Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.Aim: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic a global health emergency. Many countries of the world, including Ireland, closed their borders and imposed nationwide lockdown. During this period, all major anthropogenic transport activities, which contribute to atmospheric pollution, were restricted. The current study examines the impact of the transport restrictions on ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations and hospital admissions for asthma across Ireland. Methods: This is a retrospective population-based cohort study. National ambient air quality monitoring network data were analysed to investigation variations in NO2 concentrations. Asthma hospital admissions data were collected from the HSE Hospital In-patient Enquiry (HIPE) for Cork, Dublin, and Meath.Results: During the period of transport restrictions, there were reductions in the annual mean NO2 for Cork, Dublin and Meath (i.e. 12µg/m3 to 11µg/m3 (p = 1); 25µg/m3 to 17µg/m3 (p < 0.001); and 23µg/m3 to 21µg/m3 (p = 1)). Reductions in asthma hospital admissions were also observed. Among the 8,471 patient episodes included in this study, the mean [SD] age at admission was 47.2[22.9] years; 61% were female (n=5,134); mean [SD] length of stay was 4.9[10.9] days. Conclusion: The findings of this study provide an opportunity to explore the impact of NO2 emissions for Cork, Dublin and Meath on asthma hospital admissions, in order to improve air quality modelling and policy development of management of asThis is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in FEMS Microbiology Ecology following peer review. The version of record [O'Sullivan, J. N., Rea, M. C., Hill, C. and Ross, R. P. (2020) 'Protecting the outside: biological tools to manipulate the skin microbiota', FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 96(6), fiaa085 (14pp). doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaa085] is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/femsethe Authors. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited© 2020, The Institution of Engineering and Technology. This paper is a postprint of a paper submitted to and accepted for publication in IET Optoelectronics, and is subject to Institution of Engineering and Technology Copyright. The copy of record is available at IET Digital Library: https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/10.1049/ietFlanagan, Michael; Ryan, Jessica M.; Connelly, Tara; Cooke, Fiachra; McCullough, Peter; Neary, P
Trauma-informed Care is an approach that is gaining momentum in front line social work practice and allied professions that work directly with children, young people, adults, and their families who have experienced trauma. However, to date, clear ways to integrate Trauma-informed Care into practice specific to the Irish context are lacking. In this article, firstly, the author describes the development of Trauma-informed Care as an approach to ameliorate trauma exposure. Then, the barriers that impede the progression of integrating this approach into front-line practice are discussed. As a response, a university-based Continuing Professional Development programme has been developed. The theoretical framework that underpins the programme is presented that draws from the author’s doctoral research and extensive practice experience. The paper concludes that front-line practitioners play an integral role in wider service and systems-level Trauma-informed Care implementation.