Integrating an ED&I Strategy at the Met Office

<p>Diverse perspectives combined with an inclusive culture where people can bring their authentic selves to work, stimulates innovation, improves decision making and leads to greater performance and resilience. In the past, colleagues at the Met Office have set up excellent staff-led initiatives, which over the last year have been built on to deliver a coordinated institutional wide approach and instil a sustainable culture change. The Met Office has created a comprehensive Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) Strategy to address how the organisation will lead and invest in our people and culture to make the Met Office a great place to work for all. We are publishing equality objectives to publicly demonstrate our commitment and focus to enhance ED&I:</p><ul><li>engaging with and understanding the diversity of our people,</li> <li>advancing equality of opportunity,</li> <li>increasing representation of under-represented groups at all levels,</li> <li>zero tolerance to bullying, harassment and discrimination.</li> </ul><p>To fulfil these objectives our actions include using comprehensive staff surveys, data collection, Equality Impact Assessments, an ongoing review of recruitment and progression practices and seeking external accreditations. As an organisation, we have employed specialist consultants with ED&I sector knowledge to help us implement these actions. A programme of extensive internal communications has shared activities, experiences and new initiatives to engage all staff.</p><p>We outline the joined-up structures that we are delivering to fulfil our strategy, which has ultimate oversight by the top levels of our organisation. However, it engages all staff with the Strategy in their day-to-day work and through a new Ally Community and a Diversity Council comprising staff representation from all existing staff-led ED&I networks. An example staff network of focus is the Women in Climate network, a joint network with the University of Exeter to support the retention of women in weather and climate science and promote diversity whilst fostering cross-institutional support, idea-sharing and networking. Other Met Office staff led networks include the Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME), LGBTQ+, Autism, Internationals in the UK, Accessibility and Disability, Menopause, Dementia/Carer and Mental Health and Wellbeing Awareness networks. The Met Office also has a team of Dignity and Respect at Work advisors and encourages young people from a range of backgrounds to consider STEM careers through outreach in schools and Science Camps. We present our strategy as a model for best practise for other geoscience organisations, whilst highlighting some of the challenges that we have faced and how we are working to overcome them.</p>

Exploring the Effects of a Golf Program on Psychological and Social Wellbeing for People With Dementia, Carers, and Staff

There is a paucity of evidence regarding the effects of sport and physical activity on wellbeing in dementia. The present study is the first known study to involve golf with this population. People with dementia (n = 10) and carers (n = 5) participated in a 6-week golf program, facilitated by golf center staff (n = 3). Multiple avenues of data collection were utilized and were subject to thematic analysis. Five central themes were identified: emotion, respite, losing the “dementia” label, friendship/camaraderie, and improving relationships. Underlying subthemes were also identified, while potential links between themes were highlighted. Themes were also considered in terms of which participants (person with dementia, carer, and staff) provided evidence for each theme. This study presents preliminary support for the role of golf to enhance the psychological and social wellbeing of people with early stages of dementia, carers, and staff. Potential mechanisms and future research are discussed.

Development and field-testing of the Dementia Carer Assessment of Support Needs Tool (DeCANT)

ABSTRACT Objectives: Caring for a person with dementia is associated with poor mental, physical, and social health, which makes it important to consider how carers are best supported in their caring role to preserve both their and the person with dementia’s well-being. At present, a robust instrument to assess carers’ support needs does not exist. This study aimed to develop a self-reported questionnaire to assess the support needs of carers of people with dementia. The objectives were to: (1) generate items, (2) pilot test, and (3) field-test the questionnaire. Design: Development and field-testing of a new questionnaire. Settings: Primary and secondary health and social care of informal carers and people with dementia in nine municipalities and one dementia clinic in a hospital in Denmark. Participants: Eight experts, 12 carers, and 7 digital users participated in pilot testing. 301 carers participated in field-testing. Measurements: Items for inclusion were generated based on interviews and literature review. An iterative process of data collection was applied to establish face and content validity of the Dementia Carer Assessment of Support Needs Tool (DeCANT) using Content Validity Index among experts and cognitive interviews with carers. Field-testing of DeCANT among carers included using the 12-item Short Form Health Survey, the Barthel-20 Index, and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Results: Initially, an item pool of 63 items was generated, and pilot testing reduced this to 42 items. Subsequent field-testing resulted in a 25-item version of DeCANT, and confirmatory factor analysis of three hypothesized models demonstrated a marginally better fit to a four-factor model with fit indices of: χ2 = 775.170 (p < 0.001), root mean square error of approximation = 0.073, Comparative Fit Index = 0.946, the Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.938, and weighted root mean residual (WRMR) = 1.265. Conclusions: DeCANT is a 25-item carer-reported questionnaire that can be used to help identify their support needs when caring for a person with dementia to enable supportive interventions and improve carers’ health and well-being.

Cultural differences are reflected in variables associated with carer burden in FTD: A comparison study between India and Australia

ABSTRACT There is great need to understand variables behind carer burden, especially in FTD. Carer burden is a complex construct, and its factors are likely to vary depending on the type of dementia, carer characteristics and cultural background. Objective: The present study aimed to compare profiles and severity of carer burden, depression, anxiety and stress in carers of FTD patients in India in comparison to Australia; to investigate which carer variables are associated with carer burden in each country. Methods: Data of 138 participants (69 dyads of carers-patients) from India and Australia (India, n=31; Australia, n=38). Carer burden was assessed with the short Zarit Burden Inventory; carer depression, anxiety and stress were measured with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress-21. Dementia severity was determined with the Frontotemporal Dementia Rating Scale (FTD-FRS), and a range of demographic variables regarding the carer and patient were also obtained. Results: Overall, levels of carer burden were not significantly different across India and Australia, despite more hours delivering care and higher dementia severity in India. Variables associated with burden, however, differed between countries, with carer depression, anxiety and stress strongly associated with burden in India. By contrast, depression, stress, and dementia severity were associated with burden in Australia. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that variables associated with carer burden in FTD differ between cultures. Consequently, cultural considerations should be taken into account when planning for interventions to reduce burden. This study suggests that addressing carers' skills and coping mechanisms are likely to result in more efficacious outcomes than targeting patient symptoms alone.