Patients who might benefit from genetic services may be denied access through failure to be referred. To investigate the evidence on barriers to referral to genetic services, we conducted a systematic review of empirical evidence on this topic. Nine studies were included in the review. Barriers related to non-genetic healthcare professionals were: lack of awareness of patient risk factors, failure to obtain adequate family history, lack of knowledge of genetics and genetic conditions, lack of awareness of genetic services, inadequate coordination of referral and lack of genetics workforce. Those related to individuals affected by or at risk of a genetic condition were: lack of awareness of personal risk, lack of knowledge and/or awareness of medical history of family members and lack of knowledge of genetic services. Research on access to genetic services is heterogeneous; stronger empirical evidence is needed on factors that are barriers, and further research is needed to develop 'targeted interventions' for equitable access to genetic services in a range of populations.

Abstract-The recent adoption of ubiquitous computing technologies has enabled capturing large amounts of human behavioral data. The digital footprints computed from these datasets provide information for the study of social and human dynamics, including social networks and mobility patterns, key elements for the effective modeling of virus spreading. Traditional epidemiologic models do not consider individual information and hence have limited ability to capture the inherent complexity of the disease spreading process. To overcome this limitation, agent-based models have recently been proposed as an effective approach to model virus spreading. However, most agent-based approaches to date have not included real-life data to characterize the agents' behavior. In this paper we propose an agent-based system that uses social interactions and individual mobility patterns extracted from call detail records to accurately model virus spreading. The proposed approach is applied to study the 2009 H1N1 outbreak in Mexico and to evaluate the impact that government mandates had on the spreading of the virus. Our simulations indicate that the restricted mobility due the government mandates reduced by 10% the peak number of individuals infected by the virus and postponed the peak of the pandemic by two days.

We outline three areas where AR is implicitly political, and three areas where it is ethically problematic. We recommend that researchers and participants recognize, discuss and negotiate these problematic areas before starting their work.

Increases in learner numbers and National Health Service modernization have had an impact on clinical placements' capacity to support learning, and potentially, on learners' achievements in practice. Findings from this study are thus important in evaluating the impact of these policy initiatives.

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Lecturer practitioner roles can make an important contribution to nursing and midwifery education, but this is problematic. It is essential that managers clarify the purpose, responsibilities, support and review of lecturer practitioner roles if they are to be successful.

Good mentoring is particularly important for student support. Where there are high student numbers in placement, this can adversely affect students' placement learning.

Introduction:There is international concern about retention of student nurses on undergraduate programmes. United Kingdom Higher Education Institutions are monitored on their attrition statistics and can be penalised financially, so they have an incentive to help students remain on their programmes beyond their moral duty to ensure students receive the best possible educational experience.Aims:to understand students’ and staff concerns about programmes and placements as part of developing our retention strategies.Design: This study reports qualitative data on retention and attrition collected as part of an action research study.Setting:One University School of Nursing and Midwifery in the South West of England.Participants:Staff, current third year and ex-student nurses from the adult field.Methods:Data were collected in focus groups, both face-to face and virtual, and individual telephone interviews. These were transcribed and subjected to qualitative content analysis.Results:Four themes emerged: Academic support, Placements and mentors, Stresses and the reality of nursing life, and Dreams for a better programme.Conclusions:The themes Academic support, Placements and mentors and Stresses and the reality of nursing life, resonate with international literature. Dreams for a better programme included smaller group learning. Vocation, friendship and resilience seem instrumental in retaining students, and Higher Education Institutions should work to facilitate these. ‘Vocation’ has been overlooked in the retention discussions, and working more actively to foster vocation and belongingness could be important.