The most recent Make Every Contact count public heath bulletin looking at latest evidence around smoking cessation, alcohol, healthy weight, healthy eating and physical exercise is now available. The bulletin is produced by Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT Library staff. If you cannot access any of the articles included in the bulletin please contact academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk.
Category: Public Health
Public Health
Current Awareness
Source: KnowledgeShare
Independent play skills in children with learning disabilities and or autism.
Carried out by Amy Dunn from Sussex Health on 4/7/2024
https://www.knowledgeshare.nhs.uk/index.php?PageID=literature_search_request_downloader&RequestID=51164
[Independent play is when a child engages in one or multiple activities by themselves. Children with autism may approach play in a different way to that of their non-autistic peers. This evidence search report includes book chapters, dissertations, review articles and original research studies on the topic of independent play in children with autism and/or learning disabilities.]
Testing the waters: reducing health risks from water pollution.
National Engineering Policy Centre; 2024.
https://raeng.org.uk/news/new-report-urges-upgrades-in-wastewater-infrastructure-to-protect-public-health
[Led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the report’s findings are based on risk-based assessments and consultations with more than 100 engineers, wastewater experts, the water industry, campaign organisations and policymakers. This is the first time a comprehensive report has been undertaken to assess actions to mitigate public health risks associated with the use of public waters, contaminated by faecal matter from human waste.]
Building minds for an uncertain future? Nurturing care in early childhood is more important than ever. [Abstract]
Hughes R C. Archives of Disease in Childhood 2024;109(7):594-595.
Check for full-text availability
[Children’s minds develop in response to their environments and the pace, scale and breadth of changes in the world raise concern for the future. To build minds which can deal with the challenges of a tumultuous world, child health professionals need to make the case for anticipatory investment.]
Smoking during pregnancy: latest data.
Allkins S. British Journal of Midwifery 2024;32(5):221.
[Editorial highlights how smoking during pregnancy can have significant consequences for mother and baby, and increases the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage and preterm birth but can also have long term impact putting babies and children at increased risk of asthma, chest and ear infections, as well as psychological problems.]
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Centre for Mental Health
Recent reports
More than the sum of our parts: an evaluation of local mental health alliances.
The voluntary sector plays a vital role in supporting people with mental health difficulties. Yet, insecure funding and a lack of meaningful collaboration can inhibit voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations from providing the mental health support that people depend on. This report explores how bringing together local stakeholders – including VCSE organisations, NHS commissioners and providers of health and social care, and experts by experience – can lead to more effective and equitable support for people living with a mental illness.
CentreforMH_MoreThanTheSumOfOurParts.pdf (centreformentalhealth.org.uk)
A dual crisis: the hidden link between poverty and children’s mental health
This report explores the impact of poverty and benefit conditionality on families’ mental health. Based on research with parents and children, and a review of the evidence, it finds that money and mental health are inextricably linked; not having enough money leads to parental stress and guilt, which has a knock-on impact on children over the course of their lives. And with rates of poverty twice as high among Asian and Black families than white families, some children are ‘overexposed’ to the dual risks of poverty and poor mental health.
Public Health
Current Awareness
Source: KnowledgeShare
Reverse the Trend: Reducing type 2 diabetes in young people.
Diabetes UK; 2024.
(This report reveals a 40% rise in type 2 diabetes diagnoses in younger people between 2016-17 and 2022-23. There are now almost 168,000 people under 40 years in the UK who live with type 2 diabetes. This troubling and growing trend underlines how serious health conditions linked to obesity, caused by the environment we live in, are becoming more prevalent in a younger demographic.)
Equity of access to cancer treatment: An analysis of travel times to radiotherapy services across the UK.
Radiotherapy UK; 2024.
(Radiotherapy UK have captured the reality of accessing radiotherapy treatment in the UK, and what this means for cancer patients. This analysis covers current access to radiotherapy, an overview of the 45-minute benchmark, key findings, what this means for patients with cancer and recommendations for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.)
Poverty stigma: a glue that holds poverty in place.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation; 2024.
(Poverty stigma exacerbates shamefully high rates of poverty in the UK. It can affect health as much as trying to survive on a low income. How do we combat it?)
A Neglected Generation: Reversing the decline in children’s health.
The Food Foundation; 2024.
(The report highlights the increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes driven by calorie dense diets, and the results of poor-quality diets and undernutrition, which are increasingly impacting on children and often paradoxically co-existing with obesity. The findings raise questions regarding the nutritional quality of food that children are eating, in addition to wider socio-economic forces that shape the conditions for the optimal growth and development of young children.)
Freely available online
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Public Health
Current Awareness
Are UK health systems dementia ready?: Comparing dementia policy across the four nations of the UK.
Future Health; 2024.
(A dementia diagnosis remains one of the most feared by the public. The potential arrival of new treatments creates an opportunity to improve patient outcomes. But to do so will require health systems to be dementia ready quickly. Urgent action is now needed to make them so.)
Freely available online
When I’m 64: A strategy to tackle poverty before state pension age: summary report.
Fabian Society; 2024.
(The UK is facing a hidden poverty crisis among 60 to 65-year-olds. Since 2010, no significant measures to ameliorate the impact of the rising pension age have been introduced. This report looks at the roots of the problem and presents a strategy for solving it.)
Freely available online
The future for health after Brexit.
Nuffield Trust; 2024.
(This report tracks issues that are important for the delivery of health and care in the UK to understand how our changing relationship with Europe is changing the picture for the NHS and health more generally, and what the prospects are for the future. This latest report shows that global medicine shortages are being felt particularly acutely in the UK, and the country’s reliance on migration as a source of health and social care staff is intensifying.)
Freely available online
Internet Watch Foundation Annual Report 2023: #BehindTheScreens.
Internet Watch Foundation (IWF); 2024.
(IWF works to end child sexual abuse imagery online. The annual report contains 2023 trends and data, and case studies and provides some analysis on the distribution of child sexual abuse images and videos on the internet. The new data reveals thousands of images and videos of three to six year old children who have been groomed, coerced and tricked into sexually abusive acts, are now being found on the open internet.)
On the path to ending smoking: using new funding.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH); 2024.
(With a major opportunity to reset our local strategies and make rapid progress towards ending smoking for all populations this paper has been developed by ASH in partnership with DsPH and Humber and North Yorkshire’s Centre for Tobacco Control Excellence to support local decision making in spending new funding to address smoking. It has been reviewed and endorsed by the Association of Directors of Public Health.)
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Public Health
Current Awareness
Source: KnowledgeShare
Evaluation of the Changing Futures programme.
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities; 2024.
(The evaluation aims to understand the impact of the Changing Futures programme on people experiencing multiple disadvantage. It also aims to examine how changes at a wider system level affect the way services operate and are delivered. Changing Futures is playing a key role in supporting people to access services and supporting people by coordinating access to different services.)
Making Prepared Foods Healthier & More Sustainable: The Case for Regulating Ready-made Meals in the EU.
Fern; 2024.
(This study finds that a significant and increasing portion of food eaten in the EU comes in the form of ready-made meals (currently 17%, and rising rapidly), which are less healthy and sustainable than food consumed in other forms. Placing legal requirements on the content of these meals could thus significantly reduce the harmful health and environmental impacts of EU food consumption, without burdening consumers.)
1,000 voices not 1: a report highlighting differences in cancer care in the UK.
Bristol Myers Squibb; 2024.
(To form the foundations of the Cancer Equals campaign (which aims to understand and help address the many factors leading to delays to diagnosis and differences in experiences of cancer across the UK), Bristol Myers Squibb carried out quantitative and qualitative research in partnership with Shine Cancer Support. This research report highlights some of the challenges that people living with cancer are facing and the inequalities that exist in how cancer is experienced across the UK.)
Always at the Bottom of the Pile: The Homeless and Inclusion Health Barometer 2024.
Pathway & Crisis; 2024.
(This report from homelessness charities Pathway and Crisis reveals how the national crisis facing England’s health and housing systems leads to worsening health for people in inclusion health groups. Drawing on 85 pieces of published literature from the past two years, and a survey of frontline medical and health care professionals, the findings reveal how those who are most excluded in our society struggle to access health services due to inflexibility, discrimination and stigma.)
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Public Health
Current Awareness Updates
Source: KnowledgeShare
All you need to know about Households Below Average Income (HBAI).
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG); 2024.
(There are several different measures of poverty in the statistics as there is no perfect way to measure poverty. This briefing explains what poverty is, how it can be measured, the different measures in HBAI, recent trends in poverty and additional statistics that can further our understanding of poverty.)
‘Always at the bottom of the pile’: the Homeless and Inclusion Health Barometer 2024.
Pathway and Crisis; 2024.
(This report reveals how the national crisis facing both the UK’s health and housing systems leads to worsening health for people in inclusion health groups. Drawing on 85 pieces of published literature from the past two years, and a survey of frontline medical and health care professionals, the findings reveal how those who are most excluded in our society struggle to access health services due to inflexibility, discrimination and stigma.)
Autism and Homelessness Toolkit.
Homeless Link; 2024.
(The toolkit is designed for homelessness service providers who engage with and support autistic individuals experiencing homelessness. It is particularly valuable for those seeking to enhance their understanding and effectiveness in working with autistic individuals and it provides essential information and practical guidance to improve support within homelessness services.)
Drug and alcohol treatment for victims and suspects of homicide.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2024.
(A Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) report looking at the use of substance misuse treatment services by victims and suspects of homicide in England. The report includes information and findings on treatment characteristics of victims and suspects, such as their sociodemographic, accommodation and employment status; and characteristics of the homicide and the relationships between victims and suspects and whether the homicide was drug-related.)
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Public Health Updates
Current Awareness
Source: KnowledgeShare
Cold at home: How winter cost of living pressures continue to impact older people.
Age UK; 2024.
(This report from highlights concerns about the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis on older people who are not receiving support from the benefits system. Many of these people are likely to be eligible for support but will still be missing out for a variety of reasons. Government figures show that an estimated 800,000 pensioners are eligible for Pension Credit but are missing out on this much-needed support.)
Freely available online
Alcohol dependence prevalence in England.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2024.
(Estimates of the number of alcohol dependent adults in each local authority in England. Health commissioners can use this information to: estimate the number of alcohol dependent adults in their area and the number who need specialist treatment; and plan and improve alcohol treatment services.)
Freely available online
We’ve only just begun: Action to improve young people’s mental health, education and employment.
Resolution Foundation; 2024.
(This publication – the final report of a three-year research programme funded by the Health Foundation – explores the relationship between young people’s mental health and work outcomes, and how policy-makers should respond. It finds that young people are now more likely to experience a common mental disorder (CMD) than any other age group – a complete reversal compared with two decades ago, when they were least likely to.) Freely available online
Mental health 360.
The King’s Fund; 2024.
(Mental health 360 aims to provide a ‘360-degree’ review of mental health care in England. It focuses on eight core areas including prevalence, access and the mental health workforce.)
Freely available online
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Public Health
Current Awareness
Source: KnowledgeShare
Bowel Cancer Screening: Annual Report 2021 to 2022.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2024.
(Data report for the Bowel Screening Programme (BCSP) screening which focuses on programme performance in England during the screening year 2021 to 2022 (1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022) compared to the national bowel cancer screening programme standards. It also includes trend data from previous years where this is available.)
Supporting Families – a foundation for family help: Annual report of the Supporting Families programme 2023-2024.
Department for Education, Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities; 2024.
(This eighth annual report of the Supporting Families programme provides an update on progress made during 2023 to 2024. Since the publication of our last Annual Report, 77,203 families have been supported to achieve a successful family outcome.)
Freely available online
Autism Statistics, January to December 2023.
NHS Digital; 2024.
(These statistics present a group of measures on waiting times for autism spectrum disorder diagnostic pathways, based on the time between a referral for suspected autism and the first care contact associated with that referral.)
Freely available online
Drug and alcohol treatment for victims and suspects of homicide.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2024.
(A Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) report looking at the use of substance misuse treatment services by victims and suspects of homicide in England. The report includes information and findings on treatment characteristics of victims and suspects, such as their sociodemographic, accommodation and employment status; and characteristics of the homicide and the relationships between victims and suspects and whether the homicide was drug-related.)
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Public Health
Current Awareness Updates
Source: KnowledgeShare
We’ve only just begun: Action to improve young people’s mental health, education and employment.
Resolution Foundation; 2024.
(This report is the culmination of a three-year research programme exploring the relationship between the mental health and work outcomes of young people. The research was funded by the Health Foundation and is part of their broader Young people’s future health inquiry. It finds that more than 1 in 3 (34%) of young people aged 18–24 reported symptoms that indicated they were experiencing a common mental health disorder like depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder.)
Cold at home: How winter cost of living pressures continue to impact older people and what more needs to happen to support them.
Age UK; 2024.
(This report highlights concerns about the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis on older people who are not receiving support from the benefits system. Many of these people are likely to be eligible for support but will still be missing out for a variety of reasons. Government figures show that an estimated 800,000 pensioners are eligible for Pension Credit but are missing out on this much-needed support.)
Reducing the harm from illegal drugs.
House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts; 2024.
(In response to Dame Carol Black’s review in December 2021, the From Harm to Hope strategy was launched. Two years on from when this strategy’s implementation began, overall progress has been mixed. This report outlines progress made and gives recommendations on next steps for the cross-departmental Joint Combating Drugs Unit in implementing this strategy.)
What patients want: a vision for the NHS in 2030.
Healthwatch England; 2024.
(Using experiences of care from more than 10 million people collected over the past 10 years, Healthwatch sets out where they think the NHS should be in six years and how it can get there.)
Smoking profile: March 2024 update.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2024.
(An overview of the extent of smoking, smoking-related harm and the measures being taken to reduce this harm at a local level in England.)
Health hubs: A community-centred prevention initiative to address health inequalities.
NHS Providers; 2024.
(Prevention is a crucial part of the NHS’s approach to improving population health and tackling health inequalities. One community-centred prevention initiative to address health inequalities is the creation of health hubs. This long read explores what health hubs are, how they can improve access for groups facing health inequalities, their broader social and economic benefits, and the role of trust leaders in their development.)
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