Yes / Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) have the capacity to promote healthy behaviours in young children through routine ‘contact points’, as well as structured weight management programmes. This scoping review aims to evaluate the impact of AHPs in the prevention of obesity in young children. Methods: Databases were searched for relevant evidence between 1st January 2000 and 17th January 2022. Eligibility criteria included primary evidence (including, but not limited to; randomised controlled trials, observational studies, service evaluations) evaluating the impact of AHPs on the primary and secondary prevention of obesity in young children (mean age under five years old). Results: AHP related interventions typically demonstrated improvements in outcomes such as nutritional behaviour (e.g., lower sweetened drink intake), with some reductions in screen time. However, changes in weight outcomes (e.g., Body Mass Index (BMI) z score, BMI) in response to an AHP intervention were inconsistent. There was insufficient data to determine moderating effects, however tentative evidence suggests that those with a lower socioeconomic status or living in an underprivileged area may be more likely to lose weight following an AHP intervention. There was no evidence identified evaluating how AHPs use routine ‘contact points’ in the prevention of obesity in young children. Conclusion: AHP interventions could be effective in optimising weight and nutritional outcomes in young children. However, more research is required to determine how routine AHP contact points, across the range of professional groups may be used in the prevention of obesity in young children.

This study examines the impact of the transition from diploma to degree on the initial education and training of three para-professions in England; chiropody, occupational therapy (OT) and radiography. It focuses on the nature of and reasons for changes to their initial professional education and training and the potential impact of these changes on their professionalisation. The study adopted a multiple method approach; a historical review, which included documentary sources and interviews with key informants, aimed at identifying how and why these three para-professions wanted to achieve all-graduate entry, and the use of case studies to explore the differences between the diploma and degree courses. It is concluded that the achievement of all-graduate entry for these para-professions was an unintended consequence of the policies of the then government. As a result of the achievement of all-graduate entry changes were made to the respective diploma courses of these para-professions. The extent of these changes were related to the level of control and influence that the professional bodies exercised over the diploma courses. All the degree courses shared the following features: the development of autonomous, reflective practitioners who are life-long learners, an emphasis on theory rather than practice, and emphasis on propositional knowledge and the study of research methods. Although the degree courses for these para-professions achieved approval from HEIs it is argued that degree education is a contested concept. It is apparent that the para-professionals believed that the achievement of all-graduate entry would improve their professional status. However, it is evident from the study findings that it served to maintain rather than enhance their social status and market position. Changes to the initial education and training of these para-professionals were the results of the para-professionals having to respond to prevailing social, political and economic circumstances. If they had not taken this action it is suggested that their social status and market position may have been adversely affected.

Literature suggests that there are a growing number of ‘mental health professionals’ speaking out about their own experiences of using mental health services. Research suggests that these professionals face dilemmas when constructing their identity because they are drawing on two identities that are viewed as fundamentally different, i.e. ‘mental health professionals’ as powerful and ‘mental health service users’ as powerless. This study aimed to explore how ‘mental health professionals’ who are/have been ‘mental health service users’ construct their identity using a social constructionist epistemology, which views identity as fluid and continuously renegotiated in social contexts (Davies & Harré, 1990; Potter & Wetherell, 1987). Ten participants who self-identified as ‘mental health professionals’ who are/have been ‘mental health service users’ volunteered to take part. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using discourse analysis. Participants constructed their identity in a variety of ways, including as separate identities, i.e. a ‘professional identity’ and a ‘patient/mental health service user identity’ constructions, switching between the two in different contexts, therefore developing an ‘un-integrated identity’. Participants also developed an ‘integrated identity’ construction in some professional contexts. These results are discussed and implications for clinical practice and future research are explored.

It is widely accepted that Higher Education should provide students with a challenging experience. Research on threshold concepts provides a framework for exploring challenging content within a discipline and has contributed to understanding how to support students with conceptual difficulties. However, less is known about how individual students experience challenge and difficulty in their academic studies, in particular how they respond and feel when they become stuck. This study explores students’ experience of challenge, difficulty and stuckness, how they responded and managed challenges and any associated feelings. The study, carried out in a university in the Southwest of England, used a Qualitative Longitudinal Research design to follow 16 students through the second year of a degree for Allied Health Professionals. Data were collected using the semi-structured and email interview methods. Data were analysed longitudinally and cross-sectionally using a constant comparison process. The findings and discussion are presented using a ‘natural’ style which aims to capture the student journey over the academic year. The study found that some form of challenge, difficulty or stuckness was commonplace in the students’ educational experience. The value of challenges which create uncertainty in education is recognised, particularly where students are grappling with boundaries around knowledge. Variation in students’ experiences was partly explained by their ‘spiky profiles’ (influencing factors such as prior education and work experience) and partly by differences in factors relating to strategy use. The students were creative and resourceful in developing a range of specific and generic strategies in several areas: the use of time and space; the management of expectations and acceptance of feelings; and monitoring and reflection. The study adds to current understanding of stuckness through an examination of the liminal spaces students encountered. The discussion argues for a more nuanced and holistic approach to understanding students’ engagement with a complex cycle of challenges and strategy use, which creates a range of expectations, tensions, feelings and opportunities. It identifies implications for Higher Education practice and calls for an understanding of the impact and interconnectedness of factors influencing students. It stresses the importance of providing structures for students to explore how they learn and develop their academic practice, in addition to discipline specific knowledge and skills.