In this insightful blog, Leon Patrick Weathersby Patrick Jr. shares practical strategies for managing stress in today's fast-paced world. Discover effective techniques such as prioritizing self-care, practicing mindfulness, staying organized, connecting with others, setting boundaries, engaging...
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s more important than ever to maintain a strong and resilient immune system. Your immune system defends your body against infections and diseases, so it’s important to…
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock is setting out his ambition for every patient in the country to have access to social prescribing schemes on the NHS as readily as they do medical care.
Social prescribing involves helping patients to improve their health, wellbeing and social welfare by connecting them to community services. This can include activities such as art and singing classes.
BPS Blog post. Technology and screens are supposedly the enemy of health. They ruin our sleep, mental health and we’re slaves to their constant need for attention. At least that’s what seems to be the consensus in the news. However, the reality is much more two-sided. In fact, a new study demonstrates that our blue light emitting devices can be a force for good — by providing a novel way to deliver mental health interventions.
Problems with sleep, such as insomnia, have been shown to be associated with mental health difficulties such as depression. Although long recognised as a symptom of depression, there is growing recognition that sleep problems can also emerge before episodes of depression, but it’s currently unclear whether improving sleep is protective against developing depression later on.
A recent clinical trial in Sleep by Philip Cheng and colleagues at Henry Ford Health System and the University of Oxford explored just this. They looked at whether using an established digital intervention for insomnia would not only reduce depressive symptoms but also reduce the risk of someone developing depression.
BPS Blog post. With increased concern about the impact of meat on our health and the environment, and an ever-expanding selection of meat-free products available to buy, popular interest in vegetarianism and veganism has steadily grown.
But for those who want to cut down but aren’t quite ready to give up their burgers, there is a third way: flexitarianism. As a 2019 study from the University of Nottingham on red meat and heart health put it, you “don’t have to go cold turkey on red meat to see health benefits”, finding that halving the amount of red and processed meat eaten can have significant health benefits.
This consensus statement defines the shared commitment of the signatory organisations. It is the first time that such a wide range of organisations have come together to voice their intention to promote healthy ageing. Signatories span the areas of health, employment, housing and communities, and are from academia, local government, the NHS, and the public and voluntary sectors.
None of us enjoys having our job cut into our leisure time. So the next time your boss asks you to work late and miss your band rehearsal or board game night, point them to a new study in the Journal of Vocational Behavior. Researchers have found that spending more time on a hobby can boost people’s confidence in their ability to perform their job well. But watch out — if your hobby is too similar to your work, then increased time on leisure activities may actually have a detrimental effect.
Public Health England’s (PHE’s) ‘work as a health outcome’ programme seeks to promote healthcare professionals’ (HCPs) understanding of the health benefits of good work and encourage HCPs to have supportive conversations about work and health with their patients.
While there is little women can do to avoid living in areas of high air pollution, the study suggests another reason to press for better environmental standards to reduce air pollution.
This paper seeks to explore general practice nurses’ perceptions of interactional factors supporting communication with patients about lifestyle risk.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
Pharmacists are set to offer rapid detection and help for killer conditions like heart disease as part of a major revamp of high street pharmacy services.
The high street heart checks are part of an ambitious target the NHS in England has set itself as part of its Long Term Plan to prevent tens of thousands of strokes and heart attacks over the next ten years.
High dose statins could be made available directly from high street pharmacies as part of the NHS Long Term Plan to cut heart disease and stroke, NHS chief executive Simon Stevens has announced.
Facebook and Instagram have announced that they will remove posts promoting ‘miracle’ cures and get-slim-quick products, which are known to have limited benefits with possible damaging side-effects.
The move follows a series of requests from health service chiefs including NHS chief executive Simon Stevens to act responsibly and protect users from content that could cause physical or mental harm.
The RCPCH welcomes the CMO's updated physical activity guidelines and says "the key to longevity and success is embedding healthy habits into life early and making them part of a routine".
The latest data from a national smoking study indicates adult smoking rates fell 2.2% from January to July 2019 - equivalent to 200 fewer smokers every hour.
Infographics explaining the physical activity needed for general health benefits for all age groups, disabled adults, pregnant women and women after childbirth.
The guidelines emphasise the importance of building strength and balance for adults, and include recommendations for pregnant women, new mothers and disabled people.
Mental health clinicians are expected to offer support and advice to patients to promote smoking cessation. Alongside this is the relatively new and increasingly popular phenomenon of electronic cigarette use. The absence of any long-term evidence regarding safety is recognised and clinicians' awareness of e-cigarettes may be limited to personal experience or media publications, leading to uncertainty in their confidence discussing e-cigarettes with patients, both in general and as an aid to quitting smoking. This article provides a historical and contemporary overview of e-cigarettes and vaping. The reader will gain an understanding of e-cigarette usage, risks and benefits, the current position on use of e-cigarettes in mental health settings, and tips on how to take an e-cigarette/vaping history and how to offer advice about use. This is achieved in the context of recent publications and national recommendations. Although the focus is primarily on the mental health patient, the article is of benefit to all health and social care professionals to help them develop an understanding of e-cigarettes as a tobacco-smoking cessation or harm-reduction aid.. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
People with a mental illness are more susceptible to physical ill health than the general population, which leads to significantly higher mortality rates among this group. Reasons for this include lifestyle factors such as smoking, lack of exercise and poor diet. Inadequate knowledge and skills about physical health among mental health nurses can lead to uncoordinated care and inadequate access to physical health services for people with mental ill health. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
In recent years, the regulation of carbohydrate intake has become regarded as essential to achieve a balanced diet, with a range of health benefits attributed to low-carbohydrate diets. ...This article outlines the constituents of dietary carbohydrate, considers the health benefits of carbohydrates, and explains their importance as part of a healthy and balanced diet. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Health promotion is now an NMC requirement, but discussing weight can be difficult for nurses
Broaching potentially difficult conversations about a patient’s lifestyle issues – such as diet – can be a daunting prospect for even the most experienced nurse. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Focusing on three papers exploring the benefits of Parkrun – a free 5km running event held weekly in parks around the UK that has seen an increase in popularity. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
This study found that almost half of health care workers reported experiencing a mental illness, which could have significant implications for service delivery. Some health care workers held causal explanations of mental illness that were not evidence based. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
The report, based on 22 effective HWBs across the country, shows the boards are driving health and social care integration and making sure that prevention is at the heart of this - helping to keep people well in the first place, rather than managing ill health better.
If we are to move to a preventative system in public services, communities need to take on more responsibility for their own health and well-being. That means handing power and resource over to communities that is held by public sector institutions.
The commissioning of public services is one of the most important functions of the public sector but also one that is deeply embedded within the institution. Community Commissioning makes a convincing case for why the process needs to be led by citizens and service users not public sector professionals. Importantly, it also explains in detail how this shift is happening in practice.
Commissioned by Health Education England, this framework has been produced by Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust's national workforce skills development unit to help organisations minimise the impact of workforce stress.
Active travel means making journeys by physically active means, like walking or cycling. Given active travel is a devolved policy area, this briefing relates primarily to active travel policies in England.
It has been proposed that many smokers switch to vaping because their nicotine addiction makes this their only viable route out of smoking. We compared indicators of prior and current cigarette smoking dependence and of relapse in former smokers who were daily users of nicotine vaping products (‘vapers') or who were not vaping at the time of survey (‘non‐vapers').. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
The United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance (NICE PH48) recommends that pharmacotherapy combined with behavioural support be provided for all smokers admitted to hospital; however, relapse to smoking after discharge remains common. This study aimed to assess the effect of adding home support for newly‐abstinent smokers to conventional NICE‐recommended support in smokers discharged from hospital.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
The expense associated with using non‐combustible nicotine products as an alternative to smoking may deter smoking reduction or cessation. This study aimed to estimate (i) how much adults in England spend each week on smoking and alternative nicotine products and (ii) the potential cost saving that could be achieved by switching from smoking to using an alternative nicotine delivery product.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
To assess prevalence and predictors of e‐cigarettes/cigarettes patterns of use in adolescents in England.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
The study also shows a couple of interesting findings, including that while smoking tends to be viewed as less socially acceptable today, more rarely depicted on TV and brands never displayed, the same cannot be said for alcohol.
Drinking, often to excess, still appears to be seen as acceptable to depict as the social norm for young adults.
What this study cannot tell us is whether media exposure to smoking or alcohol increases the risk of these behaviours among young people.
There’s a lot of evidence about the relationship between alcohol consumption and harm experienced by drinkers such as ill health, disability and death. But there is less evidence to bring together what we know about the detrimental effects alcohol has on people other than drinkers, such as being a victim alcohol-related crime, family breakdown, child abuse and needing support from the police and healthcare services.
Electronic cigarettes have been evaluated and assessed as a smoking cessation tool; however, as Graham Cope explains, a more cautious approach may be needed and users should be made aware of the potential harm of these devices. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
This study examined the effects of three doses of behavioral weight loss treatment, compared with a nutrition education control group, on changes in glycemic control in individuals with obesity and prediabetes. Open Access Article
Research into how to prevent heart attacks or strokes in people with severe mental illnesses (SMI) in 76 primary care practices in England found that practice nurses adhered to the intervention and behaviour change components more than healthcare assistants (HCAs). To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
A previous study showed significantly greater reductions in number of cigarettes smoked and biomarkers of toxicant and carcinogen exposure in smokers assigned to immediate reduction of nicotine in cigarettes to very low levels versus gradually over time or continued smoking of normal nicotine content cigarettes. This study examines the effects of these approaches on selected biomarkers associated with harmful biological effects.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
Open access. Hypertension is an emerging disease in children and adolescents resulting in future morbidities. Cigarette smoking is one of the most studied contributing factors in this regard; however, there are contradictory results among different studies. Therefore, the present meta-analysis tends to assess the relationship between passive exposure to cigarette smoke and blood pressure in children and adolescents.
A Trust campaign which encourages caring NHS staff to think about their own health and wellbeing has won a national HSJ Value Award.
The #allofus wellbeing campaign was designed to raise awareness of the range of health and wellbeing services available for staff, including counselling, physiotherapy and physical health checks.
Age‐related decline in muscle oxidative capacity reduces muscle function and physical performance, leading to disability and frailty. Whether age‐related decline in oxidative capacity is modified by exercise and other lifestyle practices is unclear. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that physical activity is associated with better oxidative capacity, independent of age.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
The United States Food and Drug Administration has proposed regulation to require cigarettes contain very low nicotine content (VLNC). In contrast, reducing the number of cigarettes per day (CPD) is the most common current method to reduce nicotine. This trial aims to explore whether gradually transitioning to VLNC cigarettes plus nicotine patch or reducing CPD plus nicotine patch is more effective at decreasing nicotine dependence.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
Understanding whether and how far smokers’ characteristics influence the effectiveness of treatment may be important for tailoring recommendations on cessation aids to those most likely to help the user achieve abstinence. This study aimed to estimate the effectiveness of commonly‐used smoking cessation aids and test whether their effectiveness differs according to cigarette addiction, socioeconomic status, age, or sex.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
A new report from workplace experts, Acas, has revealed that two thirds of workers (66%) have felt stressed or anxious about work over the past year.Acas commissioned YouGov to ask employees in Great Britain about their experiences of stress and anxiety in the workplace. The most common reasons given for the way they felt included workloads (60%), the way that they were managed (42%) and balancing home and work lives (35%).
Lina Gega explores a review of digital technology for health promotion, which looks at opportunities to address excess mortality in people living with SMI.
Older Men at the Margins was a two-year study to understand how men aged 65 and over from different social backgrounds and circumstances experienced loneliness and social isolation. It also explored the formal and informal ways they sought to stay connected with others and feel less lonely.
The ‘Active Ageing’ report by Anchor Hannover – England’s largest not-for-profit provider of care and homes for over 55’s – in association with Demos, highlights the costs of physical inactivity in older people to the NHS. By 2030 this could be as much as £1.3bn. The report also highlights the human cost of inactivity in later life, illustrating how inactivity not only contributes to poorer physical health, but also cognitive decline, reduced emotional wellbeing and loneliness.
NHS managers are invited to join the Leading Healthy Workplaces train the trainer programme.
Held by NHS Improvement and Zeal Training Ltd the training programme will help managers understand, explore and develop supportive leadership and management behaviours to maximise their own potential as well as the staff they lead. Attendees will come away with practical tips, tools and techniques to deliver the training in your own organisation.
Psychological Services (Apr 22, 2019). DOI:10.1037/ser0000354
Given raised rates of patient suicide and violence in secure psychiatric facilities, staff in such settings are arguably at increased risk for burnout and reduced mental health. The present article responds to the recent U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) call to assess workforce well-being. This article held the following aims: (1) to quantify existing levels of mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, distress, and posttraumatic stress) and subjective well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and four domains of burnout) and (2) to evaluate Coping Self-Efficacy (CSE) and Need for Affect (NFA) as factors associated with staff mental health and subjective well-being.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
This statistical report presents information on obesity, physical activity and diet, drawn together from a variety of sources.
The topics covered include: •Obesity related hospital admissions. •Prescription items for the treatment of obesity. •Adult obesity prevalence. •Childhood obesity prevalence. •Physical activity levels among adults and children. •Diet among adults and children, including trends in purchases, and consumption of food and drink and energy intake.
A growing body of work suggests that medical students may be particularly at risk of mental ill health, suicidal ideation and behaviour, resulting in recent calls to develop interventions to prevent these outcomes. However, few reviews have synthesised the current evidence base regarding the effectiveness of these interventions and provided guidance to improve future intervention efforts.. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
COMMENTARY ON: Robson D, Spaducci G, McNeill A, et al. Effect of implementation of a smoke-free policy on physical violence in a psychiatric inpatient setting: an interrupted time series analysis. Lancet Psychiatry 2017;4,540–6.. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Our new joint report with Sustain, ‘Taking down junk food ads: How local areas are taking action on outdoor advertising’, uncovers the limited powers that local authorities have to restrict advertising of products high in fat, sugar and salt.
New guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for children under 5 are “useful benchmarks” but require cautious interpretation, says RCPCH's Dr Max Davie.
According to new guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO), children under five must spend less time sitting watching screens or restrained in prams and seats if they are to grow up healthy. WHO also advise they get better quality sleep and have more time for active play.
This bulletin presents figures for avoidable mortality in 2001 to 2017 for England and Wales using the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) to measure socioeconomic inequalities.
To identify and describe the various patterns of parents’ perspectives on avoiding secondhand smoke exposure.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
To show the results of an exploratory trial based on social and emotional learning to promote healthy lifestyles in 5‐6 aged children.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
There is a growing consensus that if healthcare is to be sustainable, there is a need for a fundamental shift from treatment of ill health, when it occurs, to prevention. This week we launched our report The transition to integrated care: population health management in England, with findings derived from extensive literature reviews and our experience working with health economies internationally. It highlights key challenges and potential solutions that, if adopted at scale, could deliver a more cost-effective approach to improving the health and wellbeing of a population.
A new framework aimed at helping health and social care employers improve the mental wellbeing of their employees has been launched today by Health Education England (HEE).
Overall, the findings reflect employers' growing recognition of their critical role in improving the health of the workforce. But the survey highlights some cause for concern, including an increase in stress-related absence and a lack of support for managers, who are increasingly expected to take responsibility for their team's well-being. We're therefore calling on employers to invest in more training and development for managers and have published some top tips to support managers to minimise stress in their teams.
Report: 'Caring for the mental health of the medical workforce'
This report provides a summary of findings from a large-scale survey into doctors’ and medical students’ mental health. The survey, which was open to BMA members and non-members across the UK received over 4,300 responses.
Health Education England (HEE) has launched a new framework Workforce Stress and the Supportive Organisation.
Developed by the National Workforce Skills Development Unit, the framework, which can be used alongside NHS England’s Health and Wellbeing framework, challenges employers to evaluate the impact of their systems, processes and cultures on staff health and wellbeing, and consider how they can better support their staff.
Our study about the ‘weekend warrior’ physical activity pattern and mortality was one of the most talked about studies of 2017. Here we offer an infographic summarising the results of our study. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
International Journal of Stress Management (Apr 11, 2019). DOI:10.1037/str0000129
Researchers have emphasized the role of physical activity in accelerating recovery from stress. Therefore, the primary goal of the present study was to examine whether regular physical activity moderates the relationship between occupational stress and burnout symptoms in Swiss workers.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Policy makers need disability projections for planning adequate services and measures for health promotion. The aim of this study is to provide projections on severe mobility limitations up to year 2044 and illustrate how the projected prevalence and the number of persons with severe mobility limitations are affected by potential changes in the modifiable risk factors, namely excess weight, physical inactivity and smoking. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
APA blog post. Smokers who are trying to quit may not always have to reach for a piece of nicotine gum to stave off a craving. Deliberately inhaling a pleasant aroma may be enough to reduce the urge to light up, at least temporarily, and could be used as part of an effective smoking cessation strategy, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides modest evidence supporting the effectiveness of smartphone apps to increase physical activity. To date, apps have been most effective in the short term (eg, up to 3 months). Future research is needed to understand the time course of intervention effects and to investigate strategies to sustain intervention effects over time.
Conclusions: In total, 14 Web-based multidomain lifestyle programs aimed at optimizing brain health were found. The programs showed heterogeneity in both characteristics and effectiveness evaluation. Despite this heterogeneity, this meta-analysis suggests that Web-based lifestyle programs can positively influence brain health outcomes and have the potential to contribute to the prevention of dementia.
The dramatic decline in the popularity of smoking since the turn of the millennium could largely be the result of increased education and awareness of the harms of smoking, and that it's now less socially acceptable, particularly since the smoking ban in public places.
But what will be of concern to some is that while teens may be less likely to try smoking or think it acceptable, there may have been a massive increase in the perceived acceptability of vaping and the number of teens who have tried e-cigarettes if they'd been asked about it in the surveys.
A new report from CIPD and Simply Health published shows a rise in stress is linked to poor management.
The research, which surveyed 1,078 organisations across the UK referencing 3.2 million employees shows that stress is a growing problem, and 37 per cent of UK businesses have seen an increase in stress-related absence.
E-learning tools are now available for cardiovascular disease prevention, adult obesity, antimicrobial resistance, physical activity, social prescribing, giving children the best start in life and supporting those at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness.
The BMA has a well-established record of making the case for preventing physical and mental ill-health and investing in evidence-based population measures. We are now setting out our framework for a cross-government approach to prioritising population health.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have published their Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) guidance for 2019/20 and there have been some changes to the payment framework for health and wellbeing.
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Due to limitations the proportions of disease or deaths attributed to prolonged sitting – and associated health costs – should be considered as estimates.
Despite the limitations imposed by the underlying studies, this research supports health advice to reduce the amount of time spent sitting.
Today’s figures show that in 2018 life expectancy gains in England ground to a halt.
‘Life expectancy gains have been flatlining since 2011. Although a slowdown has been seen across Europe, England has been particularly badly affected.
Objectives To evaluate effects of active bike commuting or leisure-time exercise of two intensities on peripheral insulin sensitivity (primary outcome), cardiorespiratory fitness and intra-abdominal adipose tissue mass (secondary outcomes). To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Open access. Healthcare professionals are key informants to support individual behaviour change, and although there has been some progress in empowering clinicians to promote physical activity and health at work, an effective strategy overarching the whole medical educational journey is still lacking. This report provides an overview from the Moving Healthcare Professionals programme (MHPP) in the UK, a whole-system educational approach to embed prevention and physical activity promotion into clinical practice.