Cholera diagnosis in human stool and detection in water: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Cholera continues to pose a problem for low-resource, fragile and humanitarian contexts. Evidence suggests that 2.86 million cholera cases and 95,000 deaths due to cholera are reported annually.

Health system influences on the implementation of tuberculosis infection prevention and control at health facilities in low-income and middle-income countries: a scoping review.

Background: Tuberculosis infection prevention and control (TB-IPC) measures are consistently reported to be poorly implemented globally. TB-IPC guidelines provide limited recognition of the complexities of implementing TB-IPC within routine health systems, particularly those facing substantive resource constraints. This scoping review maps documented system influences on TB-IPC implementation in health facilities of low/middle-income countries (LMICs).

The Effect of Psychological First Aid Training on Knowledge and Understanding about Psychosocial Support Principles: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Psychological first aid (PFA) is a world-wide implemented approach to helping people affected by an emergency, disaster, or other adverse event. Controlled evaluations of PFA's training effects are lacking. We evaluated the effectiveness of a one-day PFA training on the acquisition and retention of knowledge of appropriate responses and skills in the acute aftermath of adversity in Peripheral Health Units (PHUs) in post-Ebola Sierra Leone.

Understanding fragility: implications for global health research and practice.

Advances in population health outcomes risk being slowed-and potentially reversed-by a range of threats increasingly presented as 'fragility'. Widely used and critiqued within the development arena, the concept is increasingly used in the field of global health, where its relationship to population health, health service delivery, access and utilization is poorly specified. We present the first scoping review seeking to clarify the meaning, definitions and applications of the term in the global health literature.

The myth of the 1-day training: the effectiveness of psychosocial support capacity-building during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Background: In emergencies and resource-poor settings, non-specialists are increasingly being trained to provide psychosocial support to people in distress, with Psychological First Aid (PFA) one of the most widely-used approaches. This paper considers the effectiveness of short training programmes to equip volunteers to provide psychosocial support in emergencies, focusing particularly on whether the PFA training provided during the Ebola outbreak enabled non-specialists to incorporate the key principles into their practice.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Sierra Leone and Liberia with 24 PFA trainers; 36 individuals who participated in PFA training; and 12 key informants involved in planning and implementing the PFA roll-out.

Validity of hepatitis B and hepatitis C case definitions.

Background: Globally, an estimated 257 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B (HBV) infection and an estimated 71 million people with the chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). The true public health dimensions and impact of hepatitis epidemics are poorly understood. Case definitions are fundamental parts of disease surveillance, representing sets of standardised criteria used to assess whether or not a person has a certain disease.

General practitioners' views towards diagnosing and treating depression in five southeastern European countries.

Aim: To assess and compare general practitioners' (GPs') views of diagnosing and treating depression in five southeastern European countries.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and Serbia. The sample included 467 GPs who completed a hard-copy self-administered questionnaire, consisting of self-assessment questions related to diagnosing and treating depression.

Informal work-related injuries: a one year prospective study in a rural community in Serbia.

Work-related injuries occurring during informal work often go unreported, yet lead to significant mortality and contribute substantially to disease burden due to injury-related disability. In Serbia, injury is a leading cause of death, with work-related injuries comprising a significant proportion. This study explored the frequency of and risk factors for these injuries in a rural Serbian community.

Cholera diagnosis in human stool and detection in water: protocol for a systematic review of available technologies.

Background: Cholera is a highly infectious diarrheal disease spread via fecal contamination of water and food sources; it is endemic in parts of Africa and Asia and recent outbreaks have been reported in Haiti, the Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo. If left untreated, the disease can be fatal in less than 24 h and result in case fatality ratios of 30-50%. Cholera disproportionately affects those living in areas with poor access to water and sanitation: the long-term public health response is focused on improving water and hygiene facilities and access.

Follow-up study of people who misuse alcohol: reflections on methodology.

Background Considerable challenges exist for researchers attempting to monitor longitudinally the impact of any intervention on heavy drinkers, therefore they are often excluded from surveys. A particular challenge is the loss of validity through attrition. Aim To describe issues encountered when recruiting and re-contacting difficult to reach heavy drinkers participating in a longitudinal study; and propose strategies to inform the design of future studies to minimise the effects of confounding factors.

Framing moving and handling as a complex healthcare intervention within the acute care of older people with osteoporosis: a qualitative study.

Aims And Objectives: To investigate healthcare staff's views and experiences of caring for older hospitalised adults (aged 60+) with osteoporosis focusing on moving and handling. Specific objectives were to explore the composition of manual handling risk assessments and interventions in osteoporosis.

Background: Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease that reduces bone density and causes increased fracture risk.

A teachable moment for the teachable moment? A prospective study to evaluate delivery of a workshop designed to increase knowledge and skills in relation to alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) amongst final year nursing and occupational therapy undergraduates.

The perceived value of Alcohol Brief Interventions as a tool to address alcohol misuse in Scotland has supported the establishment of a Health Improvement, Efficiency, Access and Treatment, HEAT: H4 Standard to deliver ABIs within certain health care settings. This requires that nursing, medical and allied health professionals are appropriately skilled to deliver these interventions. This study explores the knowledge and attitudes regarding alcohol misuse and related interventions among two cohorts of final year nursing and occupational therapy undergraduate students before, during and following participation in a workshop devoted to ABI delivery.

The families and friends of heavy drinkers: Caught in the cross-fire of policy change?

Introduction And Aims: Research highlights the need to better understand the impact of alcohol-related harm on families and communities. Scottish policy initiatives to reduce alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm include the planned introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol. We aimed to explore existing and proposed changes in alcohol policy, from the standpoint of heavy drinkers, through accounts of their involvement and repercussions for family and friends.

The enigma of 'harmful' alcohol consumption: evidence from a mixed methods study involving female drinkers in Scotland.

Background/aims: An appreciation of the drinking patterns of population subgroups may usefully inform tailored interventions. For this purpose, research has highlighted a need to better describe the drinking behaviour of UK women. This study aims to characterise the purchasing and consumption behaviour of female heavy, harmed, drinkers in contact with Scottish health services in two cities and to explore the factors that influence the link to harm.

White cider consumption and heavy drinkers: a low-cost option but an unknown price.

Aims: To compare characteristics of heavy drinkers who do, or do not, drink white cider during their typical drinking week and to contrast white cider drinkers' behaviour with a similar group recruited in comparable settings 4 years previously. To consider if excessive white cider consumption poses a specific health risk.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey of alcohol purchasing and consumption by heavy drinkers consuming white cider in Edinburgh and Glasgow during 2012; comparison of purchasing patterns within Edinburgh in 2008-2009 and 2012.

Nursing workforce policy and the economic crisis: a global overview.

Purpose: To assess the impact of the global financial crisis on the nursing workforce and identify appropriate policy responses.

Organizing Construct And Methods: This article draws from international data sources (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] and World Health Organization), from national data sources (nursing regulatory authorities), and the literature to provide a context in which to examine trends in labor market and health spending indicators, nurse employment, and nurse migration patterns.

Findings: A variable impact of the crisis at the country level was shown by different changes in unemployment rates and funding of the health sector.

Managing change in the care of children with complex needs: healthcare providers' perspectives.

Aim:  This paper is a report of a descriptive qualitative study of the role and activities of nursing and allied health professionals caring for children with complex needs in a community setting.

Background: Health care is changing in terms of service provision and delivery, with an increased focus on person-centred care, prevention and community-based services. The role of nursing and allied health professionals is central to these changes but is not well described in terms of capacity, or the knowledge and skills required to meet increasing demand.

Is it my job? Alcohol brief interventions: knowledge and attitudes among future health-care professionals in Scotland.

Aims: To document knowledge and perceptions relating to the professional role in the area of alcohol misuse within a sample of first year (n = 278) and final year (n = 527) medical, nursing and allied health professional (NAHP) students in Scotland.

Methods: A cross sectional survey design involving self-completed questionnaires administered in autumn 2008 (first year students) and spring 2009 (final year students) through course websites and lectures.

Results: Gaps in the knowledge relating to current UK health guidelines were identified but more so among NAHP students than medical students.

Providing web-based feedback and social norms information to reduce student alcohol intake: a multisite investigation.

Background: Unhealthy alcohol use among university students is cause for concern, yet the level of help seeking behavior for alcohol use is low within the student population. Electronic brief interventions delivered via the Internet present an alternative to traditional treatments and could enable the delivery of interventions on a population basis. Further evidence is needed of the effectiveness of Internet-delivered interventions and of their generalizability across educational institutions.

Practical demonstration of personal daily consumption limits: a useful intervention tool to promote responsible drinking among UK adults?

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of a short, practical pouring exercise as a means of illustrating the details of the UK 'Sensible Drinking' guidelines.

Methods: Participants (N = 297, 53% male) recruited at four Edinburgh employment sites, each completed a short non-standardized questionnaire and poured their 'usual measure of wine or spirit' into a glass (purchased from four 'high street' outlets). The actual and estimated unit content of their poured drinks and reactions to feedback were noted.

New role, new country: introducing US physician assistants to Scotland.

This paper draws from research commissioned by the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD). It provides a case study in the introduction of a new health care worker role into an already well established and "mature" workforce configuration It assesses the role of US style physician assistants (PAs), as a precursor to planned "piloting" of the PA role within the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland. The evidence base for the use of PAs is examined, and ways in which an established role in one health system (the USA) could be introduced to another country, where the role is "new" and unfamiliar, are explored.

How 'sensible' is the UK Sensible Drinking message? Preliminary findings amongst newly matriculated female university students in Scotland.

Background: Current levels and patterns of alcohol drinking continue to cause concern, particularly amongst young females. Effective interventions remain elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of knowledge relating to UK 'Sensible Drinking' guidelines, definitions of binge drinking and attitude to drink labelling initiatives amongst female school leavers enrolling at university.