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Background: Domestic abuse is a public health issue, and increasing evidence suggests that young women are more likely to suffer than older women, yet limited evidence exists in England about educational and intervention programmes for young women at risk. Study's objectives: To evaluate a gender-specific (women-only) programme aimed at educating young women aged 13-25 years about abuse and staying safe in one English city. Setting: A third sector (charitable) organisation, aiming to improve women's health in one English city delivered the programme over a 3-year period, funded by the Big Lottery Fund. Young women received both peer and one-to-one support, to educationally inform them, develop their skills and improve their capabilities in responding to abuse. Method: This qualitative evaluation captured the perspectives of young women accessing the programme (n = 33), exploring the positive difference that it made to their lives. We also captured the views of internal stakeholders in 2018 (n = 2), then followed up in 2020 (n = 3), and external stakeholders referring young women to the programme (n = 8). Results: The programme met its aims. Self-reported changes in young women's lives included increased knowledge about staying safe and being happier. Some young women gained or retained custody of their children, and others exited harmful relationships. Young women identified a range of mechanisms of success including a non-judgemental approach from workers, peer support and a trusted space in which to meet and learn. The programme increased young women's skills to stay safe while improving their mental wellbeing. Conclusion: The programme worked well for young women who accessed it. However, it could not reach all those in need, was only funded in the short-term and tended to individualise the responsibility for staying safe. Further research is needed in other community-based educational programmes to provide evidence of their effectiveness as well as transferrable models for workers in other contexts.

Health education has changed in many ways since "Health Education Journal" was first published, with developments moving the discipline forward in ways not envisaged 75 years ago. While there have been recent concerns about the decline in status of health promotion and linked worries about health education, the contemporary evidence base has grown to support the delivery of good quality health education and the development of capable and skilled practitioners. Pedagogy has further developed as well, and new technology now enables health education to have broader reach through online teaching and learning, social media and open-access publications. Global challenges remain, however, and the context in England is one in which both education and practice face major trials despite the contribution that health education has made by those educated and trained in this setting over a period of many years.

Background: Disadvantaged young women in England have been documented as having unmet needs. This has resulted in the growth of gender-specific intensive intervention programmes in which a more holistic women-centred service approach is implemented. Gender matters because structural inequalities (bias and disadvantaging societal conditions) that girls are born with influence health, their outcomes and associated inequalities. Aims and objectives: Policy-makers frequently call for the outcomes of intervention programmes to be quantified, and while this is important, it can miss opportunities for critical insights into the subjective experiences of participants as well as the context and circumstances within which change occurs. Methods: This paper reports on evaluation findings from a prototype project (The Way Forward) with a focus on holistic improvement using gender-specific methods and approaches to promote health for disadvantaged young women in a community setting. Findings: This paper documents the voices of young women within the project, illustrated through their creation of storyboards within focus group discussions and interview data from their support workers. Findings highlight the importance of the relational dimension of one-to-one support in achieving positive change in the lives of young women, as well as the complexity associated with efforts to improve their health.

The incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension (and their comorbidity) have been increasing in sub-Saharan Africa, including The Gambia. Diet is a critical driver of these public health problems, and diet-related health education is a major strategy employed for their prevention and management. The aim of this paper is to explore the lived experiences of diet-related health education among individuals with comorbid type 2 diabetes and hypertension in Serrekunda, The Gambia, a subject hitherto unexplored in the country. The study employed a qualitative (interpretivist) methodology. Thirty-two interviews were conducted with 18 participants, with most participating in two interviews at separate time-points between November 2018 and July 2019. In addition to participant validation, the two points in time interviews elicited more depth and provided rich data. The data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's six-phased approach to Thematic Analysis. Four main themes were generated in relation to the experiences: (i) one-off blanket dietary advice (ii) education in a vacuum (iii) diabetes-hypertension diet dichotomy and (iv) imbalanced power relationship. The study underscores the need for a reconfiguration of diet-related health education in The Gambia to include lived experiences as critical components of health promotion in tackling T2DM and hypertension. This requires an ecological approach, critical health education, regulations on unhealthy foods, and active participation of individuals as equal partners in health education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Domestic abuse is a public health issue, and increasing evidence suggests that young women are more likely to suffer than older women, yet limited evidence exists in England about educational and intervention programmes for young women at risk. Study's objectives: To evaluate a gender-specific (women-only) programme aimed at educating young women aged 13–25 years about abuse and staying safe in one English city. Setting: A third sector (charitable) organisation, aiming to improve women's health in one English city delivered the programme over a 3-year period, funded by the Big Lottery Fund. Young women received both peer and one-to-one support, to educationally inform them, develop their skills and improve their capabilities in responding to abuse. Method: This qualitative evaluation captured the perspectives of young women accessing the programme (n = 33), exploring the positive difference that it made to their lives. We also captured the views of internal stakeholders in 2018 (n = 2), then followed up in 2020 (n = 3), and external stakeholders referring young women to the programme (n = 8). Results: The programme met its aims. Self-reported changes in young women's lives included increased knowledge about staying safe and being happier. Some young women gained or retained custody of their children, and others exited harmful relationships. Young women identified a range of mechanisms of success including a non-judgemental approach from workers, peer support and a trusted space in which to meet and learn. The programme increased young women's skills to stay safe while improving their mental wellbeing. Conclusion: The programme worked well for young women who accessed it. However, it could not reach all those in need, was only funded in the short-term and tended to individualise the responsibility for staying safe. Further research is needed in other community-based educational programmes to provide evidence of their effectiveness as well as transferrable models for workers in other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health education has changed in many ways since Health Education Journal was first published, with developments moving the discipline forward in ways not envisaged 75 years ago. While there have been recent concerns about the decline in status of health promotion and linked worries about health education, the contemporary evidence base has grown to support the delivery of good quality health education and the development of capable and skilled practitioners. Pedagogy has further developed as well, and new technology now enables health education to have broader reach through online teaching and learning, social media and open-access publications. Global challenges remain, however, and the context in England is one in which both education and practice face major trials despite the contribution that health education has made by those educated and trained in this setting over a period of many years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empowerment is core to health promotion; however, there is a lack of consensus in the wider literature as to how to define it and at what level it may occur. Definitional inconsistency inevitably leads to challenges in measuring empowerment; yet if it is as important as is claimed, this must be addressed. This paper discusses the complexities of measuring empowerment and puts forward a number of recommendations for researchers and policy makers as to how this can be achieved noting some of the tensions that may arise between theoretical considerations, research and practice. We argue that empowerment is a culturally and socially defined construct and that this should be taken into account in attempts to measure it. Finally we conclude that, in order to build up the evidence base for empowerment, there is a need for research clearly defining what it is and how it is being measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disadvantaged young women in England have been documented as having unmet needs. This has resulted in the growth of gender-specific intensive intervention programmes in which a more holistic women-centred service approach is implemented. Gender matters because structural inequalities (bias and disadvantaging societal conditions) that girls are born with influence health, their outcomes and associated inequalities. Aims and objectives: Policy-makers frequently call for the outcomes of intervention programmes to be quantified, and while this is important, it can miss opportunities for critical insights into the subjective experiences of participants as well as the context and circumstances within which change occurs. Methods: This paper reports on evaluation findings from a prototype project (The Way Forward) with a focus on holistic improvement using gender-specific methods and approaches to promote health for disadvantaged young women in a community setting. Findings: This paper documents the voices of young women within the project, illustrated through their creation of storyboards within focus group discussions and interview data from their support workers. Findings highlight the importance of the relational dimension of one-to-one support in achieving positive change in the lives of young women, as well as the complexity associated with efforts to improve their health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the United Kingdom (UK) in recent years, disadvantaged young women have been documented as having unmet needs and experiencing gendered inequalities. In response, UK policy-makers have funded early interventions for so-called vulnerable young women. This paper presents a feminist analysis of young women's talk about their journeys through a gendered intervention (Project X). Data were generated in focus groups during an evaluation of Project X. The focus groups were carried out using creative methods of data collection. The young women were asked to make a storyboard illustrating their journey through Project X and the impact it had had on them. They were then encouraged to reflect on, and talk about, their experiences. A secondary analysis and interpretation of the focus group data took place in addition to that required for the purposes of evaluation. This more in-depth analysis laid bare the various discourses the young women took up in order to make sense of their life experiences and their involvement in Project X. These included neoliberal discourse such as talk of selfimprovement, reinvention and aspirations of self-control. These are discussed with reference to the themes of choice and control, vulnerability, governance, and resilience. The social and political implications of the analysis are discussed including a key argument that the young women's discursive practices reinforce hegemonic gendered identities, neoliberal ideology and existing structural inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To draw on the authors' experience of research conducted with vulnerable young women to argue for the use of storyboards in focus groups. Background Creative methods are used increasingly in qualitative research to generate richer data and promote more meaningful participation. Discussion This paper discusses the authors' experiences of using storyboards in participatory research. This approach has a number of advantages such as promoting participation and engagement, empowering participants and enabling them to take more control over the research process. Conclusion Using creative techniques with more traditional qualitative approaches may create additional, in-depth data as well as increased participation. Such approaches could be of value in nursing research in which patients, clients and service user perspectives are often vitally important. Implications for practice Using creative methods in qualitative research promotes participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much attention has been given in recent years to involving community members in research within a number of fields including community development. Indeed, there is a large amount of literature outlining what this process involves and describes the benefits and problems of doing such research across a range of contexts. There has also been some discussion of the different approaches that can be applied under the umbrella of community-based research and their relationship to the outcomes associated with both successful and positive community development. Yet very little attention has been paid to the actual experiences of these lay researchers involved in community-based research in relation to their roles. The nature of the researcher's role as work thus requires critical consideration. This article examines the role of lay researchers within four different approaches to community-based research used for the development of community action plans within the Objective 1, South Yorkshire context. This article reports upon differential roles and types of work in relation to both experiences and outcomes. The article, therefore, addresses what these different researcher roles tell us about community-based research and outlines the implications in relation to community development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Health Champions are a growing component within the British public health workforce and their roles are now emphasised within the coalition's Government's public health strategy. However, there is the need for further exploration of the way in which Health Champions use interpersonal communication within their roles. This paper reports on the findings from a mixed method evaluation of one Health Champion programme in North East England. A key finding was the way in which Health Champions used circles of influence to communicate health knowledge and to try to achieve behaviour change, starting with themselves in the centre of their circle and then moving outwards to influence others such as family, friends and colleagues through their social networks. The paper argues that health champions act as healthy role models within their own circles of influence to successfully communicate health knowledge to those around them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article reports the findings of a qualitative study on the impact of community-based research within the South Yorkshire Objective 1 Programme. Based upon semi-structured interviews with participants who conducted community-based research, the study highlights the social capital impacts arising from the use of such research within development practice particularly in terms of the formation of networks and the development of trust. Although community-based research can enhance social capital, the study demonstrates that this is a complex process and as such is not an easy tool to harness and use within the policy-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Young Femininity. Girlhood, Power and Social Change, Sinikka Aapola, Marnina Gonick and Anita Harris, (2005) Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan, 264 pp., ISBN 0-333-96511-6 (hbk), £55; ISBN 0-333-96512-4 (pbk), £18.99 Enhancing Teaching in Higher Education – New Approaches for Improving Student Learning, Peter Hartley, Amanda Woods and Martin Pill (eds.), (2005) London: Routledge, 216 pp., ISBN 9780415341363 (hbk), £80; ISBN 9780415335294 (pbk), £25.99 e-Learning Skills, Alan Clarke, (2004) Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan, 258 pp., ISBN 1-4039-1755-8 (pbk), £11-99 IT Skills for Successful Study, Alan Clarke, (2005) Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan, 205 pp., ISBN 1-4039-9271-1 (pbk), £11.99 Reshaping Teaching in Higher Education: Linking Teaching with Research, Alan Jenkins, Rosanna Breen and Roger Lindsay, with Angela Brew, (2003) London: Staff and Educational Development Association and Kogan Page, xi + 210 pp., ISBN: 0 7494 3903 3 (pbk), £25 The University in the Global Age, Roger King (ed.), (2004) Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan, 224 pp., ISBN 1 4039 3467 3 (hbk), £55; ISBN 1 4039 1130 4 (pbk), £18.99 SCRAN Website [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the book "The energy glut. The politics of fatness in an overheating world," by I. Roberts and P. Edwards.