Category: Public Health

Public Health and Population Health: Leading Together – The King’s Fund

This report, supported by The Health Foundation, examines the increased need for strong, effective leadership in public health and population health, and how the two remits can work cohesively together for the health of their populations. It offers key recommendations for national leaders, including the need for a clearer framework for population health and public health leaders to operate in, and a number of principles for local systems drawn from our findings from local good practice and wider insight.

Public Health And Population Health: Leading Together | The King’s Fund (kingsfund.org.uk)

Public Health

Current Awareness

Source: KnowledgeShare

The role that alcohol or drug use can play in increasing the risk of suicide.
Carried out by Frankie Marcelline from Sussex Health on 27/9/2024
https://www.knowledgeshare.nhs.uk/index.php?PageID=literature_search_request_downloader&RequestID=52844
[This evidence search report aims to support a conference on suicide. This search focusses on the role that dependent or problematic patterns of alcohol and drug use, can play in increasing the risk of suicide. Results include a good number of very recent high-level studies on the risks of alcohol and drug use on suicide.]

Teens, screens and mental health.
World Health Organization (WHO); 2024.
https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/25-09-2024-teens–screens-and-mental-health
[New data from the WHO Regional Office for Europe reveals a sharp rise in problematic social media use among adolescents, with rates increasing from 7% in 2018 to 11% in 2022. This, coupled with findings that 12% of adolescents are at risk of problematic gaming, raises urgent concerns about the impact of digital technology on the mental health and well-being of young people.]

Digital health and equitable access to care.
Shaw J. PLOS Digital Health 2024;:10.1371/journal.pdig.0000573.
[This research uses a framework by Levesque et al on patient-centered access to care and the World Health Organization’s framework on digitally enabled health systems to generate insights into the ways that digital solutions can support access to needed health care for structurally marginalized communities.]

Keeping children and young people with mental health needs safe: the design of the paediatric ward.
Health Services Safety Investigations Body; 2024.
https://www.hssib.org.uk/patient-safety-investigations/keeping-children-and-young-people-with-mental-health-needs-safe-the-design-of-the-paediatric-ward/investigation-report/
[This investigation looks at the care of children and young people with mental health issues who are admitted to a paediatric ward in an acute hospital – that is, a ward for children and young people in a hospital that typically treats physical health conditions. Specifically, it focuses on the risk factors associated with the design of paediatric wards in acute hospitals caring for children and young people with mental health needs.]

Making Every Contact Count September 2024

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.

Smoking Cessation

MECC Bulletin – Sep 2024 smoking cessationDownload

Alcohol

MECC Bulletin – Sep 2024 alcoholDownload

Healthy Weight

MECC Bulletin – Sep 2024 healthy weightDownload

Healthy Eating

MECC Bulletin – Sep 2024 healthy eatingDownload

Physical Activity

MECC Bulletin – Sep 2024 physical activityDownload

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.]

Sign up to KnowledgeShare for personalised evidence direct to your inbox:(please send back to academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk)

KnowledgeShare sign up formDownload

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.

CentreforMH_ADualCrisis.pdf (centreformentalhealth.org.uk)

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

Sign up to KnowledgeShare for personalised evidence direct to your inbox:(please send back to academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk)

KnowledgeShare-sign-up-formDownload

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.)

To receive personalised research directly to your inbox, sign up to KnowledgeShare:

KnowledgeShare-sign-up-formDownload

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.)

Sign up to KnowledgeShare to receive personalised research direct to your inbox:

KnowledgeShare-sign-up-form-2Download

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.)

For personalised research sent straight to your inbox, join KnowledgeShare. Simply compelte the form and send it back to: academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

KnowledgeShare-sign-up-form-1Download

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

If you would like to recieve personalised research directly to your inbox, join up to KnowledgeShare. Simply complete the form and send it back to academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

KnowledgeShare-sign-up-form-1Download