Why do people fail to turn good intentions into action? : The role of executive control processes in the translation of healthy eating intentions into action in young Scottish adults

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Championing survival : connecting the unknown network of responders to address out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Early intervention for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) presents a challenge for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) across Europe. Strategies designed to address this include education and training initiatives for citizens and building CPR skills capacity and awareness amongst health care professionals. However, there is a need to improve access to volunteer first responders who can commence CPR and defibrillate before the arrival of EMS. In the UK, initiatives such GoodSAM have integrated crowdsourcing technology with ambulance services to allow them autonomy in alerting responders to OHCAs which is parallel to an EMS dispatch. These services are building capacity to improve the initial ‘call for help’ and time to commence CPR and defibrillation if indicated. The next step is to identify and implement appropriate methods for public engagement, involvement and eventual networking of resources with statutory bodies such as local EMS. As crowdsourcing volunteer responders is at an early stage, there is a need to determine whether crowdsourcing is associated with patient outcomes, what its impact is on those responding to OHCA, whether it facilitates or impedes current services, and whether it is a safe and cost effective way to involve citizens to intervene in the community during cardiac arrest or other medical emergencies? Addressing such issues is likely to provide further insight into the role and effectiveness of new technologies and their potential impact on the wider community

Adjustment for survey non‐representativeness using record‐linkage: refined estimates of alcohol consumption by deprivation in Scotland

Background and aims Analytical approaches to addressing survey non‐participation bias typically use only demographic information to improve estimates. We applied a novel methodology which uses health information from data linkage to adjust for non‐representativeness. We illustrate the method by presenting adjusted alcohol consumption estimates for Scotland. Design Data on consenting respondents to the Scottish Health Surveys (SHeSs) 1995–2010 were linked confidentially to routinely collected hospital admission and mortality records. Synthetic observations representing non‐respondents were created using general population data. Multiple imputation was performed to compute adjusted alcohol estimates given a range of assumptions about the missing data. Adjusted estimates of mean weekly consumption were additionally calibrated to per‐capita alcohol sales data. Setting Scotland. Participants 13 936 male and 18 021 female respondents to the SHeSs 1995–2010, aged 20–64 years. Measurements Weekly alcohol consumption, non‐, binge‐ and problem‐drinking. Findings Initial adjustment for non‐response resulted in estimates of mean weekly consumption that were elevated by up to 17.8% [26.5 units (18.6–34.4)] compared with corrections based solely on socio‐demographic data [22.5 (17.7–27.3)]; other drinking behaviour estimates were little changed. Under more extreme assumptions the overall difference was up to 53%, and calibrating to sales estimates resulted in up to 88% difference. Increases were especially pronounced among males in deprived areas. Conclusions The use of routinely collected health data to reduce bias arising from survey non‐response resulted in higher alcohol consumption estimates among working‐age males in Scotland, with less impact for females. This new method of bias reduction can be generalized to other surveys to improve estimates of alternative harmful behaviours

Audit of the job satisfaction levels of the UK radiography and physics workforce in UK radiotherapy centres 2012

Conclusion: Radiotherapy professionals are prone to the effects of compassion fatigue and burnout. Attention must be paid to workload and its impact on practitioners' job satisfaction. Professional development that is supported and informed by a performance development review is a simple and effective means of enhancing satisfaction. Individuals have a responsibility to themselves and their colleagues as their behaviours and attitudes influence job satisfaction. Advances in knowledge: This work identifies areas for future research to enhance the professional resilience of practitioners, in order to provide high-quality treatments. Objective: Workforce planning reports identify a staff shortfall that jeopardizes the ability of UK radiotherapy centres to meet future demands. Obtaining an understanding of the work experiences of radiotherapy professionals will support the development of strategies to increase job satisfaction, productivity and effectiveness. Methods: A quantitative survey assessed job satisfaction, attitudes to incident reporting, stress and burnout, opportunities for professional development, workload, retention and turnover. Clinical oncologists were not included, as the Royal College of Radiologists, London, UK, had recently assessed their members' satisfaction. All questions were taken from validated instruments or adapted from the "UK National Health Service Staff Survey". Results: The survey yielded 658 completed responses (approximately 16% response rate), from public and private sectors. Over a third (36%) of respondents were classified as satisfied for job satisfaction with 11% dissatisfied and the remaining 53% ambivalent. A significant proportion of clinical staff (37.5%) report high emotional exhaustion. Presenteeism was an issue with 42.4% attending work despite feeling unable to fulfil their role.</p

Exploring the barriers to the implementation of cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify barriers for people with psychotic spectrum disorders accessing CBTp in NHS Lothian. Despite national guidelines recommending CBT for the treatment of schizophrenia (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guidelines 2014) and (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network Guidelines 2013), levels of access to CBTp remain low. The overall goal of the study is to uncover emergent themes regarding barriers to access to CBT for patients with psychosis. In addition, the influence of psychosocial skills intervention (PSI) training for psychosis (Brooker and Brabban, 2006) will be explored and if completion of this training effects referral behaviours and attitudes to CBTp. Design/methodology/approach: This study is a quantitative service evaluation project which uses a questionnaire design to explore the factors that influence a clinician’s decision to refer a patient for CBTp. Three qualitative questions are included for thematic analysis to allow the respondents to elaborate on their views on potential barriers. All appropriate Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) staff in adult mental health in NHS Lothian were invited to participate in the study. Findings: CMHT staff in NHS Lothian hold favourable views of CBTp and would support an increase in access for patients with psychosis. Key barriers to access for CBTp identified in this study comprise of, little or no access to CBTp, lack of integration of services and unclear referral pathways. Further themes emerging from the study also included, improving multi-disciplinary communication and increasing CMHT staff knowledge and confidence in CBTp. PSI training was shown to have a significant effect on referral rates. Further research would be warranted to explore the influence of PSI training on CMHT staff confidence and knowledge in CBTp. Originality/value: This is the first paper of its kind to investigate the potential barriers to access to CBTp in Scotland. The paper has highlighted some key barriers and potential strategies to overcome the barriers identified will be discussed