Service children in education: a review of the literature from five countries
A review of the peer-reviewed literature relating to the education of children from armed forces families (service children) is presented. In England, service children have been identified by the Office for Students as an under-represented group in higher education. However, their educational journeys through compulsory education and towards higher education are relatively under researched. Exploring literature from countries with similar educational, linguistic and armed forces cultures enables opportunities for researchers in the United Kingdom to be highlighted. The review identified a general lack of peerreviewed research into educational outcomes for service children, a lack of consensus on the impact of service life on children, and a tendency to focus on the barriers and challenges arising through service life.
Abstract: Context: In response to the opioid crisis, federal guidelines were implemented, including the Veterans Health Administration's (VA) Opioid Safety Initiative in 2013. The impact of policies on patients near the end of life is unknown. Objective: Examine temporal trends in opioid prescribing, pain, and opioid overdoses among Veterans near the end of life. Methods: Retrospective, time series analysis of VA decedents between October 2009 and September 2018 whose next-of-kin participated in VA's Bereaved Family Survey (BFS). Using multivariate regression to adjust for sociodemographic and clinical covariates, we examined temporal trends in outpatient opioid prescribing, uncontrolled pain based on BFS report, and opioid overdose-related hospitalizations, in the last month of life, overall and by clinical diagnosis (cancer versus non-cancer). Results: Among 79,409 decedents, mean daily outpatient opioid dose in morphine milligram equivalents in the last month of life decreased from 4.6 mg in 2010 to 2.1 mg in 2018 (adjusted change -0.20 mg/year; P