Multicentre cluster randomised trial comparing a community group exercise programme and home-based exercise with usual care for people aged 65 years and over in primary care.

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of falls and hip fractures, and mortality from all causes. However, PA levels are low in the older population and previous intervention studies have demonstrated only modest, short-term improvements.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of two exercise promotion programmes on PA in people aged ≥ 65 years.

Promoting physical activity among older people in primary care using peer mentors.

Introduction: The home-based Otago Exercise Programme has been shown to increase sustained physical-activity levels in older people recruited through primary care, when supported by health professionals. The ProAct65+ trial is testing this programme using volunteer peer mentors to support behaviour change. This qualitative study explored how these peer mentors experienced their role.

Effectiveness of general practice-based physical activity promotion for older adults: systematic review.

Aim: To review the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for adults aged 50 and above, delivered through general practice.

Background: Physical activity has beneficial effects on the common disorders of later life. General practice is a potentially important setting for promotion of physical activity among older adults, but the effectiveness of such interventions is presently unknown.

Advance care planning discussions in advanced cancer: analysis of dialogues between patients and care planning mediators.

Objective: Advance care planning (ACP) provides patients with an opportunity to consider, discuss, and plan their future care with health professionals. Numerous policy documents recommend that ACP should be available to all with life-limiting illness.

Method: Forty patients with recurrent progressive cancer completed one or more ACP discussions with a trained planning mediator using a standardized topic guide.

Advance care planning in advanced cancer: can it be achieved? An exploratory randomized patient preference trial of a care planning discussion.

Objective: Little is known about the effectiveness of advance care planning in the United Kingdom, although policy documents recommend that it should be available to all those with life-limiting illness.

Method: An exploratory patient preference randomized controlled trial of advance care planning discussions with an independent mediator (maximum three sessions) was conducted in London outpatient oncology clinics and a nearby hospice. Seventy-seven patients (mean age 62 years, 39 male) with various forms of recurrent progressive cancer participated, and 68 (88%) completed follow-up at 8 weeks.

A critical review of self-management and educational interventions in inflammatory bowel disease.

The purpose of this study was to examine self-management and educational interventions developed to support people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and to identify which type of intervention seems to be most effective. The search was deliberately overinclusive to capture studies that evaluated educational and self-management interventions. The following databases were searched: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, the National Research Register, and Cochrane.

Assessing the relationship between cold pressor pain responses and dimensions of the anxiety sensitivity profile in healthy men and women.

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) has been shown previously to be an important factor in the perception and experience of experimentally induced pain within healthy adults. The aim of the current study was to extend this research by: (i) using the Anxiety Sensitivity Profile (ASP) as an alternative measure of AS; (ii) examining whether different coping instructions affect pain reports; and (iii) investigating potential differences between men and women. Participants were 50 healthy adults (23 males, 27 females) who were required to complete 2 versions of the cold pressor pain task; one version required the use of control instructions, whereas the other made use of acceptance-based instructions.