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Whilst the widening participation programme aims to increase the accessibility of undergraduate study for students with a lower socio-economic status, much less support is available for students wishing to progress to postgraduate study. Postgraduate study risks becoming a discipline exclusive to those from upper-middle class and upper-class backgrounds, with too few role models from lower socioeconomic backgrounds encouraging uptake. To explore class-related inequalities in academia reported by existing data through the lens of access to postgraduate study, we developed, and piloted, the CLASS (championing lower-class academic and social success) programme within our university. The programme aims to harness the lived experience of workingclass individuals to uncover the barriers to postgraduate study and to develop strategies at an institutional level. An initial understanding of the barriers and challenges current students experience have been captured in our pilot programme. Future CLASS initiatives include assessment of these barriers at a national level to harness findings through the development of strategies with universities.

Adolescent health-related behaviours and outcomes are shaped by their peers through various social processes. Research using network data on friendship ties has uncovered evidence for processes such as peer influence and imitation. Much less is known about how the structure of small groups within a network, network communities that represents its meso level, affect individuals. The structure and composition of peer groups could play an important role in shaping health behaviour but knowledge of the effects of groups is limited. We used data from The Peers and Levels of Stress study, a cross-sectional social network study conducted in 2006 of 22 secondary schools in Glasgow, Scotland. Students from one year group (15–16 yrs., N = 3148; 50.8% women) provided information on socio-demographics, health behaviour and friendships via a questionnaire. Dependent variables were substance use and general mental wellbeing measured via principal components. We used a series of multilevel models with students (level 1), network communities (peer groups) identified by the Walktrap algorithm (level 2), and schools (level 3). We found substantial and moderate clustering at the peer group level for substance use and mental wellbeing, respectively. Larger and more transitive groups were associated with less substance use, but worse mental wellbeing. Addressing the methodological gap regarding the influence of the choice of group detection method on findings, we repeated our analysis using nine additional methods. The choice of the method somewhat influenced peer group variance and greatly influenced association of peer group properties with health. This study makes two key contributions to school-health improvement research. Beyond describing peer group clustering health outcomes, this is the first demonstration that structural and compositional characteristics of peer groups are associated with individual health, while highlighting the sensitivity of findings to group detection method used. • Network meso level - network communities – are underused in social network and health research. • We used series of multi-level models with network communities as random effects. • Characteristics of friendship network communities in schools are associated with individual health. • We check the sensitivity of findings by using 10 different group detection methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is medical education unique among all other educational disciplines? Why does it not seem to conform to the rules laid down by universities for every other faculty? We explore the ways in which particular elements pertaining to medical education have been perceived historically and consider the ways in which medical educators and students have struggled to address the challenges that these "differences" present. The paper then identifies and enumerates areas of commonality across the spectrum of education. We conclude by suggesting that some of the "differences" and "difficulties" of education within the clinical context may be artefacts of a rather narrow and introverted approach to the subject area. We argue that the discipline may be better served by the adoption of a more eclectic and collaborative approach to educational research and practice, aimed at developing an evidence-based, theoretically robust subject area.

Growing concern about children and adolescent physical inactivity has made the promotion of physical activity a public health priority. International recommendations suggest children should accumulate at least 30 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during school hours. This study assessed levels of objectively-measured MVPA in a large nationally representative sample of Scottish children aged 10–11. Risk factors for not meeting the school-hours MVPA recommendation were examined. Cross-sectional. Mean time spent in MVPA during school hours across five weekdays was measured using Actigraph accelerometry (May 2015–May 2016). Binary logistic regression, presented as odds ratio (O.R.) and confidence intervals (C.I.), explored associations between meeting/not meeting the recommendation by sex, socioeconomic status (SES), season, and urban/rural residence in 2022. Valid data were obtained from 773 children (53.9% girls, 46.1% boys) from 471 schools. Mean daily school-hours MVPA was 29 (SD 11) minutes; 42.7% of children reached the recommendation. The odds of girls (O.R. 0.43; C.I. 0.32, 0.57) meeting the recommendation was significantly lower (p < 0.001) compared to boys. Children living in rural areas had higher odds (O.R. 1.49; C.I. 1.04, 2.15) of meeting the recommendation compared with those in urban areas (p = 0.032). No significant differences in meeting the recommendation by SES (p = 0.700). The overall trend for season was significant (p < 0.001), with lower odds of meeting the recommendation in winter compared to summer. Most Scottish children aged 10–11 did not meet the 30 minute MVPA recommendation. Interventions to increase MVPA during school hours are essential to promote public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceptions of first-semester BSN students (N = 220) who received education on patient moving and handling skills from either fourth-year physical therapy/physiotherapy student peer teachers (n = 8) or regular nurse educators were obtained via validated scales and focus groups. There was a significant increase in the mean scores of items concerning communication skills in both groups, with increased scores for all items in the peer-led group. The teaching skills of physical therapy/ physiotherapy student peers were evaluated highly by the nursing students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of infographics, an innovative and engaging method of visually communicating information, in the communication within commercial and health sectors. It offers an outline on the different infographics used in communicating healthcare information including the pool area diagram, isotype picture language and data visualization.

Seasonality studies in adolescent's physical activity (PA) tend to report total PA (e.g. steps/day) rather than more specific detail such as steps/hour. This study compared the detailed changes in PA between seasons. Thirty three adolescents (baseline age 12.2 ± 0.3y) wore the activPAL activity monitor for 8 days on two occasions. Steps/day were higher in summer (Mdn = 12,879) than winter (Mdn = 10,512), p<.001. Steps/hour were significantly higher in summer compared to winter between 17:00 and 21:00 (p<. 044). No steps/day differences were found between boys and girls at either time point (p>.05), however, boys had significantly higher step counts in summer between '13:00- 14:00' (p=.023), '19:00-20:00' (p=.032) and '20:00-21:00' (p=.023). Total steps/day masked sex differences within specific hours of the day, particularly evening times. Detailed daily patterns of PA are required to fully understand differences between sexes and across seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Our study described 'real' use of natural spaces and private gardens within neighbourhoods. • We linked 15 million individual GPS locations to a natural space and private garden spatial dataset. • We found that 15% of children's time outdoors, outside school hours, was within Natural Space. • This rose to 41% when private gardens were included, highlighting the importance of these spaces. • Increased availability of natural spaces and private gardens were associated with increased use. The objectives of this study were to: (i) determine, by distance from home, the proportion of time children spent in natural space (NS), private gardens (PG) and natural space/private garden (NS/PG); (ii) calculate availability of these environments surrounding homes, and (iii) explore variation in availability and use by socio-economic status (SES). Detailed mobility data for 10/11-year-old children (n = 667) were obtained. Children wore GPS devices and locations were spatially joined to UK national mapping data (Ordnance Survey) to identify if each one was within NS, PG or NS/PG. Euclidean distance between GPS points and home was measured and discretised into 100 m bands (100 m to 800 m). Children spent 15% of their total outdoor, non-school wear time in NS, but 41% in NS/PG. Both time spent in NS & NS/PG and its distance from home varied by SES. Children living in the most deprived areas spent 17% of their total wear time in NS/PG within 100 m from home, and 4.4% in NS/PG over 800 m from home. In contrast, children from the least deprived areas spent 19% of wear time in NS/PG less than 100 m from home and 10.7% in NS/PG over 800 m from home. An increase in the availability of NS and NS/PG around the home was weakly associated with increased use. NS and PG provide a key location that children spend their outdoor time, particularly in areas close to home for those from more deprived areas. Children from the least deprived areas have greater exposure to NS, most of which occurs away from home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]