Digital Mental Health Current Awareness Bulletin
The Digital Mental Health March bulletin, produced by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust, is now available to view and download.
Public Health
Current Awareness Updates
We can’t prevent childhood obesity by education alone: lessons from the evidence base.
University of Bristol; 2021.
(This study examined the evidence included in the most recent Cochrane Review on childhood obesity prevention. The results show that most of the current evidence targets individual lifestyle behaviours (diet and physical activity) through education. This could influence the range of evidence that policymakers see, with consequences for the focus of policies they develop. A broader evidence base is needed on which to base future decisions about childhood obesity prevention. Policy briefing.)
Loneliness: a reading list.
House of Commons Library; 2021.
(Links to various publications considering the causes and impact of loneliness, as well as possible interventions to deal with the issue in society. A companion to the Library’s Tackling loneliness (CBP 8514) briefing, which sets out in greater detail the incidence and impact of loneliness and strategies adopted to tackle it across the UK. Research briefing.)
Consultation outcome: Proposed changes to how smoking-attributable risk is calculated.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
(Response to consultation on proposed changes to the calculation of smoking attributable mortality and hospital admissions. There was a positive response to updating the relative risks used for the calculation of smoking-related harm and all options provided through responses have been explored.)
A Snapshot of European Children’s Eating Habits: Results from the Fourth Round of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI).
World Health Organization (WHO); 2021.
(Overall, the WHO findings from this study highlight that action is urgently needed to promote healthy eating habits among children in all the countries of the European Region, especially to increase daily consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.)
Youth Sport Trust impact report.
Youth Sport Trust; 2021.
(In this report we share data, insights and stories from some of the young people whose wellbeing we have been able to support. Working together with schools and valued partners we have improved physical and mental health, nurtured the development of character and leadership, and fostered inclusion and empathy to bring down barriers and build connections.)
Understanding and addressing inequalities in physical activity: evidence-based guidance for commissioners Public Health England (PHE); 2021
(This guidance can be used by practitioners and commissioners at a local level to begin tackling inequalities in physical activity across and within protected characteristic groups. It presents the findings of a review, analysis and research aimed at understanding the enablers, barriers and opportunities for increasing physical activity across inequality groups.)
Royal College of Nursing
Independent Review
Source: The King’s Fund Health Management and Policy Alert
This report of an independent review finds that the government’s Covid-19 infection control guidelines, which are used across the UK, are in need of updating. It calls for all NHS staff to be given a higher level of personal protective equipment as a precautionary measure pending the outcome of a review.
For more information click here.
Library Bulletin
The Gosall Library, March 2021
Read this week’s bulletin on Community Health here
Improving Patient Care
How PCNs are working in partnership to support mental health
Source: NHS Confederation; 2021.
This briefing was developed jointly by the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network and PCN Network and provides examples of three models of partnership working that are currently underway in primary care to support mental health at place level.
Key points include:
- A seamless referral system between primary and secondary care is important for patients who have mental health needs.
- Early interventions for young people can be very cost effective and improve access and outcomes in mental health, wellbeing, and physical health.
- Working in partnership across the community, and pooling knowledge, resources and assets is important for improving access to services, providing cost effective interventions, and improving outcomes.
- Joining up primary care and mental health services is essential. Primary care can help people who have milder mental health issues access support and reduce referral to secondary mental health services.
Library Bulletins
The Gosall Library, March 2021
Read this week’s bulletin on Depression here
Covid 19
Current Awareness Updates
Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination statistics, plans and documentation.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2021.
(This page brings together COVID-19 vaccination programme-related documents published by DHSC, and vaccination statistics published by other bodies within the UK.)
Second quarterly report on progress to address Covid-19 health inequalities Race Disparity Unit, Cabinet Office; February 2021
(The first report on progress to address Covid-19 health inequalities was published in October 2020. It concluded that a range of socio-economic and geographical factors coupled with pre-existing health conditions were contributing to the higher infection and mortality rates for ethnic minority groups. This second report now looks at those causes in more detail and sets out some of the work being undertaken to fill the gaps in our understanding and to mitigate the risks of Covid-19 infection. It sets out the progress made under the terms of reference and in implementing the recommendations from the first report.)
The other pandemic: the impact of Covid-19 on Britain’s mental health Public First
(In February 2021 Public First polled 4,000 people and held 12 in-depth focus groups with people from across Britain. The findings, published in this report, show that coronavirus has taken a toll on mental health in all parts of society – but especially women, the less well-off and young people.)
New WHO expert group to identify gaps and solutions to the mental health impacts of COVID-19.
World Health Organization (WHO); 2021.
(The group, tasked with reviewing evidence, identifying gaps and exploring solutions, will inform and support countries’ efforts in addressing mental health needs within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.)
COVID-19: ventilation of indoor spaces to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
(Guidance, advice and information on how ventilation of indoor spaces can help to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), including how to increase ventilation at home and in other settings.)
Earthquakes and COVID-19
Orlu FN. British Journal of Psychiatry 2021;218(3):172.
(Mental health services at all levels, including psychological services in primary care, bereavement services and secondary mental health services need to start preparing for post-lockdown demand for care by making arrangements for how they will manage increased demands for services. Mental health promotion should be launched now and after the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent an overloading of the National Health Service via the mental health services’ route.)
COVID-19 and Obesity: The 2021 Atlas. The cost of not addressing the global obesity crisis.
World Obesity; 2021.
(Through detailed analyses of the latest peer-reviewed data, we demonstrate how overweight is a highly significant predictor of developing complications from COVID-19, including the need for hospitalisation, for intensive care and for mechanical ventilation. Overweight is also a predictor of death from COVID-19.)
Remote engagement: removing barriers to inclusion in the context of COVID-19.
Centre for Ageing Better; 2021.
(This short paper outlines approaches and techniques to carrying out user engagement and coproduction activities where traditional face to face methods aren’t possible. It includes case studies of good practice from initiatives including Trailblazer projects Business Health Matters and Blackwood Neighbourhoods for Independent Living. )
Centre for Early Child Development
A good practice guide to support implementation of trauma-informed care in the perinatal period
Source: The King’s Fund Health Management and Policy Alert
This guide aims to help staff and services understand the impact of psychological trauma on women in the perinatal period and respond in a sensitive and compassionate way. It aims to support staff to ensure they ‘do no harm’ through care delivery that, without thought or intention, could retraumatise individuals.
King’s Fund Book Club
Bertie’s Book Group- March
Bertie’s Book Group Group is a book club that focuses on fiction that touches on health or medical-related theme. The group meets on the third Thursday on every month at The King’s Fund Library; accessible by their website: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/search?search=book+group. To mark the International Transgender Day of Visibility in March, this month the group will be discussing Trumpet by Jackie Kay.
If you would like to get involved simply join the conversation and join Bertie’s Goodreads book group to express your thoughts. The next event is being held Thursday 18th March (6pm-7pm). Click here to find out more.
Meet the Author
Araminta Hall
Araminta Hall has worked as a writer, journalist and teacher. Her first novel, Everything & Nothing, was published in 2011 and became a Richard & Judy read that year. Her second, Dot, was published in 2013.
She teaches creative writing at New Writing South in Brighton, where she lives with her husband and three children. She is the great niece of Dodie Smith and great granddaughter of Lawrence Beesley, who survived the Titanic and wrote a bestselling account of the tragedy in the book, The Loss of the SS Titanic.
Her book, Our Kind of Cruelty, was published by Penguin Random House in 2018. It is a deeply unsettling thriller of a love story, in which a secret game between lovers has deadly consequences… This was followed by her latest novel, Imperfect Women, published by Orion in August 2020.
As our featured author, Araminta has kindly answered a few questions for us about books that have entertained and inspired her and her work as an author.
Read the interview here.
For more information about Araminta and her books follow her on Twitter or Instagram.
