social spectrum are more likely to disagree with the statement than each of the higher social levels.
Given these findings, what does the survey say of attitudes to where mental health care should take place? 93 per cent agreed that ‘’we have a responsibility to provide the best possible care for people with a mental illness’, and yet questions on integrating people with a mental illness into the community received mixed responses. In 2010 84 per cent agree that people with a mental illness should not be excluded from their neighbourhood, with 80 per cent also agreeing that the best therapy for many is to be part of a normal community.
Danger
These are enlightened views, and yet there is also a decrease in the number of people who agree that mental hospitals are an outdated means of treating people with mental illness. Only 33 per cent of respondents agreed with this position, indicating that two thirds of the survey participants think that there is a place for in-patient mental health facilities. Again it is the youngest age group, the 16 to 34s, who are least likely to agree that people with a mental illness are not the danger they are often portrayed as being, and that hospitals are an outdated means of treating people with a mental illness. Once more it is the oldest participants, the over 55s, who perceive less of a danger in treating people in community settings.
While caution should be displayed when interpreting statistics based on the 1,745 adults questioned out of a population in England of approximately 50 million, some comment can be made. On the whole there is understanding and tolerance for people with a mental illness, and that they should be cared for in the best and most appropriate way, whether in the community or in an in-patient setting. With further drives to reduce stigma and discrimination, as proposed in mental health and public policy such as New Horizons, attitudes can be influenced.
Useful links
On the whole there is understanding and tolerance for people with mental illness, but where should mental health care take place? In general community care is deemed the best option but some would rather see mental illness confined to a hospital. Here John Rowe, a Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing, looks at some survey results and examines attitudes towards the mentally ill ...
What gives an Olympic champion the edge over others?
What makes an Olympic champion that little bit higher, faster or more accurate than all the rest? Talent, training and commitment, of course, but ultimately sports performance is governed by the laws of science.
Understanding these laws is now an important factor in success in most major sporting events. So anyone with an interest in sport should take a look at S172 Sport: the science behind the medals, a 10-point short module.
The course introduces the physical concepts that underlie the way top athletes like cyclist Chris Hoy or swimmer Rebecca Adlington move and interact with their environment.
“We look at things like velocity, acceleration, the physics involved in jumping, the problems of moving through water, air resistance, the role of momentum in ball sports, the chemistry of sports drinks,” says Professor Bob Lambourne, co-author of the course.
“It’s oriented towards the physical sciences – physics, chemistry and materials science – rather than the biomedical sciences. What’s been a great delight to me, as Professor of Educational Physics, has been the wonderful range of examples of physics in sport – it’s astonishing how interesting and varied they are, and how they help illuminate the sport involved.”
The focus is on Olympic sports, including track and field events, swimming and diving, and cycling. Science has had an impact on some sports more than others, Bob says. “Take tennis, for example – there have been tremendous developments because of our understanding of the nature of motion of a ball in the atmosphere, the interaction between the ball and racquet, and the ball and court surfaces. But there are other sports where the impact of science hasn’t been so great: people have tended to carry on doing them as they always have.”
As well as improvements to technology, training and preparation is another area where science is to the fore, he says. “Understanding the science can improve performance at sports; elite athletes are aware of these things, if only because their coaches tell them,” says Bob.
The course is bound to interest sports practitioners and coaches but it is not a coaching course. “If people are thinking the course will help them improve their performance in sport – well, we hope it will, but we don’t want to make any unrealistic claims,” explains Bob. “This is a science in sport course, not a sports science course. What we can safely say is it will help people to consider their performance.”
It’s also safe to say the course will give sports enthusiasts an enjoyable introduction to physical sciences. “We are always looking to broaden the range of people interested in science, and looking for ways of making science more approachable and appealing – and that’s what this course is trying to do,” says Bob.
The course is also one of 19 short science courses that can be used to make up the 60-point Certificate in Contemporary Science (C70).
What makes an Olympic champion that little bit higher, faster or more accurate than all the rest? Talent, training and commitment, of course, but ultimately sports performance is governed by the laws of science. Understanding these laws is now an important factor in success in most major sporting events. So anyone with an interest in sport should take a look at S172 Sport: ...
Is bullying a contributing factor for those with eating disorders?
A survey has revealed that almost half of young people with an eating disorder claim that bullying contributed to their illness.
In a survey carried out by the charity Beat, in which researchers spoke to more than 600 16 to 25-year-olds suffering from anorexia, bulimia or over-eating. Of those, 91 per cent said they had been bullied, while 46 per cent said they believed that bullying had contributed to their eating disorder.
Dr Tom Heller, a Senior Lecturer in Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University says that plenty of research has been carried out to discover the potential causes of an eating disorder, and the results of this latest survey should be welcome. But the link between bullying and anorexia is not simple, he says.
“For many decades researchers, as well as people affected by anorexia themselves or within their families, have looked for the reason why some young people harm themselves by restricting their food intake.
“Looking for the reason behind this increasingly common condition is a useful activity because it is important that any links between pre-disposing factors and the development of anorexia are as well understood as possible.
“However, the history of such quests has been littered with false or simplistic trails that may even be detrimental to the people going through such a difficult relationship with themselves, their self image and the food they eat. In the past anorexia has been linked with certain personality types, for example those seeking perfection, and people (particularly girls and young women) who may be especially susceptible to the idealised images in fashion magazines. At its worst it has been portrayed as a condition in which the people with anorexia are considered to be seeking attention in a self-centred way.
“The recent survey linking anorexia to self-reported bullying should be seen as a welcome addition to the attempts to look at the things that are going on in young people’s lives and minds before the onset of harmful eating behaviours of all sorts.
“But the link between bullying and anorexia is not simple. Bullying is very common and most people will have been subjected to some incidents or activities that could, or should, be considered to be bullying at some stage of their lives… in an ideal world people learn from these incidents and move on. Where this is not possible people may develop an increasingly damaged self-image or paradoxically go on to become bullies themselves.
“Anorexia itself is unlikely to be caused by bullying although this recent survey helps our understanding that it may be a contributory or associated factor. Anorexia is almost certainly multi-factorial… lots of things will have to be in place for the condition to develop into a serious problem. We all go through transitions during the stages of childhood and when trying to get into the adult world. It is hard job fraught with perils and pitfalls - and while some people apparently sail through the process and seem to have no doubts about who they are and what they need to do to function in the world - many others, possibly the majority of us, find the process complex and may need help along the way.
“Anorexia is a classic problem associated with transition and is part of the spectrum of responses that we all have when looking for meaning and a way of developing our own individuality and identity.”
Useful links
Picture credit: Jaci Berkopec
(5 votes)
A survey has revealed that almost half of young people with an eating disorder claim that bullying contributed to their illness. In a survey carried out by the charity Beat, in which researchers spoke to more than 600 16 to 25-year-olds suffering from anorexia, bulimia or over-eating. Of those, 91 per cent said they had been bullied, while 46 per cent said they believed that ...
OU student nurse helps heart attack victim
A student nurse with The Open University has been praised after helping a man who collapsed with a heart attack.
Claire Thomas, 43, was in the right place at the right time when she help resuscitate a man from Keynsham, near Bristol, who fell ill while buying a newspaper.
The man’s wife was so grateful to “mystery nurse” Claire that she appealed via BBC News for her to come forward and the pair were later united over the airwaves of BBC Radio Bristol.
Useful links
Picture: Student nurse Claire Thomas with heart attack victim Bill Hardingham in hospital.
(7 votes)
A student nurse with The Open University has been praised after helping a man who collapsed with a heart attack. Claire Thomas, 43, was in the right place at the right time when she help resuscitate a man from Keynsham, near Bristol, who fell ill while buying a newspaper. The man’s wife was so grateful to “mystery nurse” Claire that she ...
