A Realist Evaluation of Social Care Practitioners' Experiences With and Understanding of Applied Healthcare Research.

Social care practitioners are often under-represented in research activity and output. Evidence-based practice enables social care practitioners to develop/engage the skills to evaluate evidence and be more actively involved in research. REalist Synthesis Of non-pharmacologicaL interVEntions for antipsychotic-induced weight gain (RESOLVE) is a NIHR-funded study where realist synthesis is used to understand and explain how, why, for whom, and in what contexts non-pharmacological interventions help service users, with severe mental illness, to manage antipsychotic-induced weight gain. Social care practitioners are a key part of the team providing care for people living with severe mental illness and therefore supporting antipsychotic-induced weight gain. The current study, RESOLVE 2, uses realist evaluation and RESOLVE as an illustrative example to help understand why and how social care practitioners engage (or not) with research. Semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews will be undertaken with a purposive sample of approximately 20 social care practitioners working with people who have severe mental illness, are treated with antipsychotics, and have experienced weight gain. Participants will be recruited from NHS Trusts and recruitment avenues such as social media and personal networks. Topics discussed during interviews will include barriers and facilitators to engagement in research, current, and past engagement as well as recommendations for researchers and other practitioners. Interview recordings will be transcribed verbatim and analyzed using realist evaluation which will allow in-depth causal explanations for research engagement. Better understanding of research engagement by social care practitioners will allow for evidence-based practice and better patient outcomes within these settings.

Placement Work Experience May Mitigate Lower Achievement Levels of Black and Asian vs. White Students at University.

Ethnic minority groups have been shown to obtain poorer final year degree outcomes than their majority group counterparts in countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. Obtaining a lower degree classification may limit future employment prospects of graduates as well as opportunities for higher level study. To further investigate this achievement gap, we analyzed performance levels across three academic years of study of 3,051 Black, Asian and White students from a United Kingdom University. Analyses of covariance investigated effects of ethnicity and work placement experience (internships) on first, second and final year marks, whilst statistically controlling for a number of factors thought to influence achievement, including prior academic performance. Results demonstrated superior achievement of White students consistently across all years of study. Placement experience reduced, but did not eliminate, the size of the achievement gap exhibited by final year students. Sex, parental education and socioeconomic status had no significant main effects. Female students showed a more complex pattern of results than males, with Black females not showing the same final year uplift in marks as their Asian and White counterparts. Implications and possible explanations are discussed.