Supporting unpaid carers around hospital leave for people detained under the Mental Health Act (1983) in England: carer and practitioner perspectives.

BACKGROUND: When an individual is detained in hospital it is important that they maintain contact with their family, friends and communities as these can be helpful for their well-being and recovery. Maintaining these relationships is also important to unpaid carers (family or friends), but they can be strained by carers' instigation of, or compliance with, the involuntary detention. Section 17 of the Mental Health Act (1983) in England and Wales allows for temporary leave from hospital, from an hour in the hospital grounds to going home for a few days. However, carers are not always involved in decisions around statutory s.17 leave, even where they are expected to support someone at home. This study aimed to explore how practice can be improved to better involve and support carers around s.17 leave. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were held with 14 unpaid carers and 19 mental health practitioners, including four Responsible Clinicians, in three sites in England in 2021. The research explored views on what works well for carers around s.17 leave, what could be improved and the barriers to such improvements. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three themes were identified in the analysis: the need for carer support and the challenges surrounding provision; challenges with communication, planning and feedback around s.17 leave; and inconsistency in involving carers around s.17 leave. Permeating all themes was a lack of resources presenting as under-staffing, high demands on existing staff, and lack of time and capacity to work and communicate with carers. CONCLUSION: Implications include the need for more funding for mental health services for both prevention and treatment; staff training to increase confidence with carers; and standardised guidance for practitioners on working with carers around s.17 leave to help ensure consistency in practice. The study concluded with the production of a 'S.17 Standard', a guidance document based on the research findings consisting of 10 steps for practitioners to follow to support the greater involvement and support of carers.

Interventions that support unpaid carers of adult mental health inpatients: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Unpaid carers of adult mental health inpatients often lack support for their well-being and feel excluded from decisions about patient care. AIMS: This scoping review aimed to: synthesise the peer-reviewed literature evaluating the outcomes of brief interventions for unpaid carers of adult mental health inpatients, identify transferable lessons for evidenced-informed practice, and establish future research priorities. METHODS: PRISMA scoping review guidelines were followed to search 12 databases using predefined search terms. Two reviewers independently screened papers and applied exclusion/inclusion criteria. Studies were included if they evaluated the impact or outcomes of interventions. Two reviewers extracted data and assessed study quality. Data were synthesised to categorise types of interventions and evidence for their outcomes. RESULTS: 16 papers met the inclusion criteria, and five types of interventions were identified: those that aimed to (1) increase carer involvement in inpatient care; (2) facilitate organisational change to increase carer support and involvement; (3) provide carers with support; (4) deliver psychoeducation and offer support; and (5) reduce carer stress and improve coping skills. CONCLUSIONS: Whilst evidence of intervention effectiveness was promising, the quality of studies was generally weak. More research is needed to develop an evidence-informed approach to supporting carers during inpatient stays.

Assessing knowledge of wound care among cardiothoracic nurses.

AIMS: to explore cardiothoracic nurses' knowledge and self-reported competence of wound care following cardiac surgery and to ascertain if there were any differences in knowledge between nurses working in public and private hospitals. BACKGROUND: cardiothoracic nurses are the main providers of wound care for patients post cardiac surgery, however, there is a lack of research about their knowledge of wound care. DESIGN: a descriptive, quantitative design was used in the form of a cross-sectional, self-reported questionnaire. METHOD: the questionnaire was developed to ascertain nurses' knowledge of cardiac wound management. Census sampling was used and the questionnaire was distributed to 503 nurses in 6 hospitals in the Republic of Ireland. Total knowledge scores were calculated and data analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: the response rate was 31.2% (n=158). The main knowledge deficits identified were wound healing, the signs and symptoms of surgical site infection and cardiac-specific wound care. Some nurses reported using inappropriate products for cleansing wounds and variable time for initial postoperative dressing removal. CONCLUSION: the combination of low total knowledge scores and requests for further training and education suggest the need for ongoing wound care education. Audit of the use of wound cleansing products, support bras and wound assessment charts is recommended.

Suitability and Allocation of Protein-Containing Foods According to Protein Tolerance in PKU: A 2022 UK National Consensus.

Introduction: There is little practical guidance about suitable food choices for higher natural protein tolerances in patients with phenylketonuria (PKU). This is particularly important to consider with the introduction of adjunct pharmaceutical treatments that may improve protein tolerance. Aim: To develop a set of guidelines for the introduction of higher protein foods into the diets of patients with PKU who tolerate >10 g/day of protein. Methods: In January 2022, a 26-item food group questionnaire, listing a range of foods containing protein from 5 to >20 g/100 g, was sent to all British Inherited Metabolic Disease Group (BIMDG) dietitians (n = 80; 26 Inherited Metabolic Disease [IMD] centres). They were asked to consider within their IMD dietetic team when they would recommend introducing each of the 26 protein-containing food groups into a patient's diet who tolerated >10 g to 60 g/day of protein. The patient protein tolerance for each food group that received the majority vote from IMD dietetic teams was chosen as its tolerance threshold for introduction. A virtual meeting was held using Delphi methodology in March 2022 to discuss and agree final consensus. Results: Responses were received from dietitians from 22/26 IMD centres (85%) (11 paediatric, 11 adult). For patients tolerating protein ≥15 g/day, the following foods were agreed for inclusion: gluten-free pastas, gluten-free flours, regular bread, cheese spreads, soft cheese, and lentils in brine; for protein tolerance ≥20 g/day: nuts, hard cheeses, regular flours, meat/fish, and plant-based alternative products (containing 5−10 g/100 g protein), regular pasta, seeds, eggs, dried legumes, and yeast extract spreads were added; for protein tolerance ≥30 g/day: meat/fish and plant-based alternative products (containing >10−20 g/100 g protein) were added; and for protein tolerance ≥40 g/day: meat/fish and plant-based alternatives (containing >20 g/100 g protein) were added. Conclusion: This UK consensus by IMD dietitians from 22 UK centres describes for the first time the suitability and allocation of higher protein foods according to individual patient protein tolerance. It provides valuable guidance for health professionals to enable them to standardize practice and give rational advice to patients.

Ethical models underpinning responses to threats to public health: a comparison of approaches to communicable disease control in Europe.

Increases in international travel and migratory flows have enabled infectious diseases to emerge and spread more rapidly than ever before. Hence, it is increasingly easy for local infectious diseases to become global infectious diseases (GIDs). National governments must be able to react quickly and effectively to GIDs, whether naturally occurring or intentionally instigated by bioterrorism. According to the World Health Organisation, global partnerships are necessary to gather the most up-to-date information and to mobilize resources to tackle GIDs when necessary. Communicable disease control also depends upon national public health laws and policies. The containment of an infectious disease typically involves detection, notification, quarantine and isolation of actual or suspected cases; the protection and monitoring of those not infected; and possibly even treatment. Some measures are clearly contentious and raise conflicts between individual and societal interests. In Europe national policies against infectious diseases are very heterogeneous. Some countries have a more communitarian approach to public health ethics, in which the interests of individual and society are more closely intertwined and interdependent, while others take a more liberal approach and give priority to individual freedoms in communicable disease control. This paper provides an overview of the different policies around communicable disease control that exist across a select number of countries across Europe. It then proposes ethical arguments to be considered in the making of public health laws, mostly concerning their effectiveness for public health protection.

Do MZ twins have discordant experiences of friendship? A qualitative hypothesis-generating MZ twin differences study.

Using a qualitative monozygotic (MZ) twin differences design we explored whether adolescent MZ twins report discordant peer relationships and, if so, whether they perceive them as causes, consequences or correlates of discordant behaviour. We gathered free-response questionnaire data from 497 families and conducted in-depth telephone interviews with 97 of them. Within this dataset n = 112 families (23% of the sample) described discordant peer relationships. Six categories of discordance were identified (peer victimisation, peer rejection, fewer friends, different friends, different attitudes to friendship and dependence on co-twin). Participants described peer relationship discordance arising as a result of chance occurrences, enhanced vulnerability in one twin or discordant behaviour. Consequences of discordant peer relationships were seen as discordance in self-confidence, future plans, social isolation, mental health and interests. In all cases the twin with worse peer experiences was seen as having a worse outcome. Specific hypotheses are presented.

Correction: Do MZ twins have discordant experiences of friendship? A qualitative hypothesis-generating MZ twin differences study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180521.].

Effectiveness of a training program for police officers who come into contact with people with mental health problems: A pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Police officers frequently come into contact with individuals with mental health problems. Specialist training in this area for police officers may improve how they respond to individuals with mental health problems; however, evidence to support this is sparse. This study evaluated the effectiveness of one bespoke mental health training package for frontline police officers relative to routine training. DESIGN: Pragmatic, two-armed cluster randomised controlled trial in one police force in England. Police stations in North Yorkshire were randomised with frontline police officers receiving either a bespoke mental health training package or routine training. The primary outcome was the number of incidents which resulted in a police response reported to the North Yorkshire Police control room up to six months after delivery of training. Secondary outcomes included: likelihood of incidents using Section 136 of the Mental Health Act; likelihood of incidents having a mental health tag applied; and number of individuals with a mental health warning marker involved in incidents. The appropriateness of mental health tags applied to a random sample of incidents was checked by an independent mental health professional. Routinely collected data were used. RESULTS: Twelve police stations were recruited and randomised (Intervention group n = 6; Control group n = 6), and 249 officers received the bespoke mental health training intervention. At follow-up, a median of 397 incidents were assigned to trial stations in the intervention group, and 498 in the control group. There was no evidence of a difference in the number of incidents with a police response (adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.92, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.38, p = 0.69), or in the number of people with mental health warning markers involved in incidents (adjusted IRR 1.39, 95% CI 0.91 to 2.10, p = 0.13) between the intervention and control groups up to six months following the intervention; however, incidents assigned to stations in the intervention group were more likely to have a mental health tag applied to them than incidents assigned to control stations (adjusted odds ratio 1.41, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.71, p = 0.001). The review of 100 incidents suggests that there may be incidents involving individuals with mental health issues that are not being recorded as such (Kappa coefficient 0.65). There was no statistically significant difference in the likelihood of Section 136 of the Mental Health Act being applied to an incident. CONCLUSIONS: The bespoke one day mental health training delivered to frontline officers by mental health professionals did not reduce the number of incidents reported to the police control room up to six months after its delivery; however training may have a positive effect on how the police record incidents involving individuals with mental health problems. Our trial has shown that conducting pragmatic trials within the police setting is feasible and acceptable. There is a wealth of routinely collected police data that can be utilised for research and further collaboration between police forces and academia is encouraged. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN (ISRCTN11685602). The authors confirm that all ongoing and related trials for this drug/intervention are registered.

European citizens' opinions on immunisation.

As part of a larger study exploring how European citizens' balance issues of public and private interest and the extent to which they are prepared to accept State intervention on a range of public health issues, focus group participants were asked whether childhood immunisation should be a matter of parental choice or State compulsion. The question was debated in 66 (of 96) focus groups held across 16 European countries in 2003. Discussions focused on the concept of risk, trust in health professionals and the State, upholding the status quo, fears over vaccine safety and perceptions of infectious disease as a 'foreign threat'.

European citizens' opinions on water fluoridation.

OBJECTIVES: To understand European citizens' opinions on water fluoridation, as part of research on their attitudes to the tensions between private and public interest. METHODS: Sixty-eight focus groups held (with an average of eight people per group) in September and October 2003 in 16 countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK). RESULTS: Most participants were against water fluoridation, although groups in Greece, Ireland, Poland and Sweden were more in favour. Many felt dental health was an issue to be dealt with at the level of the individual, rather than a solution to be imposed en masse. While people accepted that some children were not encouraged to brush their teeth, they proposed other solutions to addressing these needs rather than having a solution of unproved safety imposed on them by public health authorities whom they did not fully trust. They did not see why they should accept potential side effects in order that a minority may benefit. In particular, water was something that should be kept as pure as possible, even though it was recognized that it already contains many additives. CONCLUSIONS: While the vast majority of people opposed water fluoridation, this may be indicative of shifts away from public support of population interventions towards private interventions, as well as reduced trust in public agencies. Thus if research were to demonstrate more clear benefits of water fluoridation over and above that which can be achieved by use of fluoride toothpaste, then the public may become more supportive. However, lobby groups are likely to remain influential.