'We just need to find space for them to practice so that we can help to make a stronger society': Perceived barriers and facilitators to employing health psychologists in UK public health and clinical health settings.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, health psychology has received significant attention within the health sector, due to its application to understanding influences on health and well-being and translation of health psychology into interventions to support behaviour change. The number of health psychologists in public health and healthcare settings is growing but remains limited, and is it unclear why. This study aimed to explore the views of potential and current employers of health psychologists, to elucidate barriers and facilitators of employing health psychologists in healthcare settings. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were carried out to explore the experiences of working with and/or employing health psychologists. Opportunities and barriers were explored for increasing access to health psychology expertise in the NHS and public health. Interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Fifteen participants took part in interviews. Participants were mid-senior-level professionals working in varied healthcare settings and/or academic institutions. The majority had experience of health psychology/working with health psychologists, whilst others had limited experience but an interest in employing health psychologists. Three key themes were identified: (1) the organizational fit of health psychologists, (2) perception of competition for roles and (3) ideas for changing hearts, minds and processes. CONCLUSION: Barriers exist to employing health psychologists in healthcare settings. These barriers include misunderstandings of the role of health psychologists and the need to preserve other disciplines due to perceived competition. Recommendations for change included showcasing the benefits and skills of health psychologists and having transparent conversations with employees and multi-disciplinary colleagues about roles.

Using behavioural science in public health settings during the COVID-19 pandemic: The experience of public health practitioners and behavioural scientists.

INTRODUCTION: The emergence of COVID-19 and the importance of behaviour change to limit its spread created an urgent need to apply behavioural science to public health. Knowledge mobilisation, the processes whereby research leads to useful findings that are implemented to affect positive outcomes, is a goal for researchers, policy makers and practitioners alike. This study aimed to explores the experience of using behavioural science in public health during COVID-19, to discover barriers and facilitators and whether the rapidly changing context of COVID-19 influenced knowledge mobilisation. METHODS: We conducted a semi-structured interview study, with ten behavioural scientists and seven public health professionals in England, Scotland, Wales, The Netherlands and Canada. We conducted an inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: We report three key themes and 10 sub-themes: 1.Challenges and facilitators of translation of behavioural science into public health (Methods and frameworks supported translation, Lack of supportive infrastructure, Conviction and sourcing of evidence and Embracing behavioural science) 2. The unique context of translation (Rapid change in context, the multi-disciplinary team and the emotional toll). 3. Recommendations to support future behavioural science translation (Embedding experts into teams, Importance of a collaborative network and showcasing the role of behavioural science). DISCUSSION: Barriers and facilitators included factors related to relationships between people, such as networks and teams; the expertise of individual people; and those related to materials, such as the use of frameworks and an overwhelming amount of evidence and literature. CONCLUSION: People and frameworks were seen as important in facilitating behavioural science in practice. Future research could explore how different frameworks are used. We recommend a stepped competency framework for behavioural science in public health and more focus on nurturing networks to facilitate knowledge mobilisation in future emergencies.

How do members of a fire and rescue service perceive expanding their roles to deliver more health care services?

BACKGROUND: Increasingly, public sector workers are being required to expand their roles into public health. Fire and rescue services, as part of the Emergency Medical Response trial, are at the forefront of role expansion, with increasing capacity due to reducing numbers of fires in recent years. Firefighter roles, successfully implemented, include responding to cardiac arrests and conducting checks on health and wellbeing in people's own homes. In this study, we explored fire service members' perceptions about this role expansion, to increase understanding of how role expansion can be introduced and supported. METHODS: We interviewed 21 firefighters and team members about their perceptions of new roles. Interviews were conducted, transcribed and thematically analysed until reaching thematic saturation. RESULTS: Perspectives differed for responding to cardiac arrests and wellbeing checks. Cardiac arrests were seen as aligned with core roles and thus more acceptable. For both types of new role participants wanted more training and opportunities to provide feedback on implementation. CONCLUSIONS: How team members viewed role expansion depended on new role alignment with core role, training and being able to give feedback to management to shape future services.

Changes in mRNA abundance within Heterodera schachtii-infected roots of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Gene expression changes in plant roots infected by plant-parasitic cyst nematodes are involved in the formation of nematode feeding sites. We analyzed mRNA abundance changes within roots of Arabidopsis thaliana during the early compatible interaction with Heterodera schachtii, the sugarbeet cyst nematode. Approximately 1,600 root sections, each containing a single parasitic nematode and its feeding site, and 1,600 adjacent, nematode-free root sections were excised from aseptic A. thaliana cultures 3 to 4 days after inoculation with H. schachtii. These tissue samples were termed infected and uninfected, respectively. Preparasitic nematodes were added to the uninfected tissue sample to maintain the nematode to plant tissue proportion. mRNA extracted from these two tissue samples was subjected to differential display analysis. Thirty-six cDNA clones corresponding to mRNA species with different abundance between both tissue samples were isolated. Of these clones, 24 were of A. thaliana origin and 12 were from H. schachtii. Differential display data predicted that the A. thaliana cDNA clones corresponded to 13 transcripts that were more abundant in the infected root sections and 11 transcripts that were more abundant in the uninfected root sections. H. schachtii cDNA clones were predicted to correspond to four transcripts that were more abundant in parasitic nematodes and to eight transcripts that were more abundant in preparasitic nematodes. In situ hybridization experiments confirmed the mRNA abundance changes in A. thaliana roots predicted by the differential display analyses for two A. thaliana clones.

The transfer effect of leadup activities.

Previous literature shows that operative laboratory performance can be significantly improved through leadup training where students complete simulated preparations in plastic blocks. Since the task requirements of most fixed prosthodontic preparations seem similar to those of operative dentistry, it may be hypothesized that leadup training utilizing operative-like preparations would facilitate performance in the projects of both courses. The objective of this study was to test that hypothesis. The performance of students who had completed the leadup training nine months earlier was compared with that of randomly selected control groups, with replacement, in a subsequent operative and fixed prosthodontics course. Calibrated raters were unaware of group affiliation of products. Analyses of variance showed that students in the experimental group statistically significantly outperformed those in the control group on the two operative preparations which were most like products completed during the leadup training. There was no such difference for any of the three fixed prosthodontics products. It is concluded that transfer of training is highly specific and that leadup training must simulate the criterion in both its cognitive and motor components, if it is to have a facilitating effect.

The loss of occlusion and its effect on mandibular immediate side shift.

Mandibular immediate side shift is a lateral movement of the condyles at the commencement of mandibular laterotrusion. Amount of mandibular immediate side shift has been found to vary among patients and bilaterally within patients. Factors responsible for variance in mandibular immediate side shift have been suggested but not thoroughly investigated. Because of the clinical importance of the mandibular immediate side shift, this study attempted to demonstrate that one suggested factor--the loss of occlusion--would result in increased mandibular immediate side shift. Subjects were placed into one of four groups that had a varied amount of occlusion. Surprisingly, among groups no differences were detected in the amount of mandibular immediate side shift. Therefore loss of occlusion as a suspected cause of an increase in the amount of mandibular immediate side shift was not substantiated. Restorative therapy recommended on the basis of such an assumption will most likely prove inaccurate.

A provisional restoration technique for laminate veneer preparations.

A direct construction technique for laminate veneer provisional restorations uses autocuring acrylic resin and other available armamentarium to facilitate construction. Only a slight preparation modification of the tooth to be treated is necessary to retain the provisional prosthesis.

Continuous knowledge of results and psychomotor skill acquisition.

In preclinical dentistry, precise terminal knowledge of results (KR) typically is provided by an instructor when the student has completed all or a portion of a preparation. A contemporary model of psychomotor learning implies that performance can be improved if continual precise KR also is available. This investigation compared a traditional instructional format that provided instructor-generated terminal KR with one that also trained students to generate continual KR using two sections of an operative laboratory (n = 55 each). The dependent variable was student performance on occlusal and mesio-occlusal amalgam preparations. Students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group on both preparations.