Exploring poverty at the end of life in the UK
A report by PIF member Marie Curie explores the experiences of the 90,000 people who die in poverty in the UK every year.
Dying in Poverty reveals not just the scale of poverty but how terminal illness and poverty interact.
One in four terminally ill people of working age spend the last year of their lives in poverty.
Two in five working age people from minority ethnic groups die below the poverty line.
The report makes a series of recommendations aimed at the UK and devolved governments, local authorities, pension and insurance providers and employers.
Women’s Health: Why do women feel unheard?
A new evidence collection by the NIHR explores why women feel unheard when it comes to health.
The recent Women’s Health Strategy for England reported more than four in five (84%) women had at times felt their healthcare professionals were not listening to them.
The new NIHR collection explores why women often feel unheard and misunderstood.
It draws on areas of healthcare specific to women, along with common mental health conditions, osteoarthritis, dementia and other conditions which occur more often in women.
The collection also includes suggestions for how to improve conversations with healthcare professionals.
Read the full collection here.
Access to mental health support while experiencing homelessness
Groundswell has published research highlighting the significant barriers facing people experiencing homelessness when trying to access mental health support.
Knowing where to turn draws on 80 interviews carried out by peer researchers from Crisis Newcastle, Crisis Birmingham and Shelter Greater Manchester.
Key findings from the research include:
- People experiencing homelessness face additional stigma concerning mental ill health
- Stigma can be perpetuated by interactions with healthcare professionals if people feel judged
- Many people experiencing homelessness do not know where to go when they need mental health support
- Support is often only available when a person’s mental health has significantly deteriorated
- Transitions between different services and localities often mean people have to re-refer themselves or begin the process of accessing help again entirely
Download the full report via the Groundswell website here.
NHS Wales App released in early 'beta' phase
A beta version of the new NHS Wales App, developed by PIF member Digital Health and Care Wales, went live in November.
The beta version is being trialled by around a thousand people registered at ten GP practices in Wales ahead of the public launch next year.
People will be able to access information in the app by using NHS Login for account authentication and verification in the first instance.
Login will then be available using device capabilities such as fingerprint or facial recognition.
A website version is also available allowing access through a similar password-protected process.
More information on the NHS Wales App is available here.
New training support for maternity services following final Ockenden Review report
The Personalised Care Institute has launched three new training films for local maternity services following the publication of the final Ockenden Review report.
Each film was co-produced with service users and healthcare professionals.
The films aim to support maternity clinicians to understand, from the perspective of a woman and birthing person, what a good shared decision making conversation looks like, to recognise what matters to individuals and why this is important.
The videos were developed in partnership with Lambeth Early Action Partnership and NHS London.
Read more and find out how to access the films here.
Study: Countering anti-vaccination misinformation via social media messaging
A new study aims to test message effectiveness in changing parents’ attitudes and behavioural intentions toward human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.
Researchers created messages appropriate for presentation on a social media platform in three groups – six control messages, 25 experimental and five from salient themes about the HPV vaccine.
They found parents in the experimental group had increased positive attitudes toward HPV vaccination compared with those in the control group.
This was associated with increased intention to vaccinate among parents of unvaccinated children aged 9 to 14 years.
Messages providing scientific evidence from government-related sources and correcting misinformation were effective in forming positive perceptions toward the HPV vaccination messages.
Read the full study results here.
Unlocking the power of data whilst preserving public trust
In this blog, National Data Guardian Dr Nicola Byrne discusses the planned NHS federated data platform.
She says getting the public's support for big data projects such as this is vital to their success.
Four ways to make emojis accessible
In this AbilityNet blog Kelly Chan shares how emojis can help people who are neurodivergent to express themselves, reduce anxiety and build trust.
She shares four top tips to keep emojis accessible.
Read the full blog and tips here.
Sharing 'About Me' stories
PIF partner the Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) is inviting people to share their About Me stories as part of its #CareAboutMe campaign.
Anyone who has used About Me is invited to create a selfie video of their experiences and Tweet it to @ProfRecordSB using #CareAboutMe.
Videos will then be uploaded to the PRSB website here.
Find out more about the #CareAboutMe campaign here.
NHS 111 online winter campaign launched
The NHS has launched its annual NHS 111 Online campaign, encouraging people to get the help they need from home ahead of winter.
The national campaign, which started rolling out across social media this week, directs the public to 111.nhs.uk.
Read more about the campaign here.
Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic
A report by the British Geriatrics Society reflects on experiences of the pandemic from the specific perspective of older people’s healthcare.
It says COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic and, given our ageing society, it is unlikely to be the last to affect older people more than any other population group.
The report aims to highlight both the positive and negative aspects of the handling of the pandemic.
It draws out ten lessons that must be learned by governments and healthcare organisations.
How to improve dialogue between disabled people and health and care services
In this King's Fund blog Fazilet Hadi, head of policy at Disability Rights UK, considers how disabled people’s organisations can harness their power and expertise to improve how health and care services work with disabled people.
She outlines four ways disabled people's organisations could improve dialogue between disabled people and integrated care systems.
Take part in Self Care Week survey
Did you take part in Self Care Week 2022?
PIF partner the Self Care Forum would like to understand how organisations are using Self Care Week to help people practice better self care.
It is running an online survey which should take four to five minutes to complete.