How to self-examine for tender and swollen joints: co-producing a training video for people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: This paper describes the co-production of a training video to support people with RA to self-examine for tender and swollen joints. Methods: The patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) group supporting a remote monitoring study elected to develop a video to train people with RA how to self-examine for tender and swollen joints, because nothing appropriate was publicly available to fulfil their needs. A core team of PPIE group members and clinicians developed the video, with input from conception to dissemination from the PPIE group. The video was posted, open access, on a YouTube website in February 2021, alongside supporting materials. The number of monthly hits was tracked and a survey developed to ascertain feedback. Results: The video received 1000 hits in the first week, and >40 000 at 10 months. The top three countries viewing the video were India, the USA and the UK, with a range of ages and gender profile broadly corresponding to those of RA patients. Forty-eight survey responses were received (26 patients and 22 clinicians). Patients reported an improvement in their ability to self-examine after watching this video. Eighty-six per cent of patients and 71% of clinicians would recommend the video. It has been used and disseminated by a number of national organizations within the UK. Conclusion: This co-produced, open-access training video for people with RA, originally intended to support a research study into remote monitoring, has been well received, reflecting an international interest in self-examination.

Empowerment an essential ingredient in the clinical environment: a review of the literature.

Empowerment is an important concept worthy of attention in healthcare. The merits of empowerment are irrefutable including benefits to the organisation and to the individual nurse. Empowered nurses contribute to the clinical learning environment in a positive way. There is a dearth of literature on how or indeed if nursing students are empowered. The process of empowering registered staff/nursing students is not clear. Ward environment and culture are important contributors to patient care, patient safety and staff well-being. It is therefore necessary to address how empowerment can contribute positively to improving the environment in which care is provided.

Flu frames.

This article investigates how the frame concept was used in media studies of the 2009 flu pandemic representation. It examines how frame (or framing) analysis has illuminated sociological features of these depictions and how the frame concept facilitated an analytic understanding of media representations. The article first outlines the principal uses of the concept in the social sciences. It then examines the approach and findings of empirical studies of the 2009 outbreak. The findings are reported under three headings: production, text and the consumption of flu frames. This schema provides a better understanding of key sociological dimensions of news responses to the 2009 pandemic. Most articles reviewed were conducted under the auspices of communication studies. It is shown that questions of frame production and the interpretation and challenging of frames, while not at the forefront of many analyses, nevertheless were not neglected.

Introduction: why a Sociology of Pandemics?

Infectious disease has re-emerged as a public health threat in an increasingly globalised era, adding trans-national actors to traditional national and local government actors. This special issue showcases new sociological work in response to this challenge. The contributors have investigated the social construction of new and re-emerging diseases; the development of surveillance systems, public health governance; the impact of scientific/technical modalities on uncertainty and risk, the interplay of infectious disease, public health and national security concerns, and public and media responses. The case studies range broadly across North America, Europe and Asia and define new agendas for medical sociologists and public health policymakers.

Care in the community: what would happen if the lights went out?

This article reports on a student nurse project carried out on a community placement in respect to patients dependent on medical devices in the event of power cuts. The project was designed to identify relevant literature to establish what emergency and preparatory procedures and protocols are in place in a primary care trust for this type of emergency and to identify what action a nurse in the community should take to ensure the safety and welfare of their patients if a there was a prolonged power failure. The literature and knowledge of community staff for the correct procedures to follow in the event of a power cut in the community established that there was some cause for concern, and identified that a loss of power to a patient with a medical device poses a serious risk. Recommendations are that an initial risk assessment of power failure needs to be undertaken and included in the appropriate documentation and guidance plans prepared for community staff and should include the listing of the patient as vulnerable. The limited research identified within this project also indicates that contingency plans to ensure the safety and well-being of patients in the community clearly need to be included in disaster and emergency planning.

Staff support in continuing professional development.

This article reports on a training needs analysis (TNA) project, undertaken with three different hospital trusts in England, that uses a work-based and action-learning approach. It relates to the format of the projects and the identification of training needs for healthcare practitioners. A second article will report on the implementation of TNA in one trust after completion of the project. The work is important for nurse managers and leaders responsible for continuing professional development budgets. The project was targeted at the delivery of trust priorities and offered potential for a different way of working designed to meet new and emerging NHS organisational requirements. In addition, given its multidisciplinary nature, it offered the facility to work with multidisciplinary clinical colleagues to explore different learning and development opportunities and issues.