Research update – the body, disability, gym, theory, diagnosis and habitus

From the latest edition of Social Science and Medicine, Volume 120 , Pages 1-438, November 2014

The unfinished body: The medical and social reshaping of disabled young bodies

Janice McLaughlin & Edmund Coleman-Fountain

• Medical interventions mark the disabled young body as in need of repair.
• Such interventions are incorporated into stories of embodied identity.
• Transitions to adulthood are influential to approaches to fixing the body.
• Ongoing intervention leaves the body always unfinished and open to remaking.

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.012

No time for the gym? Housework and other non-labor market time use patterns are associated with meeting physical activity recommendations among adults in full-time, sedentary jobs

Lindsey P. Smith, Shu Wen Ng & Barry M. Popkin

• Physical activity guidelines should consider patterns of activity and inactivity.
• Screen-dominated patterns increased over time.
• Non-screen patterns are also associated with very low physical activity.
• Housework and caregiving patterns improve chances of meeting guidelines.
• Effective guidelines must be achievable within the context of a busy life.

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.010

How theory is used and articulated in qualitative research: Development of a new typology

Caroline Bradbury-Jones, Julie Taylor & Oliver Herber

• Researchers do not consistently articulate how theory is used in qualitative studies.
• There is a need for qualitative researchers to unmask theory.
• A typology on levels of theoretical visibility in qualitative research is presented.
• The typology will help researchers to critique the use and articulation of theory.

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.014

Doing diagnosis: Whether and how clinicians use a diagnostic tool of uncertain clinical utility

Natalie Armstrong & Paul Hilton

• Explores diagnosis as a process, from the perspective of clinicians doing it.
• Practice varies when there is no strong evidence for or against a diagnostic test.
• Many participants saw clinical and/or social benefits to using urodynamics.
• Others believed that the costs outweighed the benefits.
• There are very different approaches to performing the diagnostic process.

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.032

The habitus of ‘rescue’ and its significance for implementation of rapid response systems in acute health care

Nicola Mackintosh, Charlotte Humphrey & Jane Sandalla

• We explored the social practice of ‘rescue’ on medical wards.
• Access to ‘rescue capital’ enabled the social positioning of staff and organisations.
• Lack of access to authorised rescue resource created problems with securing help.
• Routine rescue work and structural inequalities require greater policy focus.

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.033