The purpose of this qualitative evaluation was to explore the experience of implementing routine telemonitoring (TM) in real-world primary care settings from the perspective of those delivering the intervention; namely the TM staff, and report on lessons learned that could inform future projects of this type.

Routine TM for high-risk patients within primary care practices may help improve chronic disease control and reduce complications, including unnecessary hospital admissions. However, little is known about how to integrate routine TM in busy primary care practices. A TM pilot for diabetic patients was attempted in six primary care practices as part of the Beacon Community in Western New York.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of three TM agencies (n=8) participating in the pilot. Interviews were conducted over the phone or in person and lasted ~30 min. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed. Analysis was conducted using immersion-crystallization to identify themes.

TM staff revealed several themes related to the experience of delivering TM in real-world primary care: (1) the nurse–patient relationship is central to a successful TM experience, (2) TM is a useful tool for understanding socio-economic context and its impact on patients’ health, (3) TM staff anecdotally report important potential impacts on patient health, and (4) integrating TM into primary care practices needs to be planned carefully.

This qualitative study identified challenges and unexpected benefits that might inform future efforts. Communication and integration between the TM agency and the practice, including the designation of a point person within the office to coordinate TM and help address the broader contextual needs of patients, are important considerations for future implementation. The role of the TM nurse in developing trust with patients and uncovering the social and economic context within which patients manage their diabetes was an unexpected benefit.

To examine two hypotheses about the longitudinal relationship between night-time parenting behaviours in the first few postnatal weeks and infant night-time sleep-waking at five weeks, three months and six months of age in normal London home environments.

Most western infants develop long night-time sleep periods by four months of age. However, around 20–30% of infants in many countries continue to sleep for short periods and cry out on waking in the night: the most common type of infant sleep behaviour problem. Preventive interventions may help families and improve services. There is evidence that ‘limit-setting’ parenting, which is common in western cultures, supports the development of settled infant night-time behaviour. However, this evidence has been challenged. The present study measures three components of limit-setting parenting (response delay, feeding interval, settling method), examines their stability, and assesses the predictive relationship between each of them and infant sleep-waking behaviours.

Longitudinal observations comparing a General-Community (n=101) group and subgroups with a Bed-Sharing (n=19) group on infra-red video, diary and questionnaire measures of parenting behaviours and infant feeding and sleep-waking at night.

Bed-Sharing parenting was highly infant-cued and stable. General-Community parenting involved more limit-setting, but was less stable, than Bed-Sharing parenting. One element of General-Community parenting – consistently introducing a short interval before feeding – was associated with the development of longer infant night-time feed intervals and longer day-time feeds at five weeks, compared with other General-Community and Bed-Sharing infants. Twice as many General-Community infants whose parents introduced these short intervals before feeding in the early weeks slept for long night-time periods at three months of age on both video and parent-report measures, compared with other General-Community and Bed-Sharing infants. The findings’ implications for our understanding of infant sleep-waking development, parenting programmes, and for practice and research, are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to assess the attitude of family physicians toward a child with delayed growth and development.

Primary healthcare professionals play a key role in monitoring growth and development, the best indicator of the child’s health status. If delayed growth and development can be detected early, then it is usually possible to restore functioning.

This descriptive study was performed in Samsun, Turkey, in May and June 2015. In total, 325 family physicians were included. The study consisted of two parts. In the first session of the research, the story of an 18-month-old child with delayed growth and development was presented using visual materials. An interview between the child’s mother and a member of primary healthcare staff was then enacted by two of the authors using role-playing. Subsequently, participants were given the opportunity to ask the mother and member of primary healthcare staff questions about the case. During the sessions, two observers observed the participants, took notes and compared these after the presentation. In the second part of the study, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of three open-ended questions.

When asking questions of the mother, family physicians generally used accusatory and judgmental language. One of the questions most commonly put to the mother was ‘Do you think you are a good mother?’ Family physicians were keen to provide instruction for the patient and relatives. Family physicians to a large extent thought that the problem of a child with delayed growth and development can be resolved through education.

Family physicians’ manner of establishing relations with the patient and relatives is inappropriate. We therefore think that they should receive on-going in-service training on the subject.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the experience of the Collaborative Care model with general practitioners (GPs) for diagnosis and treatment of depression and anxiety disorders in primary care centers (PCC).

For many years, different ways to address mental health problems in primary care settings have been evaluated. However, there is still debate over how to treat psychiatric conditions in such a context.

A cross-sectional design was used. The study was conducted in two consecutive studies in six PCC that serve marginalized population in Mexico City. In the first study, cases were interviewed, diagnosed, and treated by a psychiatrist. In the second study, Collaborative Care model was used and GPs were trained; psychiatrists diagnosed and treated patients but GPs discussed the symptoms and treatment of the patients with the psychiatrist.

First study: 18 patients with depressive and/or anxiety disorders were interviewed; these cases were not discussed between the GPs and the psychiatrist. Second study: psychiatrists and GPs conducted joint interviews and cases were discussed. From the 399 evaluated individuals, 38.94% were diagnosed with a depressive disorder. After the Collaborative Care model was applied, GPs were more aware about mental health problems and they were more interested in the identification of these conditions in PCC. Replication studies will help confirm the effectiveness of this model.

To examine general practitioners’ (GPs) clinical expertise in assessing, communicating with, and managing suicidal young people aged 14–25 to inform the development of an educational intervention for GPs on youth suicide prevention.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people worldwide. GPs are ideally suited to facilitate early identification and assessment of suicide risk. However, GPs’ levels of competence, knowledge, and attitudes towards suicidal young people have not yet been explored.

A cross-sectional survey on GPs’ levels of confidence in assessing and managing young people at risk of suicide; knowledge of risk factors and warning signs of suicide in young people; attitudes towards young suicidal people; and training preferences on managing suicide risk.

Seventy GPs completed the survey (30 males). The majority of GPs reported high levels of confidence in assessing and managing suicidality in young people. Experienced GPs demonstrated high levels of knowledge of suicide risk factors in young people but low levels of knowledge of warning signs that might indicate heightened risk. Although 48% of GPs disagreed that maintaining compassionate care is difficult with those who deliberately self-harm, GPs perceived communication with young people to be difficult, with one-third reporting frustration in managing those at risk of suicide. A total of 75% of GPs said they would be interested in receiving further training on assessing and managing young people at risk of suicide.

The study has important implications for providing specialist training to support GPs in assessing and managing youth suicide risk and facilitating attitudinal change. GP education on youth suicide risk assessment and management should promote a holistic understanding and assessment of risk and its individual, social and contextual influences in line with clinical recommendations to facilitate therapeutic engagement and communication with young people.

To conduct a process-based evaluation of the inception and early implementation of a social prescribing initiative (Healthy Connections Stewartry) in two UK General Practices.

Prescribing a range of social, cultural, arts and educational activities to clients in primary care (known as ‘social prescribing’ or ‘community linking schemes’) as a means of addressing long-term physical health conditions and promoting mental health and well-being is becoming increasingly prominent and popular. However, concerns exist over a lack of evidence of effectiveness and formalised insights into how such initiatives may be optimally implemented.

Within a case study design and using 1–1 semi-structured interviews, three related data sets were developed over a 12-month period from 30 purposively sampled informants: the project steering group; the wider primary care team; and various community groups. Data analysis drew on various theoretical resources, particularly those pertaining to nurturing sufficient capacity for the organisational ‘normalisation’ of this practice and understanding the dynamic flows and linkages between potential clients, ‘prescribing’ primary care staff and the available community resources.

The inception and implementation of the initiative had been broadly successful and that more generally, there were grounds to suggest that these practices were becoming ‘normalised’ into the day-to-day cultures and routines of the primary care organisations. A series of procedural features are considered significant in achieving such ends. Some specific barriers to change are identified and ultimately in the context of potential ‘transferability’, a wider reflection is undertaken of the potential for such innovative practice to become established in less advantageous organisational circumstances. Fundamental difficulties are recognised and thus the need for formally implemented ‘change’ processes. Furthermore, for social prescribing to become a pervasive feature of health-care provision, the need for necessary capacity and resources is stressed.

To evaluate a medicines reablement initiative involving health and social care, to include consideration of the training package, proportion of patients reabled successfully, and patient and staff perspectives of the service.

Intermediate care services provide short-term intervention to support patients with chronic conditions transition from hospital to community-based services and involves maximising patients’ independence through reablement. The term ‘medicines reablement’ describes the process of rehabilitating patients to be independent with their medication.

Pharmacy technicians led the medicines reablement initiative. They delivered a competency-based training programme for frontline health and social care staff. They assessed and set goals with patients to facilitate independence in self-administration of their medication. The pharmacy technicians provided on-going support to staff helping patients to reable. They reassessed patients after six weeks to determine if medicines reablement had been successful or whether further input was needed. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with pharmacy technicians, frontline staff, managers, and patients.

Twenty per cent of patients discharged from hospital to intermediate care were assessed to be suitable for medicines reablement. Of these patients, 44% were successfully reabled and a further 25% benefited from the input of a pharmacy technician. Patients and staff were positive about medicines reablement, emphasising the importance of patients attaining independence for self-administration of medication. Although following training, health and social care staff felt confident in facilitating medicines reablement they valued on-going access to pharmacy technicians for timely support, help with problem solving, and advice throughout the reablement process.

Medicines reablement can lead to patients becoming independent with taking medication and contribute to staff satisfaction. Pharmacy technicians can play an important part in delivering medicines reablement training to frontline staff and overseeing the reablement process. Further research examining medicines reablement is needed to develop a stronger evidence base.

This study aimed to evaluate a pilot cross-sector initiative – bringing together public health, a community group, primary mental health teams and patients – in using co-production approaches to deliver a mental health service to meet the needs of the black and minority ethnic communities.

Black and minority ethnic communities continue to face inequalities in mental health service access and provision. They are under-represented in low-level interventions as they are less likely to be referred, and more likely to disengage from mainstream mental health services. Effective models that lead to improved access and better outcomes are yet to be established. It has long been recognised that to be effective, services need to be more culturally competent, which may be achieved through a co-production approach.

This study aimed to evaluate the role of co-production in the development of a novel community mental health service for black and minority ethnic service users. Qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews and focus groups, were used to collect data to examine the use of co-production methods in designing and delivering an improved mental health service.

Twenty-five patients enrolled into the study; of these, 10 were signposted for more intensive psychological support. A 75% retention rate was recorded (higher than is generally the case for black and minority ethnic service users). Early indications are that the project has helped overcome barriers to accessing mental health services. Although small scale, this study highlights an alternative model that, if explored and developed further, could lead to delivery of patient-centred services to improve access and patient experience within mental health services, particularly for black and minority ethnic communities.

It is the aim of this study to explore the characteristics of influential peers identified by schoolmates, and the mechanism by which they exert their influence on their peers.

Adolescent crowds are a salient influence on the health-risk behaviors of peers, contributing to adolescent substance use such as drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and taking drugs.

A mixed method study. Three schools granted us access to students and those who had been nominated as influential by their peers. The students were asked to nominate and indicated the characteristics of peers whom they considered influential in a quantitative study. Those peers whom they considered influential were invited to take part in focus group interviews. A total of six focus group interviews were conducted, comprised of two groups from each school, with an average of seven participants in each group.

Students considered caring and friendliness (91.0%), being a buddy (88.5%), and entertaining/humor (86.8%) as the top three characteristics of influential peers. The interviews revealed that the students believed that they are influential because of their cheerfulness and humor, considerateness, ability to communicate, popularity and sociability, sincerity and trustworthiness, and because they possess the characteristics of a leader. They also believed that their power to influence came about through their helpfulness, accommodation, and the closeness of their relationships. Their influence was manifested in both positive and negative ways on the academic pursuits and health-risk behaviors of their peers. In order to engage at-risk students in health promotion programs, it is important to identify their influential peers, and to understand how adolescent friends may help one another to resist behaviors that pose a risk to their health.

Age UK Lancashire received Big Lottery funding to deliver an active lives programme from January 2012 to December 2014 to the population of West Lancashire aged over 50 years. The overall aims of the associated evaluation were to measure older people’s experiences of participating in the programme, identify the impacts on their health and well-being and their suggestions for services development, and establish the costs and benefits of the programme.

The World Health Organisation recommends older people should be able to achieve physical, social and mental well-being throughout their lives, and that international, national and local policies should be developed to support older adults, promote their independence and well-being, and encourage physical exercise. Consequently, the West Lancashire programme was to establish preventative community support for older people to assist in improving their well-being and physical and mental health, particularly those isolated due to age-related illness or disability. It was to provide interventions not available from local social care providers.

A mixed methods approach was adopted, with the qualitative evaluation utilising focus groups to establish people’s experiences, identify impacts on their health and well-being, and suggestions for services development. This paper describes the quantitative evaluation, which involved three surveys and a costs analysis. The surveys were scheduled to give timely feedback to management about programme delivery and content, and overall benefits of participation.

The active lives programme and groups offered a wide range of flexible and local activities that provided benefits for older people in terms of health and well-being, social well-being and quality of life, and reducing social isolation. There was interconnectivity between these benefits. The programme was delivered in an affordable and flexible manner. Such programmes should be made more widely available.