Research
Leading the way in non-clinical MS research
Researchers in the Department of Health and Human Sciences
are hoping their recent study on the non-clinical effects of Multiple
Sclerosis (MS) will help sufferers lead fuller lives.
Dr Gill Green and Jennie Todd are working on a 15 month project, funded
by the MS Society to examine MS in terms of biographical disruption.
Clinical research has dominated the study of MS and it is these studies
that are used in making decisions about managing the illness. However, for
people with MS, the impact on their quality of life is a major issue.
'Non-clinical' literature suggests that MS can lead to unemployment and
a decline in living standards. Social and leisure activities are often
curtailed and people with MS tend to score higher on measures of
depression and lower on quality of life measures. However, a systematic
comparison with the general population has so far been lacking and this
impact has been difficult to quantify.
Dr Green and Jennie Todd are examining MS in terms of its impact on
household composition and marital status, housing tenure, household
economic activity, disruption to education and other aspects of
biographical disruption.
Dr Green explained what the project has involved so far: 'We have
collected data, via a national survey sent out to a random sample of 1200
people with MS across England, Scotland and Wales. Additional data was
collected via the MS Society website with an online survey.'
She continued: 'We are currently analysing this data to compare the
prevalence of biographical disruption in MS and non-MS households, using a
pre-existing comparative dataset for the general population, The General
Household Survey. Preliminary results suggest a higher prevalence of
biographical disruption in the MS households. They are more likely to
experience divorce, unemployment, lower income and to rate their health as
poor.'
The researchers recently presented their findings at the annual MS
Conference in Birmingham.
Jennie Todd (left) and Dr Green
Research focuses on family relationships
What kinds of support do parents and their adult children
provide for each other?
Research at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) based
at the University, analysed key aspects of family relationships - how
close parents and children live geographically, how often they are in
contact and what support they provide for each other, financially and
in-kind, such as child care.
The research by Professor John Ermish draws on information collected by
the British Household Panel Survey. It shows that:
• Nearly 60 per cent of adult children live within a half-an hour of
their mother. Another 41 per cent see her weekly, but 27 per cent only see
her several times a year.
• Telephone calls and visits are more frequent if children live closer
to their parents.
• Getting lifts, shopping and home maintenance are the most popular
forms of help received by parents. However, over 50 per cent of parents
receive no regular help from their children.
• The most common forms of help provided by parents to their adult
children are child care and financial help. But more than 40 per cent of
parents provide no regular help.
• Women play more of a role in intergenerational interactions than men.
Adult children see and telephone their mothers more frequently than
fathers. Daughters see and telephone their mother or father much more
frequently than sons.
• Mothers receive more regular help than fathers and are more likely to
provide care for grandchildren. Fathers are more likely to provide
financial help to their adult children.
The data showed that the greater the parents' economic resources, the
less likely they were to receive in-kind help and see their child weekly.
At the same time, more affluent parents are more likely to provide regular
financial help to their adult children, and give regular in-kind help.
There was also a tendency for affluent parents and children to live
further apart from one another, reducing contact and help. Therefore, an
important factor in parents' contact with adult children and help provided
to them concerns their location relative to each other.
UN expert calls for inquiry into Falluja crisis
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health,
Paul Hunt, has called for an independent inquiry into the humanitarian
crisis in the city of Falluja in Iraq.
Professor Hunt, of the University's Human Rights Centre, said serious
allegations had been made against the coalition forces in an area that had
seen an estimated 750 civilian deaths.
He has written to the Coalition Provisional Authority urging it to
establish an impartial inquiry into the health situation of the civilian
population of Falluja in the light of the military operations conducted
since the beginning of April.
He lists credible allegations of the use of indiscriminate force,
blocking civilians from entering Falluja's main hospital, preventing
hospital staff from redeploying medical supplies to an improvised health
facility, occupying the hospital, and firing on ambulances.
Professor Hunt said: 'An independent investigation can establish
whether or not they are true.' He added: 'Lives are at stake - and so is
the coalition's credibility.'
Because of severely restricted access to the city, and its extreme
insecurity, he said few independent monitors have been able to reports on
events, making an inquiry especially important.
Also in the printed June edition of Wyvern:
- Using data in teaching and learning
- Researcher to return to Death Valley
- When in conflict, wait for an SMS
- Project seeks e-learning solutions
