Greater Manchester (GM) is one of a handful of ‘trailblazer’ areas selected to work with government on a local industrial strategy (LIS), due to be signed off in a few weeks’ time. As deliberations enter their final stages, Ruth Lupton, Head of the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit (IGAU), looks at how the strategy might shape […]
Lesbian and gay foster care and adoption: what’s changed over the last 20 years?
For LGBT+ Adoption and Fostering Week 2019, Dr Stephen Hicks, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, discusses the changes in policy over the last 20 years and the impact they have had on LGBTQ+ adopters and foster carers. Only 18 years ago, same-sex couples were not legally able jointly to adopt, and Section 28 of the […]
Are small modular reactors back on the agenda?
The recent suspension of the Wylfa Nuclear power project has been seen by some as a potential opening for small modular reactors. Here Professor Richard Taylor, the BNFL Chair in Nuclear Energy Systems, at The University of Manchester’s Dalton Nuclear Institute looks at what needs to happen for small modular reactors to actually become part […]
Is primary healthcare a hostile environment? The barriers facing asylum seekers and refugees accessing general practitioners in the UK
Dr Louise Tomkow is a Geriatric Registrar in the Northwest deanery and a PhD researcher exploring migration and health at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, The University of Manchester. Dr Rebecca Farrington is a General Practitioner working with asylum seekers and refugees and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at The University of Manchester. In their blog they highlight how: […]
Why is government progress on fuel poverty stalling in England?
In a recent report, the Committee on Fuel Poverty highlighted that progress on fuel poverty in England is stalling. On Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, Caitlin Robinson, Lecturer in Geography, reflects on reasons for this lack of progress and envisions a more ambitious approach to tackling fuel poverty. There is no typical profile of a fuel […]
Understanding the impact of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases on work
Dr Suzan Verstappen has blogged for us on the impact of Rheumatoid and Musculoskeletal Disease (RMD) on the workforce. Here, she outlines how her research, in association with a number of national research projects, aims to furnish the evidence base by which the extent of the RMD challenge to both workforce health and workplace design […]
Don’t panic! Keep calm and help young people to benefit from social media
In our final blog for Children’s Mental Health Week, Professor Neil Humphrey and Dr Margarita Panayiotou discuss mental health and social media. A causal link between young people’s use of digital technologies and their subsequent experience of mental health difficulties has not been proven. Social media can have both positive and negative effects on mental […]
Breaking the silence: The importance of student involvement in school mental health
Hardly a day passes when adolescent mental health is not in the news. Dr Cathy Atkinson, Senior Lecturer in Education and Child Psychology at the Manchester Institute of Education, and Lucy Wilkinson, sixth-form student at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, discuss their research into student-led mental health initiatives at AGGS, and suggest that this approach […]
Action on youth loneliness
In this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week, Pamela Qualter, Professor of Education at the Manchester Institute of Education and principle investigator on the BBC Loneliness Experiment, would like people to take a moment to think about loneliness: how does it affect children’s wellbeing and how might we help them manage those lonely experiences successfully? Often, […]
Is it time to address accent as part of the Teachers’ Standards?
Dr Alex Baratta, Lecturer in Language, Linguistics and Communications at the Manchester Institute of Education, discusses the ambiguity of ‘articulacy’ in the Teachers’ Standards and its effects on teachers and their accents. The Teachers’ Standards state that teachers in England and Wales must use standard English and demonstrate ‘articulacy’. There is no mention of accent […]