The mental health and wellbeing impact of a Community Wealth Building programme in England: a difference-in-differences study.

BACKGROUND: Wide differences in health exist between places in the UK, underscored by economic inequalities. Preston, an economically disadvantaged city in England, implemented a new approach to economic development, known as the Community Wealth Building programme. Public and non-profit organisations modified their procurement policies to support the development of local supply chains, improve employment conditions, and increase socially productive use of wealth and assets. We aimed to investigate the effect of this programme on population mental health and wellbeing. METHODS: Difference-in-differences techniques compared trends in mental health outcomes in Preston, relative to matched control areas before (2011-15) and after (2016-19) the introduction of the programme. Outcomes were antidepressant prescribing, prevalence of depression, and mental health related hospital attendance rates using data provided by National Health Service Digital, the Quality and Outcomes Framework, and the Office for National Statistics. Additional analysis compared local authority measures of life satisfaction, median wages, and employment with synthetic counterfactuals created using Bayesian Structural Time Series. FINDINGS: The introduction of the Community Wealth Building programme was associated with reductions in the prescribing of antidepressants (1·3 average daily quantities per person [95% CI 0·72-1·78) and prevalence of depression (2·4 per 1000 population [0·42-4·46]), relative to the control areas. The local population also experienced a 9% improvement in life satisfaction (95% credible interval 0-19·6%) and 11% increase in median wages (1·8-18·9%), relative to expected trends. Associations with employment and mental health related hospital attendance outcomes did not reach statistical significance. INTERPRETATION: During the period in which the Community Wealth Building programme was introduced, there were fewer mental health problems than would have been expected compared with other similar areas, as life satisfaction and economic measures improved. This approach potentially provides an effective model for economic regeneration potentially leading to substantial health benefits. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Research.

The subject in transmission: the phantomic origins of (dual) unity and the birth of the self.

Abraham and Torok's clinical concept of the phantom can be rethought in extended terms to account for the challenges inherent in giving birth to oneself. The author re-examines the question of the ghost in terms of the individual's separation from the mother-child unity. This is a traumatic process that vacillates between the threat of loss and the intrusion of the mother, now constituted as an object. We manage this experience through the symbol, with the process of introjection differentiating the child and substituting the mother with psychical representatives. Incorporation is the refusal of the symbol, creating cryptic mechanisms that destroy meaning and produce resilient pathologies. Where Abraham and Torok oppose and separate these processes, the author follows Derrida in questioning the purity of this distinction. Something cryptic necessarily intervenes in our accession to the symbol as we negotiate the enigmas and inconsistencies of the mother-child union. Our foundations are haunted by gaps that we must continually negotiate in the birth and maintenance of subjectivity. Phantoms are transmitted as we constitute an internal frame, formulate repression, and use maternal words to articulate our separation. We are subject to and subjects of transmission, incompletely individuated, as we endlessly repeat through the symbol and into the future, a dynamic of clinging to and separating from the mother.

A systematic review of quality measures used in primary care dentistry.

INTRODUCTION: 'Quality' in primary care dentistry is poorly defined. There are significant international efforts focussed on developing quality measures within dentistry. The aim of this research was to identify measures used to assess quality in primary care dentistry and categorise them according to which dimensions of quality they attempt to measure. METHODS: Quality measures were identified from the peer-reviewed and grey literature. Peer-reviewed papers describing the development and validation of measures were identified using a structured literature search. Measures from the grey literature were identified using structured searches and direct contact with dental providers and institutions. Quality measures were categorised according to domains of structure, process and outcome and by disaggregated dimensions of quality. RESULTS: From 22 studies, 11 validated measure sets (comprising nine patient satisfaction surveys and two practice assessment instruments) were identified from the peer-reviewed literature. From the grey literature, 24 measure sets, comprising 357 individual measures, were identified. Of these, 96 addressed structure, 174 addressed process and 87 addressed outcome. Only three of these 24 measure sets demonstrated evidence of validity testing. The identified measures failed to address dimensions of quality, such as efficiency and equity. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a proliferation in the development of dental quality measures in recent years. However, this development has not been guided by a clear understanding of the meaning of quality. Few existing measures have undergone rigorous validity or reliability testing. A consensus is needed to establish a definition of quality in dentistry. Identification of the important dimension of quality in dentistry will allow for the production of a core quality measurement set.

When Are Caregivers More Likely to Offer Sugary Drinks and Snacks to Infants? A Qualitative Thematic Synthesis.

Many children consume more sugar than is recommended, and caregivers often find it difficult to change this habit once established. This thematic synthesis aims to identify the "critical situations" where caregivers may be more likely to offer infants sugary drinks and snacks. This thematic synthesis is reported in accordance with the statement for enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research (ENTREQ). Our confidence in the findings of our synthesis was assessed using the CERQual (Confidence in the Evidence From Reviews of Qualitative Research Approach). We included 16 studies from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Denmark. We identified eight "critical situations" when caregivers may be more likely to offer sugary drinks and snacks to infants. Interventions that seek to reduce sugar intake for caries prevention in infants and young children may be more successful if they provide caregivers with practical parenting strategies to replace the nonnutritive functions of sugary foods and drinks, as opposed to taking an information-giving approach.