This review highlighted several barriers faced by healthcare professionals, and further identified eight intervention functions as well as seven policy categories.
Freely available online
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Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2026.
Data on levels of physical activity in children and young people, part of the the obesity, physical activity and nutrition profile on Fingertips. A new indicator showing the percentage of less active children and young people has been added to the profile. The indicator on percentage of physically active children and young people has been updated with 2024 to 2025 data.
Access here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-and-young-people-physical-activity-data-february-2026
Freely available online
The latest dementia bulletin from Mersey Care Evidence and Library Service is available to view: https://www.evidentlybetter.org/dementia/2025/12/10-december-2025/
In this issue:
The current Make Every Contact Count Bulletin, produced by Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, is now available.
Tackling mental health disparities.
Centre for Mental Health; 2022.
(The pandemic is accompanied by a rise in demand for mental health services. Even before the pandemic, mental ill health was one of the most prevalent forms of illness. Inequalities mean that while it is true that anyone can experience mental illness, the risks are much higher for certain groups who experience structural discrimination and disadvantage. Tackling mental health disparities shares ten evidence-based actions that the Government could take in the forthcoming white paper.)
Grassroots participation in sport and physical activity.
National Audit Office (NAO); 2022.
(This report examines how far the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and Sport England have achieved value for money in their spending on grassroots sport and physical activity amongst those aged 16 and over, and have supported value for money in the system-wide spending across government. We consider the decade since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with a particular focus on the period since 2015, when government launched its Sporting Future strategy.)
Menopause and the workplace: how to enable fulfilling working lives: government response Department for work and pensions; July 2022 This report lays out the government’s response to the recommendations made in the independent report Menopause and the workplace, published in November 2021. This report aimed to bring about comprehensive change and support for those experiencing the menopause, in key areas of government policy, employer practice, and wider societal and financial change.
The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine programme in England House of Commons Comittee of Public Accounts; July 2022 This report calls for efforts to be redoubled to reach those not vaccinated or fully vaccinated as it warns that nearly three million adults in England are unvaccinated against Covid-19. It finds that comparatively low vaccination rates persist in many vulnerable groups and have even dropped further for some. It calls for NHS England and UKHSA to urgently evaluate which methods are most effective for increasing uptake, including fresh approaches to tackle the persistent low uptake observed in some ethnic groups.
Creating a smoke-free South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw integrated care system NHS Confederation; June 2022 This case study details a smoking cessation programme in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw that aims to saves lives, decrease health inequalities and reduce hospital re-admissions by making effective treatment for tobacco addiction part of the routine care offered in hospitals.
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.]
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.]
The new edition of ‘Making Every Contact Count’ bulletin is now available to view and download here.
This edition features current awareness for the following topics (with relevant articles related to the Covid 19 pandemic):
Smoking Cessation
Healthy Weight
Healthy Eating
Alcohol
Physical activity
The majority of articles have direct links to the publications, however please get in touch if you are struggling to access any of the articles within the bulletin.
Please remember to contact academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk with any topics you would like to see in future bulletins.
Alcohol is one of the biggest risk factors for breast cancer.
World Health Organization (WHO); 2021.
[Alcohol is classified as a Group 1 human carcinogen by IARC. It is causally linked to 7 types of cancer. Besides female breast cancer, it increases the risk of developing oral cavity (mouth), pharynx (throat), oesophagus (gullet), liver, larynx (voice box) and colorectum (large intestine and rectum) cancers. There is no safe level of alcohol consumption. The risk of breast cancer increases with each unit of alcohol consumed per day.]
Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome: diagnosis and management.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE); 2021.
[This guideline covers diagnosing and managing myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in children, young people and adults. It aims to improve awareness and understanding about ME/CFS and when to suspect it, so that people are diagnosed earlier. It includes recommendations on diagnosis, assessment and care planning, safeguarding, access to care and managing ME/CFS and its symptoms.]
Eligible for a free flu vaccine this winter? Don’t wait, book it.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[With flu and COVID-19 expected to be in wide circulation together this winter, UK Health Security Agency is urging more people than ever to get their free flu vaccine, if they are eligible. In this blog the UK Health Security Agency answers some common questions about this year’s flu season.]
The use of wearables and health apps and the willingness to share self-collected data among older adults.
Seifert A. Aging and Health Research 2021;1(3):100032.
[The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which older adults utilize mobile health tracking tools in everyday life and their willingness to share the collected health-related data with doctors, health insurance companies, or research institutions. 75.0% of the participants used at least one mobile device; 22.9% used health-related apps. Participants were more often willing to share their data with doctors than with health insurance companies or researchers.]
Changes in childhood experimentation with, and exposure to, tobacco and e-cigarettes and perceived smoking norms: a repeated cross-sectional study of 10–11 year olds’ in Wales.
BMC Public Health; 2021.
[Children’s experimentation with and exposure to tobacco, and their perceptions of smoking as a normative behaviour, have continued to decline alongside growth in exposure to e-cigarettes. Although a large majority of pupils reported they minded people smoking around them, there was some evidence of diminishing disapproval of secondhand smoke since 2007.]
Understanding Sexual Aggression in UK Male University Students: An Empirical Assessment of Prevalence and Psychological Risk Factors.
Sexual Abuse; 2021.
[University-based sexual aggression is an international public health issue; however, to date, there have been no formal assessments of the prevalence or psychological indicators associated with the proabuse behaviors of the most common perpetrators at UK universities: heterosexual male students.]
Patients as team members: Factors affecting involvement in treatment decisions from the perspective of patients with a chronic condition.
Health Expectations; 2021.
[From the patients’ perspective, this study shows that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to involving patients more actively in their healthcare journey. Strategies aiming to enhance active patient involvement among patients with a chronic condition should consider this diversity in perspectives among these patients.]
Lead exposure in children: surveillance reports (from 2021).
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Results of laboratory-based surveillance of elevated blood lead concentrations in children in England.]
Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in children of school age: monthly data, 2021 to 2022.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2021.
[Cumulative vaccine uptake data for the childhood seasonal flu programme in England.]
Review: Physical activity interventions for the mental health and well-being of adolescents – a systematic review. [Abstract]
Hale GE. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 2021;26(4):357-368.
[Rates of physical activity decline throughout adolescence, and evidence indicates that this has an adverse impact on psychological health. This paper aims to synthesise available evidence for physical activity interventions on the mental health and well-being of young people (11-19 years) from the general population.]
Telehealth interventions: remote monitoring and consultations for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). [Abstract]
Janjua S. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021;7:CD013196.
[BACKGROUND: Face-to-face visits with health professionals can be hindered by severity of COPD or frailty, and by people living at a distance from their healthcare provider and having limited access to services. Telehealth technologies aimed at providing health care remotely through monitoring and consultations could help to improve health outcomes of people with COPD.]
Strategies to improve smoking cessation rates in primary care. [Abstract]
Lindson N. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021;9:CD011556.
[OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of strategies intended to increase the success of smoking cessation interventions in primary care settings. To assess whether any effect that these interventions have on smoking cessation may be due to increased implementation by healthcare providers.]
Living with dementia: my life, my goals.
Alzheimer’s Society; 2021.
[A new self-help guide for people living with dementia. The guide helps people with dementia achieve their goals step-by step. It was created by researchers from the GREAT trial in collaboration with people living with dementia.]
Promoting the sexual health and wellbeing of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
[This resource provides information to support commissioners, providers and voluntary and community sector organisations in developing interventions for improved sexual health and wellbeing among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM).]
Promoting the sexual health and wellbeing of people from a Black Caribbean background: an evidence-based resource.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
[This resource provides information to support commissioners, providers and third-sector organisations in developing interventions for improved sexual health and wellbeing in people from a Black Caribbean background.]
Mental health in prison.
House of Commons Justice Committee; 2021.
[This report finds that a disjointed and incoherent approach to care has left many prisoners suffering from mental health issues undiagnosed and unable to access care. It calls on the NHS, Ministry of Justice and the Prison and Probation Service to implement a system of integrated care that improves identification of mental health issues, provides seamless care while in prison and supports transition to care in community settings on release.]
The cost of eating disorders in the UK 2019 and 2020.
Hearts Minds and Genes Coalition for Eating Disorders; 2021.
[This report highlights the cost of eating disorders in the UK, in terms of financial costs to the NHS, the financial, social and emotional impact on individuals, families and wider society, and in terms of the ongoing loss of lives to illnesses that can be treated but that are currently subject to severe underfunding and lack of services.]
Long-term prisoners: the facts: England and Wales. October 2021.
Prison Reform Trust; 2021.
[In the last twenty years, the prison population has changed hugely. Sentences for more serious crimes have become longer and far more people will now spend 10 or more years in prison. Meeting the challenges of this change will shape the prison landscape for the foreseeable future.]
Measuring Children and Young People’s Subjective Wellbeing.
What Works Centre for Wellbeing; 2021.
[While we have very good national data on the wellbeing of adults, the national statistics on children and young people’s wellbeing in the UK, is not collected regularly, or nationally. The Measures Bank is a searchable database of measures, a resource for policy-makers and practitioners to identify appropriate measures for children’s wellbeing for use in their specific context.]
Characteristics of women who stop smoking in pregnancy.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
[Experimental analysis of data from the Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS), April 2018 to March 2019.]
NHS population screening: identifying and reducing inequalities.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
[Guidance and resources to support providers and commissioners in reducing screening inequalities.]
Physical activity: promotion within primary and secondary care.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
[Report and learning from the evidence base and local practice of physical activity promotion in the NHS. The report provides practitioners, commissioners and policy makers with the factors that influence successful integration and implementation of physical activity promotion in primary and secondary care. It focuses on understanding how to integrate physical activity promotion into preventative and treatment care and support for people living with one or more long-term conditions.]
Behaviour change: helping health professionals deliver brief interventions.
Public Health England (PHE); 2021.
[This report focuses on how we can use behavioural science to support healthcare professionals to deliver brief interventions for alcohol, smoking and Making Every Contact Count (MECC) programmes. It includes examples of the barriers and facilitators that affect whether healthcare professionals deliver brief interventions. The report also includes examples of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) that could be used to support and encourage healthcare professionals to deliver brief interventions.]
