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