Objective:To assess the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial of a home-based virtual reality system for rehabilitation of the arm following stroke.Design:Two group feasibility randomised controlled trial of intervention versus usual care.Setting:Patients’ homes.Participants:Patients aged 18 or over, with residual arm dysfunction following stroke and no longer receiving any other intensive rehabilitation.Interventions:Eight weeks’ use of a low cost home-based virtual reality system employing infra-red capture to translate the position of the hand into game play or usual care.Main measures:The primary objective was to collect information on the feasibility of a trial, including recruitment, collection of outcome measures and staff support required. Patients were assessed at three time points using the Wolf Motor Function Test, Nine-Hole Peg Test, Motor Activity Log and Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living.Results:Over 15 months only 47 people were referred to the team. Twenty seven were randomised and 18 (67%) of those completed final outcome measures. Sample size calculation based on data from the Wolf Motor Function Test indicated a requirement for 38 per group. There was a significantly greater change from baseline in the intervention group on midpoint Wolf Grip strength and two subscales of the final Motor Activity Log. Training in the use of the equipment took a median of 230 minutes per patient.Conclusions:To achieve the required sample size, a definitive home-based trial would require additional strategies to boost recruitment rates and adequate resources for patient support.

Virtual reality (VR) technology has been argued to be useful in a number of domains of psychological research. This article reports three studies applying this technology for the first time to the field of emergency evacuation behavior, in order to test a new model of such behavior based on the social identity approach.Early research on mass evacuation behavior relied on anecdotal evidence and data from the military (e.g., Strauss, 1944). In the 1950s and 1960s, however, the introduction of new laboratory experimental techniques helped in the development of important theoretical advances. Thus, for example, Mintz's (1951) classic simulation study used a bottle containing several corks on strings held by participants, representing the potential for exit jamming that would take place if every individual tried to evacuate simultaneously. Mintz suggested that ineffectual escape in an evacuating crowd is due to individual calculation of costs and benefits, rather than to a contagious outburst of mass irrationality, as assumed by the early mass panic models (e.g., McDougall, 1920; ANDREW HARDWICK University of Sussex, Brighton, England DANIELLE GRAHAM St. Andrews University, Fife, Scotland AND PAUL LANGSTON University of Nottingham, Nottingham, EnglandVirtual reality technology is argued to be suitable to the simulation study of mass evacuation behavior, because of the practical and ethical constraints in researching this field. This article describes three studies in which a new virtual reality paradigm was used, in which participants had to escape from a burning underground rail station. Study 1 was carried out in an immersion laboratory and demonstrated that collective identification in the crowd was enhanced by the (shared) threat embodied in emergency itself. In Study 2, high-identification participants were more helpful and pushed less than did low-identification participants. In Study 3, identification and group size were experimentally manipulated, and similar results were obtained. These results support a hypothesis according to which (emergent) collective identity motivates solidarity with strangers. It is concluded that the virtual reality technology developed here represents a promising start, although more can be done to embed it in a traditional psychology laboratory setting.

Objective African‐Caribbean men in the United Kingdom in comparison with other ethnicities have the highest incidence rate of prostate cancer. Psychosocial aspects related to screening and presentation impact on men's behavior, with previous studies indicating a range of barriers. This study explores one such barrier, the digital rectal examination (DRE), due to its prominence within UK African‐Caribbean men's accounts. Methods African‐Caribbean men with prostate cancer (n = 10) and without cancer (n = 10) were interviewed about their perceptions of DRE. A synthetic discursive approach was employed to analyze the data. Results Findings illustrate that an interpretative repertoire of homophobia in relation to the DRE is constructed as having an impact upon African‐Caribbean men's uptake of prostate cancer screening. However, the discursive focus on footing and accountability highlight deviations from this repertoire that are built up as pragmatic and orient to changing perceptions within the community. Conclusions Health promotion interventions need to address the fear of homophobia and are best designed in collaboration with the community.

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