The role of adult social care in the prevention of intensive health and care needs: a scoping review

Context: Despite the strong emphasis on prevention in social care policy, there is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of preventive social care interventions to delay escalation of intensive care needs. Objective(s): We reviewed the literature relating to the role of Adult Social Care to prevent escalation of care needs. We aimed to identify mechanisms in service delivery that prevent development of long-term care needs. Method(s): We used the PRISMA-ScR framework to review papers reporting the (cost)effectiveness of preventative services. Findings were qualitatively synthesised using elements of realist synthesis. Findings: Thirty-one papers were included covering: integrated care, intermediate care, rehabilitation, post-discharge services, community-based care, and domiciliary care. Overall, we found few studies with conclusive results to inform policy and practice. Moreover, the evidence was mostly concerned with the impact of social care on health care utilisation, with relatively few studies addressing the impact on social care utilisation. There was some preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of multi-faceted support set within the community, and improvements were observed for patients’ Quality of Life. Limitations: The variety of papers we included reflects the complexity of the social care landscape but prevents robust assessment of the impact of services to delay advancing care needs. Implications: Greater investment in research in this field will help policy makers and families target scarce resources and invest in the most effective prevention services. We emphasise the impact of prevention services can take several years to realise, which must be reflected in research design and social care funding

The Role of Adult Social Care in the Prevention of Intensive Health and Care Needs: A Scoping Review

Context: Despite the strong emphasis on prevention in social care policy, there is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of preventive social care interventions to delay escalation of intensive care needs. Objective(s): We reviewed the literature relating to the role of Adult Social Care to prevent escalation of care needs. We aimed to identify mechanisms in service delivery that prevent development of long-term care needs. Method(s): We used the PRISMA-ScR framework to review papers reporting the (cost)effectiveness of preventative services. Findings were qualitatively synthesised using elements of realist synthesis. Findings: Thirty-one papers were included covering: integrated care, intermediate care, rehabilitation, post-discharge services, community-based care, and domiciliary care. Overall, we found few studies with conclusive results to inform policy and practice. Moreover, the evidence was mostly concerned with the impact of social care on health care utilisation, with relatively few studies addressing the impact on social care utilisation. There was some preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of multi-faceted support set within the community, and improvements were observed for patients’ Quality of Life. Limitations: The variety of papers we included reflects the complexity of the social care landscape but prevents robust assessment of the impact of services to delay advancing care needs

Beyond the Social Motor Synchrony model: neurodivergent children and familiar partners can synchronise movements through tailored tasks and contexts

EMBARGOED – expected end date 03.01.2025</p

A systematic review of risk factors associated with depression and anxiety in cancer patients

Depression and anxiety are common comorbid conditions associated with cancer, however the risk factors responsible for the onset of depression and anxiety in cancer patients are not fully understood. Also, there is little clarity on how these factors may vary across the cancer phases: diagnosis, treatment and depression. We aimed to systematically understand and synthesise the risk factors associated with depression and anxiety during cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. We focused our review on primary and community settings as these are likely settings where longer term cancer care is provided. We conducted a systematic search on PubMed, PsychInfo, Scopus, and EThOS following the PRISMA guidelines. We included cross-sectional and longitudinal studies which assessed the risk factors for depression and anxiety in adult cancer patients. Quality assessment was undertaken using the Newcastle-Ottawa assessment checklists. The quality of each study was further rated using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Standards. Our search yielded 2645 papers, 21 of these were eligible for inclusion. Studies were heterogenous in terms of their characteristics, risk factors and outcomes measured. A total of 32 risk factors were associated with depression and anxiety. We clustered these risk factors into four domains using an expanded biopsychosocial model of health: cancer-specific, biological, psychological and social risk factors. The cancer-specific risk factors domain was associated with the diagnosis, treatment and survivorship phases. Multifactorial risk factors are associated with the onset of depression and anxiety in cancer patients. These risk factors vary across cancer journey and depend on factors such as type of cancer and individual profile of the patients. Our findings have potential applications for risk stratification in primary care and highlight the need for a personalised approach to psychological care provision, as part of cancer care.</p

'Our Stories...': co-constructing Digital Storytelling methodologies for supporting the transitions of autistic children - study protocol

The voices of autistic children and their families are routinely underestimated and overlooked in research and practice. Research is challenged methodologically in accessing the views of autistic people who, by definition, are characterised by social and communication difficulties. Consequently, many voices remain unheard and experiences undocumented. This has important implications for the validity of research that is interested in improving the life experiences of marginalised groups since the representation of those experiences is partial and dominated by research perspectives that prioritise particular kinds of evidence. This situation matters because there remains a substantial gap between research and practice such that the longer-term outcomes for autistic people across social, educational and economic indices remain poor. We argue that research can only make an impact on practice if there is a genuine commitment to gathering and understanding these different sources of evidence in ways that connect research and practice from the start. This protocol describes a methodological project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK. The ‘Our Stories’ project applies and extends a participatory Digital Stories methodology to explore the research challenge of gathering a range of views from autistic children, families, and practice in authentic ways and at points of transition. Digital Stories is an accessible and inclusive methodology that supports the sharing of views and experiences in visual, video form. We describe the rationale for, and design, of the project across four pilot studies in different contexts as well as our approach to analysis and ethics. While our project focuses on autism, the knowledge we gain is applicable to research and practice much more widely and to any voices or groups who are marginalised from the traditional ways of doing research and to any contexts of practice

A virtuous cycle of co-production: reflections from a community priority-setting exercise

Introduction: Co-production is gaining increasing recognition as a good way of facilitating collaboration among different stakeholders, including members of the public. However, it remains an ambiguous concept as there is no definitive or universal model of co-production or clarity on what constitutes a good co-production approach. This paper draws on the reflections of the academic researchers, practitioners and public advisors involved in co-producing a priority-setting exercise. The exercise was conducted by the Primary and Community Health Services (PCHS) Theme of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration for Kent, Surrey and Sussex (NIHR ARC KSS). Methods: We collected data through written and verbal reflections from seven collaborators involved in the PCHS priority-setting exercise. We used Gibbs' model of reflection to guide the data collection. We then analysed the data through an inductive, reflexive thematic analysis. Results: A common thread through our reflections was the concept of 'sharing'. Although co-production is inherently shared, we used the virtuous cycle to illustrate a sequence of sharing concepts during the research cycle, which provides the underpinnings of positive co-production outcomes. We identified six themes to denote the iterative process of a shared approach within the virtuous cycle: shared values, shared understanding, shared power, shared responsibilities, shared ownership and positive outcomes. Conclusion: Our results present a virtuous cycle of co-production, which furthers the conceptual underpinnings of co-production. Through our reflections, we propose that positive co-production outcomes require foundations of shared values and a shared understanding of co-production as a concept. These foundations facilitate a process of shared power, shared responsibilities and shared ownership. We argue that when these elements are present in a co-production exercise, there is a greater potential for implementable outcomes in the communities in which the research serves and the empowerment of collaborators involved in the co-production process. Public members' contributions: Three members of the public who are public advisors in the NIHR ARC KSS were involved in the priority-setting exercise that informed this paper. The public advisors were involved in the design of the priority-setting exercise and supported participants' recruitment. They also co-facilitated the focus groups during data collection and were involved in the data analysis, interpretation and preparation of the priority-setting report. For this current manuscript, two of them are co-authors. They provided reflections and contributed to the writing and reviewing of this manuscript.</p