Public Health

Current Awareness

Vaccines and immunization for monkeypox: Interim guidance, 14 June 2022.
World Health Organization (WHO); 2022.
(This interim guidance, developed with the advice and support of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Ad-hoc Working Group on smallpox and monkeypox vaccines, provides the first WHO recommendations on vaccines and immunization for monkeypox.)

COVID-19 health information needs of older adults from ethnic minority groups in the UK: a qualitative study.
Paudyal P. BMJ Open 2022;12:e059844.
(The study highlights that health information interventions should recognise the intersection between multigenerational living, family structure, and the health and well-being of older adults, and should promote intergenerational discussion.)

Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2021.
Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID); 2022.
(Statistics and commentary on abortions carried out in 2021.)

The educational burden of disease: a cohort study Nordmo M, Kinge J, Reme B , Flato M et al, The Lancet; June 1 2022 (Students with health disorders might be at risk of disengaging from education, which can reinforce socioeconomic inequalities in health. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between 176 diseases and injuries and later school performance in Norwegian adolescents and to estimate the importance of each disorder using a novel measure for the educational burden of disease (EBoD)).

Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

Online support for family carers of people with dementia: what works for their mental health?
The Mental Elf; 2022.
https://www.nationalelfservice.net/populations-and-settings/family-carers/online-support-family-carers-dementia/
(Clarissa Giebel reflects on a recent systematic review which investigates online support for family carers of people with dementia.)

The Khan review: making smoking obsolete.
Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID); 2022.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-khan-review-making-smoking-obsolete
(Independent review by Dr Javed Khan into the government’s ambition to make England smokefree by 2030. The review makes 15 recommendations for government to achieve a smokefree society.)

Safer by Design: How can collaboration help design safer gambling?
Demos; 2022.
https://demos.co.uk/project/safer-by-design-how-can-collaboration-help-design-safer-gambling/ (Demos and Playtech hosted two roundtables that brought together those in the industry with gambling experts from academia, charities and policy. The first looked at the role policy and regulation can play, and sought ideas and input on how the gambling sector could learn from other areas. The second looked at gambling as a health issue, and how stakeholders might draw on progress made in other areas such as digital resilience and wellbeing.)

State of the Nation: A comprehensive, retrospective view of NHS data.
Wilmington Healthcare; 2022.
https://wilmingtonhealthcare.com/state-of-the-nation/
(This report looks at key data trends over the course of the pandemic, establishing how new trends in health care activity, patient numbers, disease burden, NHS operational practice, prescribing and regional variation have emerged. The report groups the data into six key areas: hospital episode statistics; demographic segmentation; therapy area analysis; referral to treatment; prescribing insights; and regional insights.)

Mental health and loneliness: the relationship across life stages.
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; 2022.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-loneliness-the-relationship-across-life-stages
(This report presents the findings from a qualitative study exploring the experiences of loneliness among those who had experienced a mental health condition. Previous research has shown there is a link between experiences of loneliness and poor mental health. The DCMS commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to explore this issue across four key life stages as part of developing the evidence base for work on tackling loneliness.)


Public Health

Current awareness updates

Physical activity as an intervention in severe mental illness.
Kandola AA. BJPsych Advances 2022;28(2):112-121.
[After reading this article you will be able to: understand why physical activity is clinically important for people with severe mental illness; recognise the possible barriers to and facilitators of engagement in physical activity by people with severe mental illness; consider the next steps for commissioners, researchers and practitioners in this area.]

85% of adolescent girls don’t do enough physical activity: new WHO study calls for action.
World Health Organization (WHO); 2022.
[Adolescent girls are not getting enough physical activity and this problem is growing worldwide and can have serious effects on health and well-being. A new study into the ‘Barriers and Facilitators of Physical Activity Participation in Adolescent Girls’ brings good news – there are some clear steps to change this picture.]

Social prescribing and musculoskeletal conditions: a guide for link workers and social prescribing services.
Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA); 2022.
[Social prescribing has the potential to support people with MSK conditions and to reduce the chances of future MSK problems. This guide is aimed at social prescribers without a specific MSK service or background in MSK conditions to help them use social prescribing to make a difference to people’s lives and become a champion for the importance of good MSK health.]

Online food and drink marketing to young people.
Nesta; 2022.
[Young people are exposed to a range of marketing for unhealthy food and drink online, from adverts for fast food on social media to price offers and limited edition deals encouraging them to buy food via email and apps. This report shares findings from a project that sought to better understand the impact of this type of marketing on young people.]

Better Health Start for Life weaning campaign survey: March 2022.
Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID); 2022.
[The survey was designed to provide attitudinal insights to support the launch of the Better Health Start for Life weaning campaign.]

Health first: how to talk about childhood obesity.
Impact on Urban Health; 2022.
[This toolkit aims to help organisations and individuals talk about children’s health, unequal access to nutritious food, and childhood obesity. The toolkit provides six key communications principles – from using metaphors that stick in people’s minds, to what key messages to leave in (and out) of communications to help them resonate.]

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…]