This article identifies two previously-unknown Sterne letters of 1752, the first ‘new’ pieces of Sterne’s correspondence to be brought to light in over ten years. First, evidence is forwarded to demonstrate that just two years after delivering the assize sermon ‘The Abuses of Conscience’ at York Minster, Sterne wrote a letter of application (now lost) to serve Richard of Sykes of Sledmere, High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1752 – an episode entirely unknown within Sterne studies. The second letter, to John Fountayne, Dean of York, provides a personal insight into Sterne’s activities as commissary in the peculiar courts of the diocese of York. A full text of this letter is presented from the original manuscript. These discoveries, it is argued, provide a crucial insight into a period in which Sterne was embroiled in disturbances in York chapter politics, domestic unhappiness, and an ongoing struggle to gain a foothold with both ecclesiastical and lay patrons in order to further his clerical career.
Whereas current research into the biographical aspects of Sterne’s life chiefly seeks to explore the connective sinews of the author’s social networks at the height of his literary fame, this essay argues that new pathways for investigating Sterne’s formative years can be discovered through the re-examination of his early clerical career. Whilst Sterne is usually treated as the focal subject when looking at the Church in York, the completion of an extensive historical investigation into Lancelot Blackburne’s archiepiscopate (1724–1743) has made it possible to reinsert him into a refreshed historical context and thereby test old assumptions about the formation of his clerical identity. This provides a foundation for the reassessment of patronage connections between Sterne and his uncle Jaques. Attention is also drawn to the case of Lewis Stephens (1689–1747), prebendary of York, and satirical writer – hitherto unknown to Sterne studies – whose experience of breaking patronage ties with Blackburne in the 1730s …
This chapter explores the relation between imagination and creativity, with an emphasis on its origins and development. We discuss different models of creativity, debates about its nature, and different ways of measuring both imagination and creativity. The bulk of the chapter reviews empirical studies with children, both correlational and experimental, and we conclude from these studies that, although the evidence is promising with regard to uncovering a causal relation between imagination and creativity, there is still much work to be done. We report our own research exploring how the content of children's imagination may play an important role in relation to creativity and also discuss our findings on the effects of various personality variables on adult creativity. We conclude with directions for future research.
In oncological outpatient settings, patients often require nutritional support after they have developed malnutrition. A delayed dietetic referral can lead to increased difficulties in providing therapies and surgery, and to poorer patient outcomes. The audit described in this article aimed to assess the frequency and completeness of patient record documentation of anthropometric measurements in a day treatment unit (DTU) in a single cancer centre in the UK. The underlying goal was to improve anthropometry monitoring procedures to ensure that documentation is sufficient to indicate weight loss and, hence, allow timely referrals for nutrition support. The results show that, for over 80% of patients, it was not possible to identify a weight trend between the latest two treatments received at the hospital. The audit findings highlight the need to improve malnutrition monitoring and to ensure patient records contain updated and accurate anthropometric measurements in order to facilitate medical staff to recognise…
To be vulnerable is not only to be open and exposed to the world, but in some sense to be wounded by it. As Arthur Frank (1995) observed, these wounds won through adversity call out for stories. For those who provide care to others, these stories are rarely singular or coherent, but throb and ache again as each day bringsa new flavour and flux. While vulnerable narratives expose the self to the world, they also provide a basis for responding to that world with attentive presence. I use the word ‘compassion’ to refer to this receptive engagement and caring responsiveness to suffering, arguing that cultural stories shape the ways vulnerable compassionate subjectivities are formed. In order to illustrate this cultural shaping of woundedness and compassion, I examine the narratives of carers of older family members in Japan and England. Ethnographic examples reveal the ways individuals develop vulnerable narratives and the ways these narratives are constrained by cultural and political circumstances.
Background/Aims. Living with advanced heart failure places a considerable burden on patients and their caregivers. Improving the education and support given to patients and caregivers, with the input of palliative care services, could support them to live well with heart failure. This study evaluated an 8-week programme of education and support delivered in a day hospice for patients diagnosed with heart failure and their informal caregivers. Methods. An 8-week programme was delivered five times between January 2018 and March 2019, with a total of 39 participants (24 patients and 15 caregivers). Two focus groups were conducted at the end of each programme (one with patients and one with caregivers). Groups were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and inductive thematic analysis was performed. Results. Most patient participants were male (92%) and aged >70 years, while most caregiver participants were female (93%) and aged >50 years. The main themes from the patient participants' focus groups regarding the…
Variation in infants’ home environment is implicated in their cognitive and psycho-social development. The pandemic has intensified variations in home environments through exacerbating socioeconomic inequalities, and increasing psychological stressors for some families. This study investigates the effects of parental (predominantly maternal) mental health, enriching activities and screen use on 280 24- to 52-month-olds’ executive functions, internalising and externalising problems, and pro-social behaviour; with socioeconomic status and social support as contextual factors. Our results indicate that aspects of the home environment are differentially associated with children’s cognitive and psycho-social development. Parents who experienced sustained mental distress during the pandemic tended to report higher child externalising and internalising problems, and executive function difficulties at follow-up. Children who spent more time engaged in enriching activities with their parents showed stronger executive …