Guide to creating virtual meetings and events

A new crowd-sourced guide to running meaningful online events and meetings for public engagement professionals has been published.

The Online Engagement guide is collated by The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement.

The guide aims to brings together expertise on running online meetings and gatherings, online tools for enabling conversation, planning and exchange, and resources to support online public engagement.

Anyone who has resources or advice they would like incorporated into the guide, which will be updated regularly, can email [javascript protected email address].

To view and download the guide click on the link below.

National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement

New COVID-19 mental health campaign

Public Health England’s Every Mind Matters platform has launched new advice focused on looking after people’s mental wellbeing during the coronavirus pandemic. 

It was updated after new data by the Office for National Statistics showed more than four in five (84.2%) people are worried about the effect coronavirus is having on their life.

More than half (53.1%) said it was affecting their wellbeing and nearly half (46.9%) reported high levels of anxiety.

New resources include a tailored COVID-19 Mind Plan, COVID-19 specific content for individuals and their loved ones, and support for specific mental wellbeing issues such as anxiety, stress, low mood and trouble sleeping. 

The website signposts people to activities such as mindful breathing exercises, help reframing unhelpful thoughts and muscle relaxation.

GOV.UK

Personalisation should not be casualty of COVID-19

In this blog, Kate Sibthorp says the 'hard won rights of personalisation' should not become another casualty of COVID-19.

She says Making it Real – a framework to support good personalised care and support for providers, commissioners and people who access services – is more relevant now than ever.

Kate argues, as local authorities reduce the scope of what they do to focus on what is absolutely essential, they must heed Care Act easement guidance to continue to respect the principles of personalisation and co-production.

Think Local Act Personal

Risky numbers: the national reporting of COVID-19

Daily government bulletins provide us with important numbers on how Covid-19 is affecting the British public and how many people have lost their lives. 

But, in this blog, Billy Palmer argues numbers are sometimes difficult to interpret and there may be ways to better inform people of the overall picture.

He says official communications could go further in a number of ways including: 

  • Denominators and comparators to put figures in perspective
  • Displaying forecasts or 'most probable scenarios'
  • Providing a single, consistent and accessible source of information on a variety of health service data
  • Greater openness which recognises uncertainty

Nuffield Trust

COVID-19 puts NHS Apps Library to the test

In this article, Leela Barham looks at how apps with the NHS’ seal of approval are faring in the market and how the app landscape has changed due to COVID-19.

She discusses whether the pandemic will boost the use of NHS-approved apps, the rise of COVID-19 tracking apps and how getting an NHS seal of approval could add value.

pharmaphorum

Why is health a social issue?

In this blog, Anneliese Levy discusses the importance of addressing health inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She says a national strategy for action on the social determinants of health is more important now than ever.

Anneliese also highlights Justice Studio's work to ensure equal access to health by including groups of people who might otherwise be overlooked within health system research.

Justice Studio

COVID-19 information for young people

The Association for Young People's Health has collated COVID-19 resources which are specifically aimed at young people.

Sources of information are grouped into four main categories:

  • General information
  • Information about health and wellbeing
  • Information for young people in different situations and those managing health conditions
  • Practical and social welfare information

Association for Young People's Health

Supporting autistic people and people with learning disabilities

The Social Care Institute for Excellence has published specialist information on supporting people with autism and learning disabilities during COVID-19.

The guides are aimed at families and professionals supporting autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities.

Social Care Institute for Excellence

Accessing services for non-COVID-19 issues

NHS England has developed a poster for GP practices to help explain to patients what they should do if they need to speak to the practice about something not related to Covid-19.

It is designed to be used on practice entrances, on their websites and on social media.

Public Health England

Celebrating Health Heroes

This year's Our Health Heroes Awards have been postponed as a result of the coronavirus.

Delivered by Skills for Health and supported by Health Education England, the awards celebrate those working in the NHS and healthcare sector.

Instead of asking for award nominations, this year Skills for Health would like you to send a quick snapshot and comment of individuals or teams who, over the coming days and weeks, the team can help celebrate, by sharing their story and images on Twitter.

To take part, email [javascript protected email address] with a brief sentence about who you would like to celebrate. 

Include your twitter handle and that of the person, or team you are submitting, if you have it, so you can both be tagged.

Social Prescribing survey

National Voices has been commissioned by NHS England to gather insights and perspectives from the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector on social prescribing. 

The aim is to discover key lessons and issues from the sector’s perspective, share good practices and identify solutions to enable effective and sustainable social prescribing in the future.

The survey is open until 1 May. To take part, click on the link below.

National Voices

Study: Providing timely information using smartphone and tablet apps

A systematic review has aimed to provide an overview of the effects of using smartphone and tablet apps to provide patients with timely education.

The review focused on patients receiving care in a hospital setting. 

Reviewers assessed the effects of the interventions on outcomes, including patients’ knowledge about their illness and treatment, adherence to treatment instructions and to medication usage, and satisfaction with the care they received.

Compared to usual care, overall effectiveness of the interventions was demonstrated in 69% of the outcomes. 

Effectiveness increased to 82% when the intervention had a duration shorter than one month and increased to 78% when the intervention provided at least one push notification per week. 

JMIR

Webinar: Harnessing behavioural science to solve patient engagement

A free webinar will discuss how behavioural science can be used to increase social engagement.

The eyeforpharma event is at 2pm on Wednesday 29 April. Topics will include:

  • How behavioural science with patient-centric technology enables personalised support
  • Empowering patients to make healthy decisions
  • Exploring a 'whole patient' approach including the mental as well as physical

For more information and to register, click on the link below.

eyeforpharma