Sexual and reproductive health needs assessment and interventions in a female psychiatric intensive care unit.

AIMS AND METHOD: To assess the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of women admitted to a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU), and acceptability of delivering specialist SRH assessments and interventions in this setting. Within a quality improvement framework, staff were trained, a clinical protocol developed and clinical interventions made accessible. RESULTS: Thirty per cent of women were identified as having unmet SRH needs and proceeded to a specialist appointment, representing a 2.5-fold increase in unmet need detection. Forty-two per cent of women were assessed, representing a 3.5-fold increase in uptake. Twenty-one per cent of women initiated SRH interventions, of which 14% had all their SRH needs met. Staff, patients and carers highlighted the acceptability and importance of SRH care, if interventions were appropriately timed and patients' individual risk profiles were considered. Barriers to access included lack of routine enquiry, illness acuity and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: SRH needs for PICU admissions are greater than previously realised. Providing a nurse-led SRH assessment is acceptable, feasible and beneficial for PICU patients.

How parents share and limit their child's access to information about COVID-19: A mixed methods online survey study.

This study aimed to understand the role that parents play in sharing or limiting their child's access to information about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A subset of data from an international mixed methods online survey study was analysed to elucidate the findings from Brazil. An online survey, conducted between April and June 2020, gathered closed and open text views from parents of children aged 7-12 years old. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative open text data were analysed using the three stages of the Bardin content analysis framework: pre-analysis (data organisation and initial full-content reading); exploration of the material (thematic coding to identify major motifs and develop thematic categories) and interpretation (treating the data as significant and valid). The sample consisted of 112 (89%) mothers and 14 (11%) fathers. The analysis of the parents open text resulted in two categories: 'How parents share information with their children about COVID-19' and 'How parents limit information to their children about COVID-19'. Some parents reported adopting an honest and open approach on how they shared information with their children, whilst some parents chose to minimise their child's access to information about the pandemic over concerns of the mortality related to COVID-19.

Delusional Misidentification Syndromes in Postpartum Psychosis: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Delusional misidentification syndromes (DMS) are a group of psychopathological experiences occurring in psychosis, involving the misidentification of a person or place. DMS are often accompanied by hostility towards the object of delusional misidentification. This is of a particular concern in perinatal mental illness due to the potential disruption of the mother-infant bond, and risk of neglect, violence, or infanticide towards a misidentified child. This review aimed to collate all published cases of DMS in postpartum psychosis to further understand how these syndromes present in perinatal mental illness. METHODS: In August 2021, an online database search was conducted using PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Embase to identify all publications reporting DMS in the perinatal period. RESULTS: Nine papers were included in the review involving 8 case reports of Capgras syndrome and one case series involving 4 cases of Fregoli syndrome. Three cases identified organic pathology, which may have contributed to the presentation. The most common subject of misidentification was the patient's husband (n = 7), followed by their baby (n = 6), hospital staff (n = 4), other family members (n = 3), and self (n = 1). Five cases remark on the impact of perinatal illness on the maternal-infant bond, of which four result in the mother being unwilling to care for the infant as the result of their delusional beliefs. CONCLUSION: This is the first systematic review of the literature in this field. Although small in number, these cases reveal several important learning points including that DMS can occur with or without underlying organic disease. Active exploration of the nature of delusions in postpartum psychosis is required to mitigate the risk of harm to the infant and mother-infant bond. It may also uncover that these syndromes are more common in postpartum psychosis than previously realized.

The efficacy of a facilitated support group intervention to reduce the psychological distress of individuals experiencing family estrangement.

BACKGROUND: Stand Alone is a charity operating in the United Kingdom that supports adults who are estranged from a family member. The charity recognises that those who experience estrangement from a family member experience sadness, anger and a sense of loss. Due to stigma, they rarely disclose their experiences of estrangement to others. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of a six-session facilitated support group intervention for individuals experiencing family estrangement in reducing psychological distress. METHODS: Attendees (N = 263) completed the CORE-10 questionnaire assessing psychological distress at registration and at completion of the groups. They also completed a brief survey at each time-point, including an open-ended question about how they felt the support groups had impacted their wellbeing (N = 51). RESULTS: Attendees experienced a statistically significant reduction in psychological distress, with average scores of distress falling from moderate levels of distress to mild. After attending the groups, attendees felt less alone and less ashamed. CONCLUSION: Six-week facilitated support groups are an effective way of reducing psychological distress for individuals experiencing estrangement from a family member, helping attendees feel less alone and ashamed. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Through facilitated support group intervention, it is possible to reduce the psychological distress of those individuals experiencing family estrangement.

Clinical utility and acceptability of a whole-hospital, pro-active electronic paediatric early warning system (the DETECT study): A prospective e-survey of parents and health professionals.

BACKGROUND: Paediatric early warning systems (PEWS) are a means of tracking physiological state and alerting healthcare professionals about signs of deterioration, triggering a clinical review and/or escalation of care of children. A proactive end-to-end deterioration solution (the DETECT surveillance system) with an embedded e-PEWS that included sepsis screening was introduced across a tertiary children's hospital. One component of the implementation programme was a sub-study to determine an understanding of the DETECT e-PEWS in terms of its clinical utility and its acceptability. AIM: This study aimed to examine how parents and health professionals view and engage with the DETECT e-PEWS apps, with a particular focus on its clinical utility and its acceptability. METHOD: A prospective, closed (tick box or sliding scale) and open (text based) question, e-survey of parents (n = 137) and health professionals (n = 151) with experience of DETECT e-PEWS. Data were collected between February 2020 and February 2021. RESULTS: Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and qualitative data with generic thematic analysis. Overall, both clinical utility and acceptability (across seven constructs) were high across both stakeholder groups although some challenges to utility (e.g., sensitivity of triggers within specific patient populations) and acceptability (e.g., burden related to having to carry extra technology) were identified. CONCLUSION: Despite the multifaceted nature of the intervention and the complexity of implementation across a hospital, the system demonstrated clinical utility and acceptability across two key groups of stakeholders: parents and health professionals.

'I feel like my house was taken away from me': Parents' experiences of having home adaptations for their medically complex, technology-dependent child.

Technology-dependent children are a sub-population of seriously ill children with life-limiting conditions who are being cared for at home by their families. Although home-based care has been the model of care for these children since the late 1980s, there is a paucity of literature about parents' experiences of having home adaptations made to enable their home to be a place of care for their child. Using the findings from auto-driven photo-elicitation interviews conducted between August 2017 and June 2018 with 12 parents (10 mothers and 2 fathers) who have a technology-dependent child (aged 5-25 years) living in England, Scotland and Wales and David Seamon's five concepts of at-homeness (appropriation, at-easeness, regeneration, rootedness and warmth) as a conceptual framework, this paper addresses how parents' experienced home adaptations. Thematic analysis generated a meta-theme of 'Home needs to be a home for all family members' and the three key themes: (1) 'You just get told' and 'you're not involved'; (2) It's just the 'cheapest', 'quickest', 'short-term' approach; (3) Having 'control' and 'thinking things through.' The need to involve parents in decision-making about adaptations that are made to their home (family-informed design) is clear, not only from a cost-saving perspective for the state, but for creating an aesthetic and functional home that optimises health, well-being and feelings of at-homeness for the entire family.

'It doesn't feel like our house anymore': The impact of medical technology upon life at home for families with a medically complex, technology-dependent child.

The study aimed to identify how medical technology impacts upon the home and life at home. Inductive auto-driven photo-elicitation or semi-structured interviews were conducted with technology-dependent children/young people (n = 2) and their family members (n = 15) from 10 families. Thematic analysis generated three themes: Altered physicality and look of the home; Altered sounds in the home; and 'It's worth it! Technology enables us to stay as a family'. Fundamentally, the detrimental impacts of living with medical technology were perceived as worth it as these enabled their child to be at home. Home was not home, and families were incomplete without their child at home.

How children in Sweden accessed and perceived information during the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.

AIM: To describe how children in Sweden accessed and perceived information about SARS-CoV2 and Covid-19 during the first phase of the outbreak. METHODS: This study is a substudy of an international cross-sectional online mixed methods survey examining elements of children's health literacy in relation to Covid-19. The survey included multiple-choice questions, open-ended questions and drawings and collected information from 50 Swedish children (7-12 years). Data were analysed concurrently on a descriptive level using statistics and content analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data, including the drawings, were considered equally important and resulted in six categories, illuminating how children accessed and perceived information about the pandemic. RESULTS: The survey showed that children accessed information mainly from school but also from TV. They preferred information from reliable sources. Children reported the information they accessed as easy to understand and it prompted them to ask new questions. They reported they knew a lot about the pandemic, for example, the potential danger to themselves and others and how to act to protect themselves and others. They perceived the pandemic as an intrusion on their lives. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that Swedish children between 7 and 12 years old were well informed about SARS-CoV2 and Covid-19 during the first phase of the pandemic. School was shown to be an important source of information. The children could explain how to act to protect themselves and others from becoming infected by the virus.

"People play it down and tell me it can't kill people, but I know people are dying each day". Children's health literacy relating to a global pandemic (COVID-19); an international cross sectional study.

The aim of this study was to examine aspects of children's health literacy; the information sources they were accessing, their information preferences, their perceived understanding of and their reported information needs in relation to COVID-19. An online survey for children aged 7-12 years of age and parent/caregivers from the UK, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, Canada and Australia was conducted between 6th of April and the 1st of June 2020. The surveys included demographic questions and both closed and open questions focussing on access to and understanding of COVID-19 information. Descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis procedures were conducted. The findings show that parents are the main source of information for children during the pandemic in most countries (89%, n = 347), except in Sweden where school was the main source of information. However, in many cases parents chose to shield, filter or adapt their child's access to information about COVID-19, especially in relation to the death rates within each country. Despite this, children in this study reported knowing that COVID-19 was deadly and spreads quickly. This paper argues for a community rather than individual approach to addressing children's health literacy needs during a pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic from an acute psychiatric perspective: a London psychiatric intensive care unit experience.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the UK's National Health Service under extreme pressure, and acute psychiatric services have had to rapidly adapt to a new way of working. This editorial describes the experience of a London psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) where all nine in-patients ultimately tested COVID-19 positive.

Depression, anxiety, and loneliness among adolescents and young adults with IBD in the UK: the role of disease severity, age of onset, and embarrassment of the condition.

PURPOSE: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) report higher depressive symptoms and anxiety compared to healthy controls, with disease severity and abdominal pain being important factors. In the current study, building on what young people had told us in our previous work, we examined whether embarrassment of the condition, social self-efficacy, and friendship quality mediated the relationship between abdominal pain and disease severity, and mental health/well-being. We also included loneliness as a component of well-being. METHODS: Data on depression, anxiety, loneliness, friendship quality, social self-efficacy, and disease embarrassment were collected from 130 AYA with IBD ages 14-25 years; data on disease severity and abdominal pain were taken from their medical records. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationships between the variables. RESULTS: Using SEM, we established that higher IBD disease activity negatively impacted how AYA felt about their friendships and how embarrassed they were about their condition; embarrassment then influenced reports of mental health, including loneliness. Abdominal pain, disease onset, and social self-efficacy directly predicted internalising problems. CONCLUSION: In this sample of 14-25-year-old patients with IBD, specifics about the disease (severity and pain) predicted poorer mental health, suggesting discussion of mental health should be part of the clinical dialogue between patient and consultant. In addition, embarrassment about their condition increased depression, anxiety, and loneliness, mediating the relationship between disease severity and well-being. Thus, it is important to consider how perceived stigma affects those with chronic illness, and those issues should be explored in clinic.

Sustaining, Forming, and Letting Go of Friendships for Young People with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): A Qualitative Interview-Based Study.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an incurable, chronic, gastrointestinal condition that can constrain young people's social relationships. Few studies have specifically explored friendships of people with IBD. This qualitative, participatory study used interviews, photographs, and friendship maps to explore friendships and friendship networks of young people with IBD. An online Young Person's Advisory Group was actively engaged throughout the study. Thirty-one young people participated (n = 16 males, n = 15 female; n = 24 Crohn's disease, n = 6 ulcerative colitis, n = 1 IBD-unclassified; the mean age at study was 18.7 years; range 14-25 years). Findings present a metatheme "The importance and meaning of friendships" and three interwoven subthemes of "Sustaining friendships," "Forming new friendships," and "Letting go of friendships." Friendship was important to the young people with IBD, providing support, but associated with challenges such as disclosure. Such challenges could be mitigated by clearer conversations with clinicians about friendships and more extensive conversations about friendships and long-term conditions in education settings.

The Acceptability and Impact of the Xploro Digital Therapeutic Platform to Inform and Prepare Children for Planned Procedures in a Hospital: Before and After Evaluation Study.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in finding novel approaches to improve the preparation of children for hospital procedures such as surgery, x-rays, and blood tests. Well-prepared and informed children have better outcomes (less procedural anxiety and higher satisfaction). A digital therapeutic (DTx) platform (Xploro) was developed with children to provide health information through gamification, serious games, a chatbot, and an augmented reality avatar. OBJECTIVE: This before and after evaluation study aims to assess the acceptability of the Xploro DTx and examine its impact on children and their parent's procedural knowledge, procedural anxiety, and reported experiences when attending a hospital for a planned procedure. METHODS: We used a mixed methods design with quantitative measures and qualitative data collected sequentially from a group of children who received standard hospital information (before group) and a group of children who received the DTx intervention (after group). Participants were children aged between 8 and 14 years and their parents who attended a hospital for a planned clinical procedure at a children's hospital in North West England. Children and their parents completed self-report measures (perceived knowledge, procedural anxiety, procedural satisfaction, and procedural involvement) at baseline, preprocedure, and postprocedure. RESULTS: A total of 80 children (n=40 standard care group and n=40 intervention group) and their parents participated in the study; the children were aged between 8 and 14 years (average 10.4, SD 2.27 years) and were attending a hospital for a range of procedures. The children in the intervention group reported significantly lower levels of procedural anxiety before the procedure than those in the standard group (two-tailed t63.64=2.740; P=.008). The children in the intervention group also felt more involved in their procedure than those in the standard group (t75=-2.238; P=.03). The children in the intervention group also reported significantly higher levels of perceived procedural knowledge preprocedure (t59.98=-4.892; P=.001) than those in the standard group. As for parents, those with access to the Xploro intervention reported significantly lower levels of procedural anxiety preprocedure than those who did not (t68.51=1.985; P=.05). During the semistructured write and tell interviews, children stated that they enjoyed using the intervention, it was fun and easy to use, and they felt that it had positively influenced their experiences of coming to the hospital for a procedure. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that the DTx platform, Xploro, has a positive impact on children attending a hospital for a procedure by reducing levels of procedural anxiety. The children and parents in the intervention group described Xploro as improving their experiences and being easy and fun to use.

"I Don't Like to Make a Big Thing out of It": A Qualitative Interview-Based Study Exploring Factors Affecting Whether Young People Tell or Do Not Tell Their Friends about Their IBD.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) describes a group of conditions that includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Unlike some chronic conditions, to a greater or lesser extent, IBD is hidden from or invisible to others which enables concealment of the condition, especially when stigma is associated with the condition. Concealment or nondisclosure allows a means of identity management. Disclosure of a chronic condition is not a single event, and it is dependent on many factors. There is little literature that specifically addresses stigma and/or disclosure in relation to children and young people with IBD. An in-depth qualitative study was undertaken, framed by Interpretive Description and using interviews, friendship maps, and photographs within a participatory framework. Public and patient involvement and engagement (PPIE) was undertaken throughout (inception to dissemination) the study. Young people aged 14-25 years with IBD who had participated in the survey phase of the larger study self-selected to participate in interviews that focused broadly on friendship and feelings of social connectedness. Data were analysed using an iterative, interpretive approach. Preliminary themes were developed and these were explored further, and then tentative theoretical connections about friendship were developed. One superordinate theme focused on disclosure. Thirty-one young people (16 males, 15 females, mean age 18.7 years; 24 Crohn's, 7 colitis) participated in the interviews (of these, five created friendship maps and six utilised photographs). Three discrete, but interlinked, themes were generated, revealing young people's experiences of disclosure: to tell or not to tell; controlling the flow: the who, when, what, and how of telling; and reactions and responses to telling: anticipated and actual. Decisions about telling friends about having IBD are challenging for many young people. Having control over disclosure is not always possible, and the potential consequences can feel risky. However, most young people had positive experiences of disclosure and gained support from friends and romantic partners. Most young people downplayed the seriousness of their IBD, revealing some facets of their condition, aiming to sustain their self-identity. Only one young person had been given professional support to disclose. Provision of support and opportunities to discuss whether, when, who, and how to tell friends and what the risks and benefits may be is something that could be woven into an ongoing and wider person-centred dialogue between young people and health professionals within routine clinic visits.

Leveraging implementation science to reduce inequities in Children's mental health care: highlights from a multidisciplinary international colloquium.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Access to evidence-based mental health care for children is an international priority. However, there are significant challenges to advancing this public health priority in an efficient and equitable manner. The purpose of this international colloquium was to convene a multidisciplinary group of health researchers to build an agenda for addressing disparities in mental health care access and treatment for children and families through collaboration among scholars from the United States and Europe engaged in innovative implementation science and mental health services research. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: Guided by the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) Framework, presentations related to inner, outer, and bridging context factors that impact the accessibility and quality of mental health evidence-based practices (EBPs) for children and families. Three common topics emerged from the presentations and discussions from colloquium participants, which included: 1) the impact of inner and outer context factors that limit accessibility to EBPs across countries, 2) strategies to adapt EBPs to improve their fit in different settings, 3) the potential for implementation science to address emerging clinical and public health concerns. IMPLICATIONS: The common topics discussed underscored that disparities in access to evidence-based mental health care are prevalent across countries. Opportunities for cross-country and cross-discipline learnings and collaborations can help drive solutions to address these inequities, which relate to the availability of a trained and culturally appropriate workforce, insurance reimbursement policies, and designing interventions and implementation strategies to support sustained use of evidence-based practices.

"It's a lifeline": Generating a sense of social connectedness through befriending parents of disabled children or children with additional need.

OBJECTIVES: This study explored the influence of a parent-to-parent peer support scheme on the wellbeing of parents of disabled children or children with additional need who joined a befriending scheme. METHODS: A longitudinal concurrent mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) research design collected data (telephone interviews, Footsteps Tool, Resilience Scale-14) with 33 befriendees (1:1 or group support) and 33 befrienders at time-point 1 (TP1). TP2 data were collected from 20 befriendees and 16 befrienders 6-9 months after recruitment. RESULTS: There was some improvement on average scores between TP1 and TP2 on both tools. The strongest evidence of change - 'a sense of positivity and hope' and 'connection, belonging and sharing' - was in the parents' reports of how the scheme helped them to build secure and valued social connections within a community of other parents who understood their lives. CONCLUSION: Both the befriendees and befrienders reported the sense of hope and a feeling of belonging as key benefits that resulted from the social connections they gained from the scheme. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Social connectedness is likely to be a more useful concept than resilience in examining change.

Delivery, setting and outcomes of paediatric Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT): a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: There has been little detailed systematic consideration of the delivery, setting and outcomes of paediatric Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT), although individual studies report that it is a safe and effective treatment. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aimed to examine what is known about the delivery, settings and outcomes of paediatric OPAT and to identify key knowledge deficits. DESIGN: A scoping review using Arksey and O'Malley's framework was undertaken. DATA SOURCES: Keywords were identified and used to search MEDLINE and CINAHL. STUDY APPRAISAL METHODS: Primary research studies were included if samples comprised children and young people 21 or under, who had received OPAT at home or in a day treatment centre. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to review the methodological quality of the studies MAIN FINDINGS: From a preliminary pool of 157 articles, 51 papers were selected for full review. 19 studies fitted the inclusion criteria. Factors influencing delivery of OPAT were diverse and included child's condition, home environment, child-related factors, parental compliance, training and monitoring. There is little consensus as to what constitutes success of and adverse events in OPAT. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies need to clearly define and use success indicators and adverse events in order to provide evidence that paediatric OPAT is safe and effective. IMPLICATIONS: Consensus outcomes that include child and parent perspectives need to be developed to allow a clearer appreciation of a successful paediatric OPAT service.

Holding children for procedures: An international survey of health professionals.

Children undergoing clinical procedures can experience pain and/or anxiety. This may result in them being unwilling to cooperate and being held still by parents or health professionals. This study aimed to capture an international perspective of health professionals' reported practices of holding children still for clinical procedures. An online questionnaire was distributed through network sampling to health professionals working with children aged under 16 years of age. A total of 872 responses were obtained from Australia ( n = 477), New Zealand ( n = 237) and the United Kingdom ( n = 158). Responses were from nurses ( n = 651), doctors ( n = 159) and other professionals ( n = 53). Health professionals reported children as held still for clinical procedures quite often (48%) or very often (33%). Levels of holding varied significantly according to country of practice, profession, student status, length of time working within a clinical setting, training received and the availability of resources in the workplace. Health professionals who gained permissions (assent from children and/or consent from parents) before procedures were less likely to hold children still for a clinical procedure than those who did not. Holding children still for procedures is an international practice, which is influenced by training, access to guidance, country of practice and profession. Children's permission and parental consent is often not sought before a child is held for a procedure to be completed.

Parenting and the Adjustment of Children Born to Gay Fathers Through Surrogacy.

Findings are presented on a study of 40 gay father families created through surrogacy and a comparison group of 55 lesbian mother families created through donor insemination with a child aged 3-9 years. Standardized interview, observational and questionnaire measures of stigmatization, quality of parent-child relationships, and children's adjustment were administered to parents, children, and teachers. Children in both family types showed high levels of adjustment with lower levels of children's internalizing problems reported by gay fathers. Irrespective of family type, children whose parents perceived greater stigmatization and children who experienced higher levels of negative parenting showed higher levels of parent-reported externalizing problems. The findings contribute to theoretical understanding of the role of family structure and family processes in child adjustment.

A longitudinal study of families formed through reproductive donation: Parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment at age 14.

The aim of the 6th phase of this longitudinal study was to establish whether children born through assisted reproduction involving reproductive donation were at risk for psychological problems following the transition to adolescence at age 14 and, if so, to examine the nature of these problems and the mechanisms involved. Eighty-seven families formed through reproductive donation, including 32 donor insemination families, 27 egg donation families, and 28 surrogacy families, were compared with 54 natural conception families. Standardized interviews, questionnaires, and observational assessments of the quality of parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment were administered to mothers, adolescents, and teachers. The mothers in surrogacy families showed less negative parenting and reported greater acceptance of their adolescent children and fewer problems in family relationships as a whole compared with gamete donation mothers. In addition, less positive relationships were found between mothers and adolescents in egg donation families than in donor insemination families as rated by both mothers and adolescents. There were no differences between family types for the adolescents themselves in terms of adjustment problems, psychological well-being, and self-esteem. Longitudinal analyses showed no differences between family types in negative parenting from age 7 to age 14, and a weaker association between negative parenting and adjustment difficulties for gamete donation than natural conception and surrogacy families. The findings suggest that the absence of a genetic link between mothers and their children is associated with less positive mother-adolescent relationships whereas the absence of a gestational link does not have an adverse effect. (PsycINFO Database Record