IN BRIEF
PAY IMPACTS ON HEALTH Performance-related pay (PRP) (being paid according to how well you perform) appears to be linked to poorer health in workers. A new study will investigate whether workers paid by PRP report poorer health because PRP work is stressful in ways that are detrimental to health. The project builds on a small pilot study that explored differences in stress between PRP and non-PRP workers. ESRC grant number ES/R01163X/1
SUICIDE RISK FACTORS Self-harm and having thoughts about dying by suicide are two of the most important known risk factors for death by suicide. Researchers aim to link data from Northern Ireland’s national Registry of Self-Harm with additional health, social services, census and death data to generate a unique dataset of health and social information that will improve understanding of suicide risk factors.
ESRC grant number ES/R011400/1
POPULIST PARTIES Taking a comparative case study approach, new research will investigate four seasoned populist radical right (PRR) parties which are well-established within their party systems: the Italian Northern League, the Flemish Interest in Belgium, the Finns Party in Finland and the Swiss People’s Party. The study will map the parties’ formal and informal organisational structures and shed light on the motivations of party members.
ESRC grant number ES/R011540/1 6 SOCIETY NOW SUMMER 2011 WINTER 2018
Gibraltar’s shift to ‘Britishness’
AN ORAL HISTORY project among 400 Gibraltarians identifies a clear shift towards ‘Britishness’ over the past century. “In our four-year study among Gibraltarians from all religious, ethnic and economic backgrounds and aged between 16 and 101, we explored how Gibraltar evolved from an overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking country at the start of the 20th century to one which is increasingly Anglophone and where most people passionately reject any association with Spanishness,” explains research Professor Andrew Canessa.
Nevertheless, the consequences of Brexit are now a source of huge anxiety for Gibraltarians, 96% of whom voted in favour of Remain. Although negotiations with Spain suggest a smooth transition, Brexit promises to fundamentally change Gibraltar’s relation with its EU neighbour as well as the UK. n
i Contact Professor Andrew Canessa,
University of Essex Email
canessa@essex.ac.uk Telephone 01206 872656 ESRC Grant Number ES/K006223/1
Personal assistance demands P
ERSONAL ASSISTANCE is an innovative role within social care whereby disabled people directly employ others
to provide support. While usually empowering for both employer and workers, personal assistance relationships can also entail emotional tensions, says a recent study. In England, an estimated 64,000
disabled people are employing some 145,000 personal assistants. Under the Personal assistance (PA) model of support, disabled people take control of recruiting, training and managing the people that help them. When disabled people take control over their support arrangements, they have better quality of life and participation. But drawing on qualitative interviews with 30 disabled people and 28 personal assistants, researchers from the University of East Anglia find that all PA relationships can be emotionally demanding. Efforts are required to prevent PA relationships becoming fractured. Good communication is required from all parties for the relationship to go well. “Everyone needs relevant skills and knowledge to manage these relationships effectively,” says lead researcher Professor Tom Shakespeare. The project report Personal Assistance Relationships: power, ethics and emotions makes a series of recommendations for disabled people employing PAs, for PAs themselves, and for policymakers and public bodies. These include a call for greater efforts to bring more people into the
PA workforce, as a lack of choice for disabled people can force them to employ unsuitable PAs. The team have also produced a Future Learn massive open online course (MOOC) for employers and workers, which has to date been completed by nearly 1,500 people.
As well as training, peer support is needed – for both PAs and employers – to help with the potential isolation caused by these cash for care arrangements, researchers state. In the worse scenarios, both employers and PAs need access to independent legal advice. n
i Contact Professor Tom Shakespeare, London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Email
tom.shakespeare@
lshtm.ac.uk Telephone 07816 442 779 Web
www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Employing-your- own-care-and-support/Resources/Information- for-local-authorities-NHS-and-support/ Reports-and-research/Personal-assistance- relationships-study-June-2017/Personal- assistance-relationships-research-report.pdf ESRC Grant Number ES/L007894/1
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