Category: Well-Being

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.
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[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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The King’s Fund Bulletin

The King’s Fund has released their latest Health and Wellbeing bulletin, packed with essential updates on healthcare trends, policies, and research. This bulletin is a must-read for anyone interested in staying informed about the latest in health and wellbeing.

Make sure you subscribe to the blog to stay up-to-date with current awareness.

Health and Wellbeing Bulletin (kingsfundmail.org.uk)

Public Health

Current Awareness

Source: KnowledgeShare

Financial wellbeing: applying All Our Health.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2022.
(Evidence and information for health and care professionals and the wider workforce to promote the benefits of financial wellbeing. The resource illustrates how money can impact on wellbeing and identifies how frontline health and care staff can use their trusted relationships with patients, families and communities to promote the benefits of financial wellbeing. It also recommends important actions that managers and staff holding strategic roles can take.)

Young Black Men and Mental Health Programme.
Islington Council; 2022.
(This pioneering and innovative programme is designed to improve mental health wellbeing, and wellbeing life outcomes for young Black men. The video promotes the Barbers Project, which is part of Islington Council’s larger Young Black Men and mental health programme.)

A Torn Safety Net: How the cost of living crisis threatens its own last line of defence.
Theos; 2022.
(A report on the effect the cost of living crisis has had on social and economic security. This report is the culmination of a year–long project exploring how economic and social insecurity is affecting churches, faith groups and local communities.)

Child and maternal health statistics.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2022.
(Statistics to support improvements in decision making when planning services for pregnant women, children, young people and families. Change made: Added the following publications: ‘Child development outcomes at 2 to 2 and a half years: annual data 2021 to 2022’, ‘Breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks after birth: annual data 2021 to 2022’ and ‘Health visitor service delivery metrics experimental statistics: annual data 2021 to 2022’.)

Why can’t I get care? Older people’s experiences of care and support.
Age UK; 2022.
(This report aims to answer the question as to why 14,000 people per week are having their requests for care turned down by councils, many of which are facing growing demand and static or reducing resources with which to respond. It highlights the number of unpaid carers who provide hours of care for their loved ones, often at the expense of their own health and wellbeing.)

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Improving patient wellbeing

Creating spaces for community and patient wellbeing

Source: The King’s Fund

NHSPS (NHS Property Service) wants to enable more patients and communities to have the opportunity to use NHS spaces to create health in ways that work for them. This report, commissioned from the Health Creation Alliance, sheds light on what matters most to ten different communities when accessing and using repurposed NHS community spaces. The communities that participated are some of those disproportionately affected by health inequalities across the UK.

To find out more click here.

Public Health

Current Awareness

Girls’ Attitudes Survey 2022.
Girlguiding; 2022.
https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/girls-making-change/girls-attitudes-survey/
(This 2022 survey asks girls and young women how they feel about their daily lives and society after the pandemic, their safety, their experiences of sexism and stereotypes, their involvement in social and community action and their mental health. To delve deeper into these findings, we’ve reported on a regional basis for the first time.)

Tracking the price of the lowest-cost grocery items, UK, experimental analysis: April 2021 to September 2022.
Office for National Statistics (ONS); 2022.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/trackingthelowestcostgroceryitemsukexperimentalanalysis/april2021toseptember2022
(How the prices of the lowest-cost products for 30 everyday items have changed since April 2021. The figures highlight how poorer families are bearing the brunt of the cost of living crisis, with prices for some budget grocery items soaring far ahead of the official 10.1% rate of inflation, which is at a 40-year high. Pasta prices rose 60%, tea jumped 65% and chips went up 39%. There were also large price increases for other everyday low-cost items including milk, biscuits and bread.)

BReATHE interventions (Beating Regional Asthma Through Health Education):an innovative approach to children’s asthma care in the North East and North Cumbria, UK: an interventional study.
Townshend J. Archives of Disease in Childhood 2022;107(5):500-504.
(BReATHE (Beating Regional Asthma Through Health Education) is a new, innovative approach to improving asthma care and outcomes for CYP (children and young people) across the North East and North Cumbria, co-designed with patients, families, local authorities and health professionals and guided by the NRAD recommendations. The impact on the unplanned hospital admission rates in children due to asthma in Newcastle-upon-Tyne hospitals is highlighted.) Accessible with Open Athens

People with complex emotional needs and their views of community mental health services.
The Mental Elf; 2022.
https://www.nationalelfservice.net/mental-health/personality-disorder/complex-emotional-needs-community-mental-health/
(Emmeline Lagunes Cordoba summarises a co-produced qualitative interview study on service user perspectives of community mental health services for people with complex emotional needs.)


Cannabis use in college: genetic predispositions less influential than social environment.
The Mental Elf; 2022.
https://www.nationalelfservice.net/mental-health/substance-misuse/cannabis-use-in-college/
(Sally Turner reviews a recent study exploring cannabis use in college, which provides useful evidence relating to how universities could promote a sense of community, belonging and support to students who use cannabis.)

Free Online Course

Leading well for staff health and wellbeing in the NHSLeading well for staff health and wellbeing in the NHS

Source: The King’s Fund

This free online three-week course will help you develop your understanding of your own health and wellbeing as well as help you to learn to better lead and support your colleagues, team and organisation.

To find out more click here.

King’s Fund Free Online Course

Leading well for staff health and wellbeing in the NHS

The Covid-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressures on the health and social care workforce and is now compounding longstanding inequalities and challenges among staff. The role of a manager and leader in protecting, supporting and promoting the health and wellbeing of staff has, therefore, never been more necessary and urgent. 

In this free, online, three-week course from the King’s Fund you’ll develop your understanding of your own health and wellbeing and learn to better lead and support your colleagues, team and organisation. 

Click here to sign up for free.

Centre for Mental Health

Tracking young Black men’s experiences of community wellbeing and mental health programmes

There are few culturally relevant tools focusing on young Black men’s mental health outcomes. Using approaches that lack cultural sensitivity limits services’ ability to know whether they are working well, and can lead to mistrust and disengagement. Funded by Mind, the Centre for Mental Health has designed a new, culturally informed approach to monitoring young Black men’s outcomes for accessing wellbeing support: Culturally appropriate evaluation for young Black men. It was coproduced with young Black men to identify what impact a service has on their mental health and wellbeing. Community wellbeing and mental health programmes are being asked to pilot the tool, to help determine its effectiveness.

Read the full report here.

Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

Weight loss outcomes achieved by adults accessing an online programme offered as part of Public Health England’s ‘Better Health’ campaign.
Toon J. BMC Public Health 2022;22(1456):-.
(This service evaluation shows that an online programme, offered as part of a national campaign, can offer effective support to a large number of people with different starting BMIs and from different socioeconomic backgrounds. An increased level of engagement leads to better weight losses.)

National operational framework: asylum accommodation.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and Home Office; 2022.
(This framework contains the minimum standard principles to support the health and wellbeing needs of asylum seekers living in initial and contingency sites.)

Supporting healthy relationships among parents of children with behaviours that challenge: A practical guide.
Early Intervention Foundation (EIF); 2022.
(This practical guide for local areas has been developed to improve understanding of how risk factors among parents of children with behaviours that challenge can impact on parental conflict and in turn on child outcomes, how to effectively engage these parents, what evidence-based support can be offered, and how to appropriately assess progress for these families.)

Heads Up: Rethinking mental health services for vulnerable young people.
Commission on Young Lives; 2022.
(The report looks at the growing crisis of mental health problems among children and young people in England and puts forward ambitious and innovative proposals to redesign young people’s mental health services, particularly for those young people at risk of harm.)

How can NHS anchors support communities to create health: Learning from the community response to COVID-19.
The Health Creation Alliance; 2022.
(This report provides real-world insight into how NHS anchor institutions are working in partnership communities, capitalising on both their strengths to address health inequalities.)

Nuffield Trust

Fronting up to the problems: what can be done to improve the wellbeing of NHS staff?

The NHS is not in a position where it can lose staff, but many workers in the health service have faced almost unimaginable difficulties during the pandemic. How worried should we be about NHS staff health and wellbeing? This long read looks at how bad the situation is and what can be done to improve things.