Residential parenting services: An integrative literature review of characteristics, service usage and parent and staff perspectives.

AIMS: The primary aim of the review was to provide an overall assessment of residential parenting services in Australia, by describing the characteristics of infants and parents using residential parenting services, their prior service use and reasons for admission, referral pathways for access and parenting and infant outcomes. The secondary aims were to explore parent and staff perception of the programmes. DESIGN: An integrative literature review. METHODS: A systematic and comprehensive search of health and social sciences databases was conducted for studies related to residential parenting services (published between 1st January 1990-31st December 2019). Six hundred and eleven peer-reviewed papers were identified, after which 301 duplicates were removed and an additional 256 papers excluded after titles/abstracts were read. Of the remaining 54 abstracts/papers, a further 14 were omitted as not relevant. Forty papers were independently reviewed by four authors. ENTREQ and MOOSE checklists were applied. RESULTS: Thirty studies were quantitative, nine were qualitative, and one was mixed methods. All studies originated from in Australia. Women and babies admitted to residential parenting services were found more likely to be: older, Australian born, from higher socio-economic groups, and first-time mothers, and having labour and birth interventions and a history of mental health disorders. The babies were more likely to be twins, male and admitted with sleep disorders and dysregulated behaviour. Studies reporting postintervention outcomes demonstrated improvements to maternal mental health, breastfeeding, parenting confidence and sleep quality, and infant sleeping and behaviour.

Hot and Cold Theory: Evidence in Nutrition.

Ancient scholars across cultures have postulated that by being less potent versions of herbs, food plays a substantive role in the maintenance of health and treatment of disease. A commonality among these traditional medical systems is in relation to the 'heating' and 'cooling' properties of foods. In this chapter, 'hot' and 'cold' classifications of foods are explored, along with ways to optimize health and combat disease. Scientific evaluations of 'hot' and 'cold' properties are also reviewed in relation to chemical compositions and physiological impacts. A broad scoping Google Scholar search was conducted to identify relevant articles. Scientific evaluations were heterogeneous and of mixed quality. Nonetheless some evidence supported the traditional 'hot' and 'cold' classifications. Overall, 'heating' foods were associated with metabolism and sympathetic nervous system enhancement via increased proportions of caffeine, carbohydrate, protein, fat, and calories; as well as greater oxidation potential; vasodilatory and pro-inflammatory effects; and higher acidity and aromatic compound content. 'Cooling' foods were contrastly found to be higher in water, fiber, alkalinity, and aliphatic compounds; as well as associated with anti-inflammatory, and detoxification (elimination) processes. With the potential to specifically tailor diets to suit individual needs, further high-quality research to substantiate traditional food classifications is warranted.