Co-creating & Implementing a Reasonable Adjustments Framework in an acute hospital trust

This poster offers evidence of practice development activities undertaken to establish a clinical framework for making reasonable adjustments in acute hospital and application of the tool in a mortality audit.Peer reviewe

The role and value of medicines management work packages 1 & 2

Work Package 1 presents the findings and recommendations from the analysis of Southern Derbyshire’s Medicine Management “Work Log” SharePoint data set. The report provides an overview of the work done by the Medicine Management team. The current form and function of the SharePoint data set are also discussed. The analysis of the dataset (Annex Document) provide context for the recommendations presented, which are based on six case studies selected by Southern Derbyshire Medicines Management team. Work package 2 presents the findings and recommendations from our evaluation of the project to embed Clinical Pharmacists in Patient Facing roles within the ‘Belper Five’ group of practices. This element of the report continues to explore the value of medicines management from the viewpoint of the expanded role of the patient facing Clinical Pharmacists within a general practice setting.This report was commissioned by Southern Derbyshire's Medicines Management Tea

Oral nutritional supplements in care homes and the community: Nutrition review and staff education.

The University of Derby’s Health and Social Care Research Centre has been commissioned to support the delivery of Southern Derbyshire CCG’s review of oral nutritional supplements (ONS) and education of care home staff. Southern Derbyshire currently spends £1,409,099 on ONS prescribing (SH3-OT26 PID, 2016). While the efficacy of the use of ONS in malnourished patients is well understood (Agarwal, Miller, Yaxley, & Isenring, 2013), their use may not always be appropriate and other methods such as food fortification may result in either equal or better outcomes for considerably lower cost (Baldwin & Weekes, 2012). A successful pilot in five care homes by Southern Derbyshire CCG achieved cost savings of £183,203.33, along with the associated benefits of increased dietetic support to those residents who required input. On this basis, building on the pilot work, the present programme of work was conceived. Broadly, the project aimed to: (a) improve the nutritional state of residents in 112 care homes and at home; and (b) reduce spend on ONS prescribing. This was divided into two work streams: (1) evaluating the efficacy of a training programme on the identification, prevention and treatment of malnutrition, through a “Food First” approach including MUST training; and (2) the assessment, review and support of GP practices with patients prescribed ONS within their own home. This report provides an overview of the work done by the dietetics team up until the end of February 2018. The analysis of the dataset provides context for the recommendations presented.Southern Derbyshire CC

"Crack down on the celebrity junkies": does media coverage of celebrity drug use pose a risk to young people?

This study analysed news media content to examine the role played by celebrity drug use in young people's perceptions of drug use. We know that young people have access to discourses of drug use through music and other media which may emphasise short term gains (of pleasure or sexual success) over longer term health and social problems. This study goes beyond a simple modelling approach by using Media Framing Analysis (MFA) to take an in-depth look at the messages themselves and how they are 'framed'. New stories about Amy Winehouse's drug use were used and we conducted focus groups with young people asking them questions about drugs, celebrity and the media. Frames identified include: 'troubled genius', 'losing patience' and 'glamorization or gritty realism'. Initially, the press championed Winehouse's musical talent but soon began to tire of her recklessness; the participants tended to be unimpressed with Winehouse's drug use, characterising her as a promising artist who had 'gone off the rails'. Young people were far more critical of Winehouse than might be expected, demonstrating that concerns about the influence of celebrity drug use and its impact on future health risk behaviour among young people may have been over-simplified and exaggerated. This study illustrates the need to understand young people and their frames of reference within popular culture when designing drug awareness information relevant to them. Furthermore, it indicates that critical media skills analysis may contribute to health risk education programmes related to drug use

Rapid evolution of our understanding of the pathogenesis of COVID-19 – implications for therapy

COVID-19 severity appears to lie in its propensity to cause a hyperinflammatory response, attributed to the cytokine release syndrome (CRS) or ‘cytokine storm’, although the exact role of the CRS remains to be fully elucidated. Hyperinflammation triggers a hypercoagulable state, also thought to play a key role in COVID-19 pathogenesis. Disease severity is linked to age, sex and comorbid conditions, which in turn may be linked to oxidative stress and pre-existing depletion of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). There is increasing evidence that the host genome may determine disease outcome. Since most information pertaining to COVID-19 has thus far been extrapolated from the ‘global North’, similar studies in African populations are warranted. Many studies are aimed at finding a therapeutic strategy based on scientific rationale. Some promising results have emerged, e.g. the use of corticosteroids in severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).The South African Medical Research Council Extramural Unit for Stem Cell Research and Therapy, and the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine of the University of Pretoria (MSP).http://www.samj.org.zaam2021ImmunologyPaediatrics and Child Healt

Measuring well-being in sport performers: where are we now and how do we progress?

The importance of optimal well-being and mental health in elite athletes has received increasing attention and debate in both the academic and public discourse. Despite the number of challenges and risk factors for mental health and well-being recognised within the performance lifestyle of elite athletes, the evidence base for intervention is limited by a number of methodological and conceptual issues. Notably, there exists an increasing emphasis on the development of appropriate sportspecifc measures of athlete well-being, which are required to underpin strategies targeted at the protection and enhancement of psychosocial functioning. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to review psychometric issues in well-being research and discuss the implications for the measurement of well-being in sport psychology research. Drawing on the broader literature in related disciplines of psychology, the narrative discusses four key areas in the scale development process: conceptual and theoretical issues, item development issues, measurement and scoring issues, and analytical and statistical issues. To conclude, a summary of the key implications for sport psychology researchers seeking to develop a measure of well-being is presented

“The internet: to regulate or not to regulate?” Submission to House of Lords Select Committee on Communications' inquiry

In early 2018 The House of Lords Select Committee on Communications' began an inquiry into how regulation of the internet should be improved, taking into consideration how the internet has transformed global interaction, information gathering and educational/entertainment consumption, and how it opens up new opportunities but also presents challenges. This is the written submission of University of Cumbria Lecturer in Law Ann Thanaraj (along with other members of NINSO, Northumbria Internet & Society Research Interest Group), in response to the invitation to submit written evidence to the inquiry

Representations of voluntary childlessness in the UK Press, 1990-2008

Representations of voluntary childlessness — the declaration by an individual that he or she does not wish to bear or raise children — were studied in 116 articles published in British national newspapers in the period 1990—2008. Media framing analysis was used to examine broad patterns of framing of the topic, identifying four frames: voluntary childlessness as an individual rights issue, as a form of resistance, as a social trend, and as a personal decision. These frames, it is argued, may act as potential ‘scripts’ for newspaper readers who are debating the decision to start a family