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Background: Pregnancy weight management interventions can improve maternal diet, physical activity, gestational weight gain, and postnatal weight retention. UK guidelines were published in 2010 but health professionals report multiple complex barriers to practice. GLOWING used social cognitive theory to address evidence-based barriers to midwives' implementation of weight management guidelines into routine practice. This paper reports the pilot trial outcomes relating to feasibility and acceptability of intervention delivery and trial procedures. Methods: GLOWING was a multi-centre parallel-group pilot cluster RCT comparing the delivery of a behaviour change intervention for midwives (delivered as training workshops) with usual practice. The clusters were four NHS Trusts in Northeast England, randomised to intervention or control arms. Blinding of allocation was not possible due to the nature of the intervention. We aimed to deliver the intervention to all eligible midwives in the intervention arm, in groups of 6 midwives per workshop, and to pilot questionnaire data collection for a future definitive trial. Intervention arm midwives' acceptability of GLOWING content and delivery was assessed using a mixed methods questionnaire, and pregnant women's acceptability of trial procedures by interviews. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively and qualitative data thematically. Results: In intervention arm Trusts, 100% of eligible midwives (n = 67) were recruited to, and received, the intervention; however, not all workshops had the planned number of attendees (range 3–8). The consent rate amongst midwives randomised (n = 100) to complete questionnaires was 74% (n = 74) (95% CI 65%, 83%), and overall completion rate 89% (n = 66) (95% CI 82%, 96%). Follow-up response rate was 66% (n = 49) (95% CI 55%, 77%), with a marked difference between intervention (39%, n = 15) and control (94%, n = 34) groups potentially due to the volume of research activities. Overall, 64% (n = 47) (95% CI 53%, 75%) completed both baseline and follow-up questionnaires. Midwives viewed the intervention as acceptable and directly relevant to routine practice. The least popular components related to scripted role-plays. Pregnant women viewed the recruitment and trial processes to be acceptable. Conclusions: This rigorously conducted pilot study demonstrated feasibility intervention delivery and a high level of acceptability amongst participants. It has provided information required to refine the intervention and trial protocol, enhancing confidence that a definitive trial could be carried out. Trial registration: ISRCTN46869894; retrospectively registered 25th May 2016, www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN46869894. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the UK, one third of people with dementia live in residential care homes, a sector where high staff turnover negatively affects continuity of care. To examine the effect of including personhood and citizenship principles in training, interventions need to be robustly tested, with outcomes relevant to residents with dementia. Methods: Phase one intervention development: The training intervention (PERSONABLE) comprised five reflective exercises facilitated by a mental health nurse/researcher. PERSONABLE was informed by four focus groups, and one field exercise, consisting of care home staff and family members. Phase two feasibility testing: Participants were (i) care home residents with dementia and (ii) care home staff working in any role. After baseline measurements, care homes were randomly allocated to (i) staff receiving PERSONABLE training or (ii) training as usual. Feasibility outcomes were the recruitment and attrition of care homes, residents and staff members (measured ten weeks between randomisation and follow-up), the acceptability of the training intervention PERSONABLE, and acceptability of outcome measures. The care home environment was evaluated, at baseline, using the Therapeutic Environment Screening Survey for Residential Care Homes. Measurements conducted at baseline and follow-up were resident wellbeing (Dementia Care Mapping™), staff knowledge of and confidence with personhood and citizenship (Personhood in Dementia Questionnaire and a perceived ability to care visual analogue scale). Inter-rater agreement for Dementia Care Mapping™ was undertaken at follow-up in one intervention and one training as a usual care home. Results: Phase one: The developed reflective approach to the PERSONABLE exercises appeared to give staff a holistic understanding of residents living with dementia, seeing them as autonomous people rather than reductively as persons with a condition. Phase two: Six care homes, 40 residents and 118 staff were recruited. Four residents were lost to follow-up. Twenty-nine staff in the PERSONABLE arm of the study received the training intervention. In the PERSONABLE arm, 26 staff completed both baseline and follow-up measurements compared to 21 in the training as the usual arm. The most common reason for the loss to follow-up of staff was leaving employment. For the outcome measure Dementia Care Mapping™, the proportion of overall agreement between the two observers was 18.6%. High attrition of staff occurred in those homes undergoing leadership changes. Conclusion: With the right approach, it is possible to achieve good engagement during trial recruitment and intervention delivery of care home managers, staff and residents. Organisational changes are a less controllable aspect of trials but having a visible researcher presence during data collection helps to capitalise the engagement of those staff remaining in employment. Tailored, brief and flexible training interventions encourage staff participation. Simplification of study methods helps promote and retain sufficient staff in a definitive randomised controlled trial. This study found that some components of Dementia Care Mapping™ work effectively as an outcome measure. However, inter-rater reliability was poor, and the practical implementation of the measurement would need a great deal of further refinement to accurately capture the effect of a training intervention if delivered across a large number of clusters. The Dementia Care Mapping™ measurement fidelity issue would be further complicated if using multiple different unacquainted observers. Trial registration: Registered with the ISRCTN under the title: Does a dementia workshop, delivered to residential care home staff, improve the wellbeing of residents with dementia? Trial identifier: ISRCTN13641553. Registered: 30/05/2017 http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN13641553. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how actor training, and physical actor training especially, can shift from the well-established historical norm of live workshop interaction to embrace online possibilities. It briefly examines some of the contextual issues around institutional approaches to training, including recent changes in British higher education and students' expectations, and charts some digital innovations in the field. It notes how significant these advances have been in dance, wondering how these might impact on actor training. It then traces the author's own evolutionary history of publishing using analogue and then digital tools, from drawings, through CDROMs and DVDs to online materials. This has culminated in the recent publication of Physical Actor Training ‐ an online A‒Z, for Methuen Drama Bloomsbury. The A‒Z is introduced as a case study, showing how the project team developed film material as a means to articulate key aspects of training practice; for example by showing the learning and training process, for presenting voice work and for actors' explorations of space and movement. The article describes how many of the project's films were augmented with various digital tools, such as on-screen animation and it introduces some of the range of approaches in filming and editing that were adopted to differentiate each A‒Z term, with references to exemplar films. It concludes by suggesting that we are only at the beginning of a digital revolution regards actor training, its documentation and analysis and related publishing practices, of which this project is a key part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Public perceptions of geoengineering were explored in 4 UK deliberative workshops. [•] Whether geoengineering involved ‘messing with nature’ was a pervasive theme. [•] ‘Messing with nature’ was interpreted by participants in diverse ways. [•] We document a subtle set of discourses around geoengineering. [•] The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amber Film Collective is one of the very few survivors of the once numerous British Workshop Movement. Founded in 1969, Amber was influential in the key moments of the movement's existence, from the founding of the Independent Filmmakers Association, the wrangling of union recognition, access to regular broadcast through the new Channel 4 and steeply increasing grant income. From this point Amber's place in the movement became one of increasing contrast, maintaining independent income from separate businesses, refusing funder pressure to reform on hierarchical lines and successfully avoiding becoming a revenue client of the British Film Institute. Where most workshops lost their funding between 1986 and 1991, only to see the state assimilate their historic functions, Amber has continued for as long again without giving up its original principles and structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

British craft revival workshops enabled privileged women to educate those less fortunate, from the 'labouring classes', to undertake professional training or supplement their income through a productive hobby. Such workshops also allowed elite women to further their own responsibilities. The craft activities undertaken at Haslemere, largely driven by two married middle-class couples, provide a case study for investigating the aims and intentions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century handicraft revival. Maude King and Ethel Blount held key positions in the industries, their mission being to transform the lives of local men, women and children by teaching them the value of handicrafts. Yet despite being activists in the craft revival, neither Blount nor King were involved in the local suffrage agitation. Their position can be read as reactionary, demanding a return to traditional rural life, working the land and self-sufficiency, but at the time this was seen as a radical stance. Blount and King also eroded gender positions by advocating women's participation in social progress, by adopting a public role and establishing a mandate for work beyond the home. Craft workshops, like those at Haslemere, sit at the intersection of 'traditional' and 'modern'; in the postmodern era the promotion of 'green' issues, 'consumerism with a conscience' and what we mean by social progress are worthy of reconsideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of smart speakers to improve well-being had been trialed in social care by others; however, we were not aware of their implementation in most care homes across a region in the Southwest of the United Kingdom. For the widespread adoption of new technology, it must be locally demonstrable and become normalized.Objective: The aim of this study was to install smart speakers in care homes in a rural and coastal region and to explore if and how the devices were being used, the barriers to their implementation, and their potential benefits.Methods: Email, workshops, drop-in sessions, phone, and cold calling was used to contact all 230 care homes, offering a free smart speaker and some advisory support. Care homes accepting the devices were asked to complete a feedback diary. Nonresponse rate for diary completion was high and was thus supplemented with a telephone survey.Results: Over the course of 7 months, we installed 156 devices in 92 care homes for older people, 50 devices for people with physical or mental health needs, and 8 for others. The devices were used mainly for music but also for poetry, recipes, light controls, jokes, and video calls. Care home managers reported the benefits for the residents, including enhanced engagement with home activities, enjoyment, calming effects, and the acquisition of new skills. Implementation problems included internet connectivity, staff capacity, and skills.Conclusions: Affordable consumer devices such as smart speakers should be installed in all care homes to benefit residents. Voice-activated technologies are easy to use and promote interaction. This study indicates that implementation in care homes was possible and that smart speakers had multifaceted benefits for residents and staff. Most care homes in this region now use smart speakers for their residents, thereby normalizing this practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The writer of this article is a member of the Institute's staff who has recently had useful experience in introducing movement study into various factories. He describes the difficulties with which he has met in arousing interest and action and a scheme which he has employed and is readily employable by works managers in overcoming them successfully. By the elimination of useless movements, by the substitution of easier for harder ones, and by improving the conditions of doing the job, Mr. Exton-Wood estimates that an increase of ten per cent. in production throughout the workshops of this country can be and is being achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Animal research conducted outside of the laboratory faces various unique challenges, but has received only limited attention in terms of official guidelines, support, and statistics. To improve understanding, we held a workshop bringing together experts familiar with a variety of nonlaboratory animal research contexts (e.g., wildlife field sites, farms, fisheries, veterinary clinics, zoos). We collectively identified five key areas that we propose require further discussion and attention, which we present in this paper. While the workshop focused on research in the UK, our conclusions may have implications for similar work overseas. Research involving animals that occurs outside the laboratory raises an array of unique challenges. With regard to UK legislation, however, it receives only limited attention in terms of official guidelines, support, and statistics, which are unsurprisingly orientated towards the laboratory environment in which the majority of animal research takes place. In September 2019, four social scientists from the Animal Research Nexus program gathered together a group of 13 experts to discuss nonlaboratory research under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (A(SP)A) of 1986 (mirroring European Union (EU) Directive 2010/63/EU), which is the primary mechanism for regulating animal research in the UK. Such nonlaboratory research under the A(SP)A often occurs at Places Other than Licensed Establishments (POLEs). The primary objective of the workshop was to assemble a diverse group with experience across a variety of POLEs (e.g., wildlife field sites, farms, fisheries, veterinary clinics, zoos) to explore the practical, ethical, and regulatory challenges of conducting research at POLEs. While consensus was not sought, nor reached on every point of discussion, we collectively identified five key areas that we propose require further discussion and attention. These relate to: (1) support and training; (2) ethical review; (3) cultures of care, particularly in nonregulated research outside of the laboratory; (4) the setting of boundaries; and (5) statistics and transparency. The workshop generated robust discussion and thereby highlighted the value of focusing on the unique challenges posed by POLEs, and the need for further opportunities for exchanging experiences and sharing best practice relating to research projects outside of the laboratory in the UK and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare is increasingly and routinely generating large volumes of data from different sources, which are difficult to handle and integrate. Confidence in data can be established through the knowledge that the data are validated, well-curated and with minimal bias or errors. As the National Measurement Institute of the UK, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is running an interdisciplinary project on digital health data curation. The project addresses one of the key challenges of the UK's Measurement Strategy, to provide confidence in the intelligent and effective use of data. A workshop was organised by NPL in which important stakeholders from NHS, industry and academia outlined the current and future challenges in healthcare data curation. This paper summarises the findings of the workshop and outlines NPL's views on how a metrological approach to the curation of healthcare data sets could help solve some of the important and emerging challenges of utilising healthcare data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]