A Systems Approach in the Prevention of Undernutrition among Children under Five in Tanzania: Perspectives from Key Stakeholders.

Undernutrition among under-fives is one of the major public health challenges in Tanzania. However, there are limited studies assessing the contribution of cultural-related strategies in the prevention of child undernutrition in Tanzania. This study aimed at exploring participants' experiential views regarding developing culturally sensitive strategies for the elimination of child undernutrition for under-fives in Rukwa, Iringa, Ruvuma, Songwe and Njombe regions located in the Southern Highlands in Tanzania.

Engaging young people with sexual health services in general practice surgeries - A qualitative study of health care professionals.

Background: Evidence to date suggests that young people are becoming more sexually active and are forming relationships during the early stages of their lives, sometimes engaging in sexual risk-taking, which contributes to high rates of conception and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Young people at risk of adverse sexual health outcomes are the least likely to engage with reproductive and sexual health promotion programmes and services (RSHPPs), especially in mainstream clinics such as general practice (GP) surgeries. The study aimed to explore the views and experiences of service providers.

Adherence to the Eatwell Guide and population and planetary health: A Rank Prize Forum report.

This report summarises a Forum conducted in June 2023 to explore the current state of the knowledge around the Eatwell Guide, which is the UK government's healthy eating tool, in relation to population and planetary health. The 1.5-day Forum highlighted the limited, albeit promising evidence linking higher adherence to the Eatwell Guide with favourable health outcomes, including reduced overall mortality risk, lower abdominal obesity in post-menopausal women and improved cardiometabolic health markers.

HIV and an Ageing Population-What Are the Medical, Psychosocial, and Palliative Care Challenges in Healthcare Provisions.

The continuing increase in patient numbers and improvement in healthcare provisions of HIV services in the UK, alongside the effectiveness of combined antiretroviral therapy (cART), has resulted in increasing numbers of the ageing population among people living with HIV (PLWH). It is expected that geriatricians will need to deal with many older people living with HIV (OPLWH) as life expectancy increases. Therefore, geriatric syndromes in OPLWH will be similar to the normal population, such as falls, cognitive decline, frailty, dementia, hypertension, diabetes and polypharmacy.

A Qualitative Exploration on Perceived Socio-Cultural Factors Contributing to Undernutrition Among Under-Fives in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania.

Under nutrition especially among under-fives is a major public health challenge in Tanzania. However, the contribution of cultural practices to child under nutrition is often overlooked. This study aimed to explore the perceived socio-cultural factors contributing to the persisting under nutrition among under-fives in Tanzania.

Augmented video consultations in care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an unprecedented implementation of remote consultations in UK primary care services. Specifically, older adults in care homes had a high need for infection prevention owing to their existing health conditions. GP practices in the East Midlands incorporated augmented video consultations (AVC) with the potential to support remote healthcare assessments for older adults at care homes.

'They Are Kids, Let Them Eat': A Qualitative Investigation into the Parental Beliefs and Practices of Providing a Healthy Diet for Young Children among a Culturally Diverse and Deprived Population in the UK.

In the UK, ethnic minority children are at greater risk of obesity and weight-related ill health compared to the wider national population. The factors that influence the provision of a healthy diet among these populations remain less understood. An interpretive qualitative study with a phenomenological perspective comprised of 24 single sex semi-structured focus groups was conducted with 110 parents (63 mothers and 47 fathers) of young children (aged 0-5 years).

Examining GP online consultation in a primary care setting in east midlands, UK.

Background: Increasing pressure threatens to overwhelm primary care services, affecting the quality of care and their role as gatekeepers to specialised care services. This study investigated healthcare users' acceptability of - and the effectiveness of - an e-consultation system in primary care services.

Methods: Seven GP practices in East-Midlands, all of whom use online consultation system participated in the study, with a retrospective review being undertaken of 189 electronic patients' records (age range of 18-76 years) over 5 months.

Improving support for breastfeeding mothers: a qualitative study on the experiences of breastfeeding among mothers who reside in a deprived and culturally diverse community.

Background: The United Kingdom has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe, with the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding shown to be closely related to the mothers' age, ethnicity and social class. Whilst the barriers that influence a woman's decision to breastfeed are well documented, less is known how these barriers vary by the UK's diverse population. As such, this study aimed to explore mothers' experiences of breastfeeding and accessing breastfeeding services offered locally amongst a deprived and culturally diverse community.

Developing healthy weight maintenance through co-creation: a partnership with Black African migrant community in East Midlands.

Background: Obesity prevalence in the UK varies according to ethnicity, with children from minority ethnic groups experiencing higher levels, and yet, there is a scarcity of projects that involve minority ethnic groups in the design of interventions to promote healthy weight maintenance. This article presents an account of the involvement of the participants in a co-creation activity to design public health resources for the maintenance of healthy weight.

Methods: The material is drawn from a study that involved Black African parents (n = 30) and Health Visitors (n = 32), residing and working in the East Midlands, UK, respectively.

Parents' experiences of complementary feeding among a United Kingdom culturally diverse and deprived community.

Complementary feeding practices and adherence to health recommendations are influenced by a range of different and often interrelating factors such as socio-economic and cultural factors. However, the factors underlying these associations are often complex with less awareness of how complementary feeding approaches vary across the UK's diverse population. This paper describes a qualitative investigation undertaken in a deprived and culturally diverse community in the UK which aimed to explore parents' knowledge, beliefs and practices of complementary feeding.

Healthy weight maintenance strategy in early childhood: The views of black African migrant parents and health visitors.

In Europe and the US, childhood obesity is found to be higher in migrant children from black African communities and other visible minority ethnic groups. However, very little is known about the factors that contribute to the significant rates of obesity in these groups. The material for this study is drawn from a community-based qualitative study that examined the sociocultural, familial and environmental factors that either facilitate or hinder healthy weight in black African children during early childhood.

Advance care planning for older people: The influence of ethnicity, religiosity, spirituality and health literacy.

In this discussion paper we consider the influence of ethnicity, religiosity, spirituality and health literacy on Advance Care Planning for older people. Older people from cultural and ethnic minorities have low access to palliative or end-of-life care and there is poor uptake of advance care planning by this group across a number of countries where advance care planning is promoted. For many, religiosity, spirituality and health literacy are significant factors that influence how they make end-of-life decisions.

Understanding healthcare self-referral in Nigeria from the service users' perspective: a qualitative study of Niger state.

Background: The by-pass of the primary level of care to the referral facilities has continued to raise concerns for the healthcare delivery system. About 60-90% of patients in Nigeria are reported to self-refer to a referral level of care. Thus, this study sought to identify the factors that influence service-users' decision to self-refer to the secondary healthcare facilities in Nigeria by exploring the perceptions and experiences of the service-users.

Smart tattoo: technology for monitoring blood glucose in the future.

New ways of measuring blood glucose bring hope of easing the burden of diabetes management for patients living with the conditions. The smart tattoo is an innovation that represents a nascent nanotechnology, which is designed to be implanted within the skin to provide continuous and reliable glucose detection for individuals diagnosed with diabetes. The potential benefits of the smart tattoo are compelling not only due to the potential of these nanodevices to prevent diabetic complications and decrease the related social costs, but also due to ease of use and relative user comfort.

Safeguarding of vulnerable adults training: assessing the effect of continuing professional development.

Aim: This article provides an insight into the effect of safeguarding of vulnerable adults continuing professional development (SOVA-CPD) training for nurses.

Method: 51 participants were recruited from three different cohorts of SOVA-CPD training that had been delivered in east England. A 50-item questionnaire was designed to gather participants' views on their acquisition of knowledge and skills, and perceived changes in practice, and to allow them to describe how they have changed how they work due to the training.

Using mixed methods when researching communities.

Aim: To argue for the use of mixed methods when researching communities.

Background: Although research involving minority communities is now advanced, not enough effort has been made to formulate methodological linkages between qualitative and quantitative methods in most studies. For instance, the quantitative approaches used by epidemiologists and others in examining the wellbeing of communities are usually empirical.

The effectiveness of HIV/AIDS school-based sexual health education programmes in Nigeria: a systematic review.

HIV/AIDS is one of the most important public health challenges facing Nigeria today. Recent evidence has revealed that the adolescent population make up a large proportion of the 3.7% reported prevalence rate among Nigerians aged 15-49 years.

Black African migrants: the barriers with accessing and utilizing health promotion services in the UK.

Background: The inequalities for different ethnicities and social classes in accessing health services is well documented, but although a number of recent policy developments have aimed to tackle health inequalities, very little is known about the experiences of Black African migrant communities in accessing health promotion information and services. The aim of the study were to examine the experiences of Black African migrant families in accessing health promotion services.

Methods: A convenience sample of 90 Black African migrants in the north of England participated in the study.

The effect of kin, social network and neighbourhood support on individual well-being.

This paper explores the effects of kin, social network and the neighbourhood on an individual's well-being. The material is drawn from a community-based qualitative study that explored the attitudes and experiences of African-Caribbean adolescents and their families in the north of England towards healthy lifestyles. A convenience sample of 10 African-Caribbean households units comprising 24 adolescents (12-18 years of age) and 18 adults (22-60 years of age) participated in the study with interviews conducted in their homes.

"You know what I mean:" the ethical and methodological dilemmas and challenges for black researchers interviewing black families.

In this article I provide a reflexive account of my research experiences with families of African descent. I examine the ways in which, as a researcher of African descent, I became part of the research process. Using data from an ethnographic study that explored the healthy lifestyle experiences and attitudes of families and adolescents of African descent in the northwest of England, I present a detailed discussion of the identity alteration, researcher-researched relationships, and insider-outsider tensions and dilemmas that arose while I collected data.

Factors affecting choice of a healthy lifestyle: implications for nurses.

Living a healthy lifestyle still remains a challenge to a wide section of the population. This article argues that since a healthy lifestyle is associated with other aspects of economic and social life, it should be examined within this context. This perspective suggests that participation in a healthy lifestyle, with its behavioural emphasis, which typically involves decisions about food, exercise, smoking, alcohol, drug use, risk of infection and accidents, is not necessarily up to the individual.

Minority ethnic families and family-centred care.

Family-centred care has generally treated families as though they were all two-parent families. For most minority ethnic families, this treatment is especially inappropriate because a greater percentage of the children are cared/live in non-traditional households, their families are heterogeneous and are primarily oriented towards extended families. However, the involvement of the extended family in family-centred care remains non-existent.