Category: Diabetes

Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

WHO European regional obesity report 2022

(Overweight and obesity affect almost 60 per cent of adults and nearly one in three children in the WHO European Region. Recent estimates suggest that overweight and obesity is the fourth most common risk factor for noncommunicable diseases in the Region, after high blood pressure, dietary risks and tobacco. This report examines the growing challenge and impact of obesity in the Region and focuses on managing obesity throughout the life course and tackling obesogenic environments. It also considers more recent challenges, including problematic digital marketing to children and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on obesity prevalence.)

Doctor’s orders: Why adherence is critical to improving health outcomes across the life course

(Nearly half of all adults and approximately 8% of children worldwide have a chronic condition. Yet, studies have shown that adherence to medication is poor. This is expensive for governments, requiring three extra medical visits per year. This article from the ILC suggests some key recommendations to support adherence.)

Thousands of people with diabetes set to benefit from real time information after updated NICE recommendations

(More than 250,000 people living with type 1 diabetes are set to be offered new technology to help them manage their condition and at the same time reduce the need for finger prick testing by up to 50%, following new advice from NICE.)

Link workers for population health: it’s time to get with the (social prescribing) programme

(Embedding a population health approach into health care at the local, regional and national level in England will require slow, incremental cultural shifts over the space of years, as suggested in their report; A vision for population health.)

Public Health

Current awareness updates

Physical activity in disabled children and disabled young people: evidence review.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2022.
[Findings of a rapid evidence review into the health benefits and potential risks of physical activity for children and young people who have disabilities.]

d-Nav insulin management app for type 2 diabetes.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2022.
[d‑Nav is an app used for guiding insulin dosing for adults with type 2 diabetes. The innovative aspects are the insulin dose can be calculated and adjusted based on a person’s current and historic blood glucose levels on a weekly basis and without healthcare professional approval. The intended place in therapy would be to help optimise insulin dosage in people with type 2 diabetes.]

Is there an effective dose of aerobic exercise associated with better executive function in youth with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?
Khodaverdi Z. Child Neuropsychology 2021;:doi.org/10.1080/09297049.2021.1992378.
[Conclusion: Different dosage of aerobic exercise might differently influence aspects of executive function; however, this finding rests on preliminary evidence at this stage and thus should be treated with caution.It is necessary to establish suitable interventions with regard to the dosage of aerobic exercise types to improve executive function in young people with ADHD.]

Public Health

Current awareness updates

10-Year Cancer Plan: Call for Evidence.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2022.
[The NHS Long Term Plan, published in 2019, set an ambition to save thousands more lives each year by dramatically improving how we diagnose and treat cancer. The DHSC is seeking the views of individuals, professionals and organisations to understand how we can do more to make progress against this ambition, and to build on lessons learned from the pandemic. You can respond as an individual, or on behalf of an organisation by completing the online survey (Closes 23:45, 01 April 2022)]

Improving annual albuminuria testing for individuals with diabetes. [Abstract]
Kam S. BMJ Open Quality 2022;11(1):doi: 10.1136/bmjoq-2021-001591.
[Conclusions: This project demonstrates that a series of simple interventions can significantly impact annual albuminuria testing. This project’s success likely hinged on using an existing workflow to systematically determine if a patient was due for testing and prompting the provider to sign a pended order for an albuminuria test. Other diabetes/endocrinology and primary care clinics can likely implement a similar process and so improve testing rates in other settings…]

Atrial fibrillation detection using a automated electrocardiographic monitoring in a transient ischaemic attack service. [Abstract]
D’Anna L. BMJ Open Quality 2022;11(1):doi: 10.1136/bmjoq-2021-001433.
[Conclusions: In conclusion, the present study suggests early initiation of automated continuous ECG monitoring (ACEM) in a rapid outpatient transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) clinic improves atrial fibrillation (AF) detection and is associated with a reduced risk of recurrent TIA/stroke. Further studies are required to confirm the enhanced rate of AF detected using ACEM]

Autism – overview of policy and services.
House of Commons Library; 2022.
[This briefing provides an overview of policies and services for people with autism spectrum disorder in England.]

Measuring the economic value of community nursing: scoping the challenge.
Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA); 2022.
[NHS community services are an essential part of national ambitions to support people to manage their conditions, prevent ill health and deliver care closer to home. Community nurses are central to the care delivered for many people, across a broad range of conditions and needs. This briefing considers the challenge of understanding the economic value of community nursing, building on a roundtable discussion in March 2021 and drawing in other sources of evidence.]

Public Health

Current awareness updates

Our ageing population: How ageing affects health and care need in England.
The Health Foundation; 2021.
[This report examines this dynamic by analysing changes in two measures of need:  an estimate of social care need, drawn from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) ; prevalence of long-term conditions, as a proxy for health and health service demand.   It explores how health and care needs change with age, how the relationship between need and age has changed over time and how long-term conditions and social care needs interact.]

National Diabetes Audit, Report 1- Care Processes and Treatment Targets 2020-21.
NHS Digital; 2021.
[The National Diabetes Audit measures the effectiveness of diabetes healthcare against NICE Clinical Guidelines and NICE Quality Standards.]

Humidification of indoor air for preventing or reducing dryness symptoms or upper respiratory infections in educational settings and at the workplace. [Abstract]
Byber K. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021;12:CD012219.
[OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of interventions that increase indoor air humidity in order to reduce or prevent dryness symptoms of the eyes, the skin and the upper respiratory tract (URT) or URT infections, at work and in educational settings.]

Public Health

Current awareness updates

The cost effectiveness of ecotherapy as a healthcare intervention, separating the wood from the trees.
Hinde S. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) 2021;18(-):11599.
[This paper explores the capacity for ecotherapy to be cost-effective as a healthcare intervention. We show that there is the potential for ecotherapy for people with mild to moderate common mental health problems to be cost-effective but significant further research is required.]

Community support versus health care services: time to change our definition of impact.
Evidence & Policy Blog; 2021.
[Non-profit community anchor organisations in England typically provide a range of support to local people, including wellbeing support, advocacy, social activities, and training and employment advice. This array of services takes a wider perspective on the determinants of health than the approach taken within the NHS, which generally focuses on mental and physical ill health. Despite the different approaches, the funding for organisations is often dependent on the impact on health outcomes.]

National Pregnancy in Diabetes (NPID) Audit Report 2019.
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP); 2021.
[The National Pregnancy in Diabetes (NPID) Audit measures the quality of antenatal care and pregnancy outcomes for women with pre-gestational diabetes. Overall, there were 4,525 pregnant women with diabetes in 2020 – 325 fewer pregnancies than 2019 – of which, 54% had type 2 diabetes (44% had type 1 diabetes and 2% were recorded as having ‘other diabetes’). The audit includes analysis by age, ethnicity, social deprivation and weight.]

Better together: a public health model for mentally healthier integrated care systems.
Centre for Mental Health; 2021.
[According to this briefing paper, England’s 42 integrated care systems have an opportunity to protect and promote mental health in the communities they serve. The briefing explores how integrated care systems can address the social and environmental factors that affect people’s health in their communities.]

Saving lives, improving mothers’ care: lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity 2017-19.
National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU); 2021.
[This report finds that pregnancy remains safe in the UK, with the overall maternal death rate showing a slight decrease. Among 2,173,810 women who gave birth in 2017-2019, 191 died during or up to six weeks after pregnancy, and 495 during or up to one year after their pregnancy. However, the findings show a continued inequality in the mortality rates for women of different ethnic backgrounds, ages and socio-economic circumstances.]

Ethnic and socio-economic Inequalities in NHS maternity and perinatal care for women and their babies.
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP); 2021.
[This report describes inequalities in maternity and perinatal care for women and their babies in England, Scotland and Wales during the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2018. Using routinely collected data, care and outcomes experienced by women and babies using NHS maternity services are measured and stratified by ethnicity and by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), a proxy for socio-economic deprivation.]

Fulfilling the promise: how social prescribing can most effectively tackle loneliness.
British Red Cross; 2021.
[This report draws on practical experience of delivering social prescribing services to those experiencing or at risk of loneliness through Red Cross Community Connector schemes.]

What works when evaluating social prescribing? A realist review report.
Wales School for Social Prescribing Research; 2021.
[An analysis of approaches used to evaluate social prescribing.]

Newcastle GP Services Social Prescribing Navigator Service: an independent evaluation.
North of England Commissioning Support Network; 2021.
[The aims of this evaluation were to: • Understand the update and usage of the service across Newcastle with regards population, conditions, and sites. • Analyse trends in unplanned access to secondary care. • Understand the experience and impact from the patient as end user of this service and navigators as deliverers of the service • Recommend data collection and analysis for the ongoing service to have greater comprehension of the impact of the service.]

The role of data in unlocking the potential of social prescribing.
Open Data Institute; 2021.
[A report by Frontier Economics for the ODI concludes there are a number of barriers to social prescribing reaching its full potential, including the lack of available data, and solid data infrastructure, such as statistics, maps and real-time service-use data that could help social prescribers and the providers of services to make decisions, build services and gain insight.]


Public Health

Current awareness updates

Violence Prevention Information System (Violence Info).
World Health Organization (WHO); 2021.
[Developed in collaboration with the Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Public Health Wales and the World Health Organisation, Violence Info is an online interactive collection of scientific information about the prevalence, consequences, risk factors and preventability of all forms of interpersonal violence. It covers homicide, child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner violence, elder abuse and sexual violence.]

Two new tobacco cessation medicines added to the WHO essential medicines list.
World Health Organization (WHO); 2021.
[On 1 October 2021, the WHO announced the updated the Model List where two new medicines have been added, indicating a powerful shift in the fight against the tobacco epidemic. Bupropion and varenicline are medicines which work in a different way from nicotine replacement. The new medicines reduce cravings for nicotine without supplying a nicotine substitute, thereby supporting people in quitting tobacco use and reducing nicotine dependence.]

Healthy weight coach elearning programme: for primary care networks, healthcare practices and pharmacies.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2021.
[This reference guide is for primary care networks, healthcare practices and pharmacies interested in training staff, and staff interested in undertaking training, to become a healthy weight coach.]

Blood pressure lowering and risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes: an individual participant data meta-analysis.
The Lancet; 2021.
[Blood pressure lowering is an effective strategy for the prevention of new-onset type 2 diabetes. Established pharmacological interventions, however, have qualitatively and quantitively different effects on diabetes. This evidence supports the indication for selected classes of antihypertensive drugs for the prevention of diabetes, which could further refine the selection of drug choice according to an individual’s clinical risk of diabetes.]

Caring for older patients with complex needs: How does England compare with 11 OECD countries?
The Health Foundation; 2021.
[The analysis shows that looking across the system is essential to understand the true resource use of patients with complex needs, if policymakers are to identify areas for improvement in care. The comparatively high mortality rates for people admitted for hip fracture and for people with heart failure and diabetes in England are concerning and require scrutiny by policymakers, commissioners and providers…]

Covid 19

Current awareness updates

Face coverings and COVID-19: statement from an expert panel .
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[An expert panel statement, informed by evidence and expertise, on the role of face coverings in mitigating COVID-19 transmission.]

Impact evaluation of the Coronavirus Community Support Fund: final report.
The National Lottery Community Fund; 2021.
[Ipsos MORI, in partnership with New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) and The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (TIHR), was commissioned to undertake an evaluation of the Coronavirus Community Support Fund (CCSF). This document summarises the findings from an assessment of the impact the CCSF had on the people and communities that were supported, the organisations that were funded, and the volunteers involved.]

COVID-19: impact on childhood vaccinations: data to August 2021.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Final report of the series providing an early assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on delivery of childhood vaccination programmes in England.]

Covid and beyond: confronting the unequal access to type 1 diabetes healthcare.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; 2021.
[JDRF surveyed more than 1,000 people living with type 1 diabetes, or caring for a child living with it, to reveal their experiences through the upheavals of the Covid pandemic. The findings of the report reveal the impact of the withdrawal and repurposing of many NHS diabetes services on people with type 1. The report sets out a series of recommendations, anchored in the needs of people living with type 1.]

Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the clinically extremely vulnerable population.
The Health Foundation; 2021.
[This briefing presents analysis from the Networked Data Lab on the impact the pandemic has had on the clinically extremely vulnerable population; assesses the mental health of people identified as clinically extremely vulnerable; examines the data on access to care for clinically extremely vulnerable;
assess the limitations to the use of an algorithm-driven approach to identifying the clinically extremely vulnerable population which were exacerbated by poor availability of high-quality data.]

Type 2 Diabetes

NHS is looking for volunteers with type 2 diabetes to trial new online service

Healthy Living is a free online NHS service for people living with Type 2 diabetes, which provides knowledge and information that will support you to manage your condition. It is looking for volunteers to provide feedback on the service before it is launched nationally.

Read more here