What COVID-19 has taught us about social inequities and the urgent need for systemic change.

This paper critically comments on the state of affairs in the UK relating to the pandemic and explores how a focus on inequities experienced by marginalized and vulnerable groups is necessary for exposing the material realties of everyday life, but also how such a focus has been hijacked by center right politics to distract us from collective responsibilities and building alliances for systemic change. The paper critically reviews the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most marginalized and vulnerable in UK society and highlights the interconnected risk factors of COVID-19 and its secondary impacts to demonstrate how these are linked to political ideology, policy, and practice. We conclude with recommendations informed through a looking back at the key tenants and purposes of universal healthcare to apprise what is needed in this moment of crisis and beyond.

The Efficacy and Cost-Effectiveness of Replacing Whole Apples with Sliced in the National School Lunch Program.

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) serves 29.6 million lunches each day. Schools must offer ½ a cup of fruit for each lunch tray. Much of this fruit may be wasted, leaving the schools in a dilemma. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the consumption of whole vs. sliced apples and determine the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. Researchers weighed apple waste at baseline and three post-intervention time points in one rural Midwest school. The costs of the intervention were collected from the school. The cost-effectiveness analysis estimates how often apples need to be served to offset the costs of the slicing intervention. A total of (n = 313) elementary student students participated. Students consumed significantly more sliced as compared to whole apples in intervention months 3 (ß = 21.5, p < 0.001) and 4 (ß = 27.7, p < 0.001). The intervention cost was USD 299. The value of wasted apple decreased from USD 0.26 at baseline to USD 0.23 wasted at post-intervention. The school would need to serve 9403 apples during the school year (54 times) to cover the expenses of the intervention. In conclusion, serving sliced apples may be a cost-effective way to improve fruit consumption during school lunch.

Integrated dementia care: A qualitative evidence synthesis of the experiences of people living with dementia, informal carers and healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND: In order to provide improved care provision, integrated care services are being developed. However, little is known about how people living with dementia, their families and healthcare professionals experience integrated care. Therefore, the purpose of this review of the qualitative literature was to examine the experiences and perceptions of integrated dementia care. METHODS: This qualitative review synthesised findings from included studies identified from a comprehensive literature search. Searches included: five electronic databases, journal handsearching, and reference list searching of relevant literature reviews and the final included studies. FINDINGS: Three overarching themes were identified: 1) Ways of working which facilitate the delivery of integrated dementia care; 2) Informal carers as equal partners in care provision and decision making; and 3) Challenges leading to fragmented and disjointed integrated dementia care. For integrated care to be successful, communication and collaboration between healthcare professionals, and the involvement of informal carers is needed. Multidisciplinary teams and employing case managers to coordinate care provision can improve communication and collaboration. However, distrust between healthcare professionals and a lack of a central database to access and share information often hinders the development of integrated dementia care service provision. CONCLUSION: Integrated dementia care can be successful and well received by people living with dementia and their families when certain conditions are met. However, given the negative consequences fragmented and disjointed care can have on people living with dementia and their families, action is needed to further support the development of integrated dementia care services.

Older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex peoples' experiences and perceptions of receiving home care services in the community: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Numbers of older lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) people are increasing worldwide in line with the ageing populations of many countries. Most LGBTQI+ people want to remain in their own homes as they age, making it important to understand their experiences and perceptions of receiving home care. This systematic review aimed to examine older (over 60 years) LGBTQI+ people's perceptions and experiences of using formal home care services in the community. METHODS: The following six electronic databases were searched from the date of their first records until the first week of March 2020: MEDLINE; PsycINFO; Social Policy and Practice; CINAHL; SSCI; and ASSIA. Hand searches of the reference lists of the included studies and relevant reviews were also conducted. Only peer reviewed research published in English was included. There were no restrictions on study design. Findings were analysed using narrative synthesis. The PROSPERO protocol registration identification number is: CRD42020168443. RESULTS: Seven studies involving 169 participants were included in the synthesis. All were qualitative. Most participants were either lesbian women or gay men, with no studies investigating home care for transgender, queer, intersex or other sexual minorities. Fear of accessing home care services due to the perceived threat of homophobia and past negative experiences of discrimination were common. Some concealed any LGBTQI+ materials in their homes to try and hide their sexuality from home care workers. Despite fear of discrimination, lesbian women and gay men reported wanting and expecting the same level of care, dignity and respect as their heterosexual counterparts. Mandatory LGBTQI+ sensitivity training for home care workers was identified for reducing homophobia and increasing the inclusivity of service providers. CONCLUSION: Older lesbian women and gay men fear or experience discrimination from home care workers, with some choosing to hide their sexuality causing stress and anxiety. Sensitivity training in the needs of older LGBTQI+ people should be considered by home care service providers as a way of reducing homophobic attitudes which may exist among some home care workers. Due to the paucity of studies and their focus on older lesbian women and gay men, more research is needed to explore the experiences of other sexual minorities receiving home care services who are represented by the LGBTQI+ umbrella term.

Health Inequalities and Ethnic Vulnerabilities During COVID-19 in the UK: A Reflection on the PHE Reports.

COVID-19 has uncovered the vulnerabilities, inequalities and fragility present within our social community which has exposed and exacerbated the pre-existing racial and socioeconomic inequalities that disproportionately affect health outcomes for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people. Such disparities are fuelled by complex socioeconomic health determinants and longstanding structural inequalities. This paper aims to explore the inequalities and vulnerabilities of BAME communities laid bare by the Public Health England (PHE) reports published in June 2020, concluding with suggested strategies to address inequalities in a post COVID-19 recovery.

Reviewing challenges and gaps in European and global dementia policy.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to scope out European and global policy documents focused on dementia with the purpose of providing a synthesis of the challenges the phenomenon poses and the gaps evident. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: An adapted PESTEL framework as a data extraction tool resulted in an analysis of the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, organisational, educational and research aspects of dementia policy. FINDINGS: Policy documents showed variability of dementia strategy, plan and programme development. All documents recognised rapidly growing ageing populations, and increasing numbers of people living with dementia. Dementia as a public health priority is inconsistent in growth. Global policy documents stress the impact of dementia will be felt most by low- and middle-income countries. Main themes were: a need to raise awareness of dementia and action to reduce stigma around it, the need for early diagnosis and preventative person-centred approaches with integrated care, fiscal investment, further research, training and education for workforces, increased involvement of and support for people living with dementia and care and support close to home. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: By identifying current dementia challenges and policy gap implications this analysis urges engagement with broader frames of reference as potential for enabling bolder and radically better dementia care models. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This paper offers a review of present global and European dementia policy, outlining the potential implications for the most marginalised in society if it fails to be critical of its own underpinning assumptions.

A realist synthesis of effective continuing professional development (CPD): A case study of healthcare practitioners' CPD.

BACKGROUND: Continuing professional development (CPD) in healthcare is fundamental for making sure frontline staff practice safely and effectively. This requires practitioners to update knowledge and skills regularly to match the changing complexity of healthcare needs. The drive towards using limited resources effectively for service improvements and the need for a flexible workforce necessitate a review of ad hoc approaches to CPD. OBJECTIVE: To develop strategies for achieving effective CPD in healthcare. DESIGN: A case study design drawing on principles of realist synthesis was used during two phases of the study to identify and test what works and in what circumstances. SETTING: One National Health Service Trust in South East England. PARTICIPANTS: CPD stakeholders including professional regulatory bodies (n = 8), commissioners of healthcare (n = 15), facilitators of clinical skills development (n = 34), NHS staff in clinical leadership positions (n = 38), NHS staff undertaking skills development post graduate programs (n = 31), service user advocates (n = 8) and an international expert reference group (ERG) (n = 10). METHODS: Data sources included a review of scholarly and grey literature, an online survey and a consensus workshop. Thematic and content analyses were used during data processing. RESULTS: The findings present four interdependent transformation theories comprising transforming individual practice, skills for the changing healthcare contexts, knowledge translation and workplace cultures to optimize learning, development and healthcare performance. CONCLUSIONS: The transformation theories contextualize CPD drivers and identify conditions conducive for effective CPD. Practitioner driven CPD in healthcare is effective within supportive organizations, facilitated workplace learning and effective workplace cultures. Organizations and teams with shared values and purpose enable active generation of knowledge from practice and the use of different types of knowledge for service improvements.

Using systems thinking to identify workforce enablers for a whole systems approach to urgent and emergency care delivery: a multiple case study.

BACKGROUND: Overcrowding in emergency departments is a global issue, which places pressure on the shrinking workforce and threatens the future of high quality, safe and effective care. Healthcare reforms aimed at tackling this crisis have focused primarily on structural changes, which alone do not deliver anticipated improvements in quality and performance. The purpose of this study was to identify workforce enablers for achieving whole systems urgent and emergency care delivery. METHODS: A multiple case study design framed around systems thinking was conducted in South East England across one Trust consisting of five hospitals, one community healthcare trust and one ambulance trust. Data sources included 14 clinical settings where upstream or downstream pinch points are likely to occur including discharge planning and rapid response teams; ten regional stakeholder events (n = 102); a qualitative survey (n = 48); and a review of literature and analysis of policy documents including care pathways and protocols. RESULTS: The key workforce enablers for whole systems urgent and emergency care delivery identified were: clinical systems leadership, a single integrated career and competence framework and skilled facilitation of work based learning. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, participants agreed that whole systems urgent and emergency care allows for the design and implementation of care delivery models that meet complexity of population healthcare needs, reduce duplication and waste and improve healthcare outcomes and patients' experiences. For this to be achieved emphasis needs to be placed on holistic changes in structures, processes and patterns of the urgent and emergency care system. Often overlooked, patterns that drive the thinking and behavior in the workplace directly impact on staff recruitment and retention and the overall effectiveness of the organization. These also need to be attended to for transformational change to be achieved and sustained. Research to refine and validate a single integrated career and competence framework and to develop standards for an integrated approach to workplace facilitation to grow the capacity of facilitators that can use the workplace as a resource for learning is needed.

Making the complexity of community nursing visible: the Cassandra project.

The need to effectively promote safe staffing levels in community settings challenges commissioners and providers of services to find rigorous methods of capturing workforce evidence that can be systematically used to shape effective services and skill mix for the future. This article presents a brief review of current approaches and challenges to measuring community nursing workload activity in England. Specifically, it shows phase 1 pilot results using the Cassandra Matrix activity tool and review of ongoing developments and progress to demonstrate scalability for national implementation. As part of a much larger practice development project to develop community nursing, the pilot used mixed methods to collect 10 days of workload activity data from a self-selected sample of band 5-7 nurses working in general and specialist community nursing roles in three community organisations, and to evaluate their experiences of using the tool via an electronic survey. The findings indicate that the tool has significant potential for capturing the complexity and multiple dimensions of nursing work in community contexts, and phase 2 work has led to a community version of the tool being piloted on a larger scale across six community organisations.