Nick Spencer
Biographic Data
| ID | 3929149 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nick Spencer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nick |
| FAMILY NAME | Spencer |
| SIGNATURE | SPENCER N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Warwick |
| ORCID | 0009-0005-1311-2444 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 43 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Science vs. religion: But what are we actually disagreeing about
Popular opinion in the UK sees science and religion in conflict. Closer inspection reveals that the default position is “soft,” and levels of hostility weaken as the discourse shifts away from the familiar categories of “science” and “religion.” The reason for this is that the terms themselves are vague and capacious. Building on the work of Peter Harrison, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s late philosophy of language, and a UK research study of the understa…
Andrew Davison. Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine: Exploring the Implications of Life in the Universe
Andrew Davison. Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine: Exploring the Implications of Life in the Universe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023. 407 pp
Child Rights during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Learning from Child Health-and-Rights Professionals across the World
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance of a child rights-based approach to policymaking and crisis management. Anchored in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 3P framework-provision, protection, and participation-forms the foundation for health professionals advocating for children's rights. Expanding it with two additional domains-preparation and power-into a 5P framework has the potential to enhance child rig…
Safe spaces and places’: The value of design-led methodologies in developing online narratives
This paper considers the value of a design-led methodological approach, adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate online interviews with young people (aged 15–17) who had been involved in crime and violence in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. The development of an original digital workshop and set of exercises (referred to as a tool) using interactive methods engaged criminalised youths online and gathered qualitative data regarding their experi…
Creative and collaborative reflective thinking to support policy deliberation and decision making
Background: Co-creation in policymaking is of increasing interest to national governments, and designers play a significant role in its introduction. Aims and objectives: We discuss instances from our fieldwork that demonstrated how UK Policy Lab used design methods to gain insight into the design-oriented methods introduced to policymakers’ practices, and how these may influence conventional policy design processes. Methods: This paper reports o…
Three degrees of influence in virtual workshops: Towards an understanding of co-creative facilitation practice in technologically mediated settings
Virtual workshops look here to stay, however much of the recent discourse focuses on methods, tools, techniques and routines in abstraction from practice and practitioner. Collaborations in virtual space are necessarily changed and shaped by their technologically mediated nature. Therefore, it is imperative to enter into reflective dialogue to effectively develop future participatory and co-creative design practice in virtual settings. Several si…
What has the Enlightenment ever done for us
Richard Bauckham, The Bible in the Contemporary World: Exploring Texts and Contexts - Then and Now
Religious Literacy in Policy and Practice
This valuable book is the first to bring together theory and policy with analysis and expertise on practices in key areas of the public realm to explore what religious literacy is, why it is needed and what might be done about it. It makes the case for a public realm which is well equipped to engage with the plurality and pervasiveness of religion and belief, whatever the individual's own stance. It is aimed at academics, policy-makers and practi…
Understanding the impact of the economic crisis on child health: The case of Spain
Despite the impact on social determinants, a short-term impact on child health has been detected only in specific vulnerable groups. The findings suggest the need to urgently protect vulnerable groups of children from the impact of austerity
Eliza Filby, God and Mrs Thatcher: The Battle for Britain's Soul
Response to Dr Baker
Disabled Children and their Families: A Decade of Policy Change
Focusing mainly on the United Kingdom, this article reviews a decade of national and international policy and legal changes in relation to disabled children and their families. It discusses attempts to transform the ways that disabled children are perceived and the rights accorded to them. The UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons, specific UK policy initiatives and debates on universal and specialist provisions are outlined. Considerat…
A Time to Speak
Determinants of Birthweight; Gender Based Analysis
Child abuse registration, fetal growth, and preterm birth: A population based study
Objectives: To study the relation of intra-uterine growth and gestational age with child protection registration in a 20 year whole population birth cohort. Setting: West Sussex area of England. Study design: Retrospective whole population birth cohort. Outcomes: Child protection registration; individual categories of registration—sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Population and participants: 119 771 infants born in West…
Explaining the social gradient in smoking in pregnancy: Early life course accumulation and cross-sectional clustering of social risk exposures in the 1958 British national cohort
Does material disadvantage explain the increased risk of adverse health, educational, and behavioural outcomes among children in lone parent households in Britain? A cross sectional study
Objective: To test the hypothesis that material disadvantage explains the increased risk among children and young people of adverse health, educational, and behavioural problems associated with living in lone parent households in Britain Study design: Secondary analysis of a cross sectional survey of a representative sample of British households with children and youth Main outcomes: Parent reported fair/poor health, longstanding illness and disa…
Maternal education, lone parenthood, material hardship, maternal smoking, and longstanding respiratory problems in childhood: Testing a hierarchical conceptual framework
Background: Maternal smoking and low socioeconomic status are known to be associated with each other and with longstanding respiratory problems in childhood but their interrelation has received little attention. In this paper, the interrelations is studied using a conceptual hierarchical framework among children aged 0–11 years in a representative sample of British households with children. Method: With data from the family and children study, th…
Social paediatrics
Social paediatrics is an approach to child health that focuses on the child, in illness and in health, within the context of their society, environment, school, and family. The glossary clarifies the range of terms used to describe aspects of paediatric practice that overlap or are subsumed under social paediatrics and defines key social paediatric concepts. The glossary was compiled by a process of consultation and consensus building among the a…
Smoking behaviour change among fathers of new infants
The Health Needs of Children Aged 6–12 Years in Foster Care
It is well established that looked after children have high levels of health needs that are not usually met by existing services. Lisa Anderson, Panos Vostanis and Nick Spencer report on a study which aimed to establish the perceptions of health needs among children aged 6–12 years and their foster carers. Fifty-six children and their carers from two local authorities completed a health checklist, the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Child…
The Additive Effects of Household Smoking and Housing Tenure on Birthweight Distribution in a Birth Cohort
Objective:to study the additive effects of smoking and housing tenure on birthweight distribution and risk of birthweight <2500g, <3000g and <3500g Setting:Coventry Study design:whole year birth cohort Outcomes: birthweight normal distribution curves with medians (50th centile), 10th and 90th centiles; birthweight <2500g, <3000g and <3500g Participants:2600 infants enrolled into the CoventryCohort Study by the Family Health Visitor at the birth v…
The Additive Effects of Household Smoking and Housing Tenure on Birthweight Distribution in a Birth Cohort
Objective:to study the additive effects of smoking and housing tenure on birthweight distribution and risk of birthweight <2500g, <3000g and <3500g Setting:Coventry Study design:whole year birth cohort Outcomes: birthweight normal distribution curves with medians (50th centile), 10th and 90th centiles; birthweight <2500g, <3000g and <3500g Participants:2600 infants enrolled into the CoventryCohort Study by the Family Health Visitor at the birth v…
The social patterning of teenage pregnancy
Smoking behaviour change among fathers of new infants
Explaining the social gradient in smoking in pregnancy: Early life course accumulation and cross-sectional clustering of social risk exposures in the 1958 British national cohort
Does material disadvantage explain the increased risk of adverse health, educational, and behavioural outcomes among children in lone parent households in Britain? A cross sectional study
Objective: To test the hypothesis that material disadvantage explains the increased risk among children and young people of adverse health, educational, and behavioural problems associated with living in lone parent households in Britain Study design: Secondary analysis of a cross sectional survey of a representative sample of British households with children and youth Main outcomes: Parent reported fair/poor health, longstanding illness and disa…
Maternal education, lone parenthood, material hardship, maternal smoking, and longstanding respiratory problems in childhood: Testing a hierarchical conceptual framework
Background: Maternal smoking and low socioeconomic status are known to be associated with each other and with longstanding respiratory problems in childhood but their interrelation has received little attention. In this paper, the interrelations is studied using a conceptual hierarchical framework among children aged 0–11 years in a representative sample of British households with children. Method: With data from the family and children study, th…
Child abuse registration, fetal growth, and preterm birth: A population based study
Objectives: To study the relation of intra-uterine growth and gestational age with child protection registration in a 20 year whole population birth cohort. Setting: West Sussex area of England. Study design: Retrospective whole population birth cohort. Outcomes: Child protection registration; individual categories of registration—sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Population and participants: 119 771 infants born in West…
The Health Needs of Children Aged 6–12 Years in Foster Care
It is well established that looked after children have high levels of health needs that are not usually met by existing services. Lisa Anderson, Panos Vostanis and Nick Spencer report on a study which aimed to establish the perceptions of health needs among children aged 6–12 years and their foster carers. Fifty-six children and their carers from two local authorities completed a health checklist, the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Child…
The social patterning of teenage pregnancy
The life course, childhood housing conditions and adult health
Socioeconomic conditions are known to be major determinants of health at all stages of the life course from pregnancy,1childhood,2 and adulthood.3 Life course epidemiology has added a further dimension to our understanding of the social determinants of health showing an association between early socioeconomic conditions and adult morbidity and mortality,4 and adult health related behaviours.5 Differential exposures over the life course are also l…
Safe spaces and places’: The value of design-led methodologies in developing online narratives
This paper considers the value of a design-led methodological approach, adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate online interviews with young people (aged 15–17) who had been involved in crime and violence in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. The development of an original digital workshop and set of exercises (referred to as a tool) using interactive methods engaged criminalised youths online and gathered qualitative data regarding their experi…
Creative and collaborative reflective thinking to support policy deliberation and decision making
Background: Co-creation in policymaking is of increasing interest to national governments, and designers play a significant role in its introduction. Aims and objectives: We discuss instances from our fieldwork that demonstrated how UK Policy Lab used design methods to gain insight into the design-oriented methods introduced to policymakers’ practices, and how these may influence conventional policy design processes. Methods: This paper reports o…
Deprivation and Child Abuse: Implications for Strategic Planning in Children's Services
The paper reviews the association between material deprivation and child abuse and considers the implications of the association for preventive strategies. The authors conclude that community‐wide strategies aimed at supporting all child carers are more likely to succeed in preventing child abuse than those based on identification of high risk' groups. Common elements of successful community‐wide strategies are presented as are the implications f…
The social patterning of teenage pregnancy
The life course, childhood housing conditions and adult health
Socioeconomic conditions are known to be major determinants of health at all stages of the life course from pregnancy,1childhood,2 and adulthood.3 Life course epidemiology has added a further dimension to our understanding of the social determinants of health showing an association between early socioeconomic conditions and adult morbidity and mortality,4 and adult health related behaviours.5 Differential exposures over the life course are also l…
The Additive Effects of Household Smoking and Housing Tenure on Birthweight Distribution in a Birth Cohort
Objective:to study the additive effects of smoking and housing tenure on birthweight distribution and risk of birthweight <2500g, <3000g and <3500g Setting:Coventry Study design:whole year birth cohort Outcomes: birthweight normal distribution curves with medians (50th centile), 10th and 90th centiles; birthweight <2500g, <3000g and <3500g Participants:2600 infants enrolled into the CoventryCohort Study by the Family Health Visitor at the birth v…
The Additive Effects of Household Smoking and Housing Tenure on Birthweight Distribution in a Birth Cohort
Objective:to study the additive effects of smoking and housing tenure on birthweight distribution and risk of birthweight <2500g, <3000g and <3500g Setting:Coventry Study design:whole year birth cohort Outcomes: birthweight normal distribution curves with medians (50th centile), 10th and 90th centiles; birthweight <2500g, <3000g and <3500g Participants:2600 infants enrolled into the CoventryCohort Study by the Family Health Visitor at the birth v…
The Health Needs of Children Aged 6–12 Years in Foster Care
It is well established that looked after children have high levels of health needs that are not usually met by existing services. Lisa Anderson, Panos Vostanis and Nick Spencer report on a study which aimed to establish the perceptions of health needs among children aged 6–12 years and their foster carers. Fifty-six children and their carers from two local authorities completed a health checklist, the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Child…
Does material disadvantage explain the increased risk of adverse health, educational, and behavioural outcomes among children in lone parent households in Britain? A cross sectional study
Objective: To test the hypothesis that material disadvantage explains the increased risk among children and young people of adverse health, educational, and behavioural problems associated with living in lone parent households in Britain Study design: Secondary analysis of a cross sectional survey of a representative sample of British households with children and youth Main outcomes: Parent reported fair/poor health, longstanding illness and disa…
Maternal education, lone parenthood, material hardship, maternal smoking, and longstanding respiratory problems in childhood: Testing a hierarchical conceptual framework
Background: Maternal smoking and low socioeconomic status are known to be associated with each other and with longstanding respiratory problems in childhood but their interrelation has received little attention. In this paper, the interrelations is studied using a conceptual hierarchical framework among children aged 0–11 years in a representative sample of British households with children. Method: With data from the family and children study, th…
Social paediatrics
Social paediatrics is an approach to child health that focuses on the child, in illness and in health, within the context of their society, environment, school, and family. The glossary clarifies the range of terms used to describe aspects of paediatric practice that overlap or are subsumed under social paediatrics and defines key social paediatric concepts. The glossary was compiled by a process of consultation and consensus building among the a…
Smoking behaviour change among fathers of new infants
Child abuse registration, fetal growth, and preterm birth: A population based study
Objectives: To study the relation of intra-uterine growth and gestational age with child protection registration in a 20 year whole population birth cohort. Setting: West Sussex area of England. Study design: Retrospective whole population birth cohort. Outcomes: Child protection registration; individual categories of registration—sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Population and participants: 119 771 infants born in West…
Explaining the social gradient in smoking in pregnancy: Early life course accumulation and cross-sectional clustering of social risk exposures in the 1958 British national cohort
Determinants of Birthweight; Gender Based Analysis
A Time to Speak
Response to Dr Baker
Disabled Children and their Families: A Decade of Policy Change
Focusing mainly on the United Kingdom, this article reviews a decade of national and international policy and legal changes in relation to disabled children and their families. It discusses attempts to transform the ways that disabled children are perceived and the rights accorded to them. The UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons, specific UK policy initiatives and debates on universal and specialist provisions are outlined. Considerat…
Religious Literacy in Policy and Practice
This valuable book is the first to bring together theory and policy with analysis and expertise on practices in key areas of the public realm to explore what religious literacy is, why it is needed and what might be done about it. It makes the case for a public realm which is well equipped to engage with the plurality and pervasiveness of religion and belief, whatever the individual's own stance. It is aimed at academics, policy-makers and practi…
Understanding the impact of the economic crisis on child health: The case of Spain
Despite the impact on social determinants, a short-term impact on child health has been detected only in specific vulnerable groups. The findings suggest the need to urgently protect vulnerable groups of children from the impact of austerity
Eliza Filby, God and Mrs Thatcher: The Battle for Britain's Soul
Richard Bauckham, The Bible in the Contemporary World: Exploring Texts and Contexts - Then and Now
What has the Enlightenment ever done for us
Creative and collaborative reflective thinking to support policy deliberation and decision making
Background: Co-creation in policymaking is of increasing interest to national governments, and designers play a significant role in its introduction. Aims and objectives: We discuss instances from our fieldwork that demonstrated how UK Policy Lab used design methods to gain insight into the design-oriented methods introduced to policymakers’ practices, and how these may influence conventional policy design processes. Methods: This paper reports o…
Three degrees of influence in virtual workshops: Towards an understanding of co-creative facilitation practice in technologically mediated settings
Virtual workshops look here to stay, however much of the recent discourse focuses on methods, tools, techniques and routines in abstraction from practice and practitioner. Collaborations in virtual space are necessarily changed and shaped by their technologically mediated nature. Therefore, it is imperative to enter into reflective dialogue to effectively develop future participatory and co-creative design practice in virtual settings. Several si…
Child Rights during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Learning from Child Health-and-Rights Professionals across the World
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance of a child rights-based approach to policymaking and crisis management. Anchored in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 3P framework-provision, protection, and participation-forms the foundation for health professionals advocating for children's rights. Expanding it with two additional domains-preparation and power-into a 5P framework has the potential to enhance child rig…
Safe spaces and places’: The value of design-led methodologies in developing online narratives
This paper considers the value of a design-led methodological approach, adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate online interviews with young people (aged 15–17) who had been involved in crime and violence in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. The development of an original digital workshop and set of exercises (referred to as a tool) using interactive methods engaged criminalised youths online and gathered qualitative data regarding their experi…
Medicine (14 works) · Psychology (10 works) · Demography (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Environmental health (8 works) · Political science (7 works) · Demography (5 works) · Developmental psychology (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Population (5 works)