Effects of Community Assets on Major Health Conditions in England: A Data Analytic Approach.

Introduction: The broader determinants of health including a wide range of community assets are extremely important in relation to public health outcomes. Multiple health conditions, multimorbidity, is a growing problem in many populations worldwide.

Methods: This paper quantified the effect of community assets on major health conditions for the population of England over six years, at a fine spatial scale using a data analytic approach.

Social prescribing for individuals with mental health problems: An ethnographic study exploring the mechanisms of action through which community groups support psychosocial well-being.

Background: Social prescribing involves connecting individuals to community groups and activities, often to support their mental health and well-being. It has received increasing support in recent years across the NHS. There is a strong evidence base for the benefits of different types of community activities, including exercise groups, arts groups and nature interventions, on mental health outcomes, however, less is known about these groups impact mental health and well-being.

Barriers and enablers of integrated care in the UK: a rapid evidence review of review articles and grey literature 2018-2022.

Integrated care refers to person-centered and coordinated, health and social care, and community services. Integrated care systems are partnerships of organizations that deliver health and care services which were placed on a statutory footing in England, April 2022. Due to the need for fast, accessible, and relevant evidence, a rapid review was conducted according to World Health Organization methods to determine barriers and enablers of integrated care across the United Kingdom, 2018-2022.

The Impact of Culture-, Health- and Nature-Based Engagement on Mitigating the Adverse Effects of Public Health Restrictions on Wellbeing, Social Connectedness and Loneliness during COVID-19: Quantitative Evidence from a Smaller- and Larger-Scale UK Survey.

Numerous UK surveys conducted during COVID-19 examined the pandemic's detrimental effects on health, and the consequences of lockdown and other public health restrictions on mental health. Some surveys considered specific populations and social inequities exacerbated during COVID-19. Fewer surveys examined the ways in which the adverse effects of public health restrictions, such as lockdown, shielding and social distancing, might be alleviated.

Understanding and Improving Older People's Well-Being through Social Prescribing Involving the Cultural Sector: Interviews from a Realist Evaluation.

Social prescribing is a non-clinical approach to addressing social, environmental, and economic factors affecting how people feel physical and/or emotionally. It involves connecting people to "community assets" (e.g.

Tailoring cultural offers to meet the needs of older people during uncertain times: a rapid realist review.

Background: Non-medical issues (e.g. loneliness, financial concerns, housing problems) can shape how people feel physically and psychologically.

The transition from in-person to virtual museum programing for individuals living with chronic pain - A formative evaluation.

Museum engagement may be an effective approach for decreasing social disconnection and pain among individuals living with chronic pain. In October 2019, we launched a randomized controlled trial to assess the feasibility of museum engagement for individuals living with chronic pain; the study was halted in March, 2020 due to Covid-19-related safety concerns. This paper describes the process of transitioning from in-person to virtual museum programing in order to continue the study.

Rapid Evidence Review of Community Engagement and Resources in the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Can Community Assets Redress Health Inequities?

Community engagement, such as participating in arts, nature or leisurely activities, is positively associated with psychological and physiological wellbeing. Community-based engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated informal and local mutual aid between individuals. This rapid evidence review assesses the emergence of community-based arts, nature, music, theatre and other types of cultural engagement amongst UK communities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social, cultural and community engagement and mental health: cross-disciplinary, co-produced research agenda.

Background: There is increasing cross-disciplinary research on the relationship between individuals' social, cultural and community engagement (SCCE) and mental health. SCCE includes engagement in the arts, culture and heritage, libraries and literature, sports and nature activities, volunteering, and community groups. Research has demonstrated the effects of these activities both on the prevention and management of mental illness.

Assessing the impact of artistic and cultural activities on the health and well-being of forcibly displaced people using participatory action research.

Objective: Drawing on a growing body of research suggesting that taking part in artistic and cultural activities benefits health and well-being, the objective was to develop a participatory action research (PAR) method for assessing the impact of arts interventions on forcibly displaced people, and identify themes concerning perceived benefits of such programmes.

Design: A collaborative study following PAR principles of observation, focus groups and in-depth semistructured interviews.

Setting: London-based charity working with asylum seekers and refugees.

New genus of extinct Holocene gibbon associated with humans in Imperial China.

Although all extant apes are threatened with extinction, there is no evidence for human-caused extinctions of apes or other primates in postglacial continental ecosystems, despite intensive anthropogenic pressures associated with biodiversity loss for millennia in many regions. Here, we report a new, globally extinct genus and species of gibbon, , described from a partial cranium and mandible from a ~2200- to 2300-year-old tomb from Shaanxi, China. can be differentiated from extant hylobatid genera and the extinct Quaternary gibbon by using univariate and multivariate analyses of craniodental morphometric data.

Effects of a museum-based social prescription intervention on quantitative measures of psychological wellbeing in older adults.

Aims: To assess psychological wellbeing in a novel social prescription intervention for older adults called Museums on Prescription and to explore the extent of change over time in six self-rated emotions ('absorbed', 'active', 'cheerful', 'encouraged', 'enlightened' and 'inspired').

Methods: Participants ( n = 115) aged 65-94 years were referred to museum-based programmes comprising 10 weekly sessions, by healthcare and third sector organisations using inclusion criteria (e.g.

Museums, health and wellbeing research: co-developing a new observational method for people with dementia in hospital contexts.

Aims: The aim of this article is to present a new observational tool for assessing the impacts of museum object handling for people with moderate-to-severe dementia in hospital settings, focusing on wellbeing, social interaction, level of engagement and agitation. This article presents a four-step approach to collaboration towards co-developing the tool, which involved a range of academics, museums professionals, and health and social care partners, and describes the process of integrating multiple perspectives towards common research methodologies.

Methods: The research team organised a series of meetings and workshops with museum and healthcare partners to identify commonly used assessments and their perspectives on the objectives and possible outcomes of museum object handling activities.

Museum-based programs for socially isolated older adults: Understanding what works.

This paper presents research findings that help to understand how museum programs created opportunities to enhance wellbeing and health, and changed experiences of social isolation in older adults. The research conceptualized how program elements enabled both individual experiences and relational processes to occur. These components operated within a context that was enriched by the museum as a place to support wellbeing and enhance social interaction.

Spatiotemporal requirements of the Hainan gibbon: Does home range constrain recovery of the world's rarest ape?

Unlabelled: Conservation management requires an evidence-based approach, as uninformed decisions can signify the difference between species recovery and loss. The Hainan gibbon, the world's rarest ape, reportedly exploits the largest home range of any gibbon species, with these apparently large spatial requirements potentially limiting population recovery. However, previous home range assessments rarely reported survey methods, effort, or analytical approaches, hindering critical evaluation of estimate reliability.

Identifying environmental versus phylogenetic correlates of behavioural ecology in gibbons: implications for conservation management of the world's rarest ape.

Background: For conservation of highly threatened species to be effective, it is crucial to differentiate natural population parameters from atypical behavioural, ecological and demographic characteristics associated with human disturbance and habitat degradation, which can constrain population growth and recovery. Unfortunately, these parameters can be very hard to determine for species of extreme rarity. The Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus), the world's rarest ape, consists of a single population of c.

Mixed methods evaluation of well-being benefits derived from a heritage-in-health intervention with hospital patients.

Background: This study sought to determine the effects of a heritage-in-health intervention on well-being. Benefits of arts-in-health interventions are relatively well-documented yet little robust research has been conducted using heritage-in-health interventions, such as those involving museum objects.

Methods: Hospital patients ( = 57) participated in semi-structured, 30-40 minute facilitated interview sessions, discussing and handling museum objects comprising selections of six artefacts and specimens loaned from archaeology, art, geology and natural history collections.

Well-Being With Objects: Evaluating a Museum Object-Handling Intervention for Older Adults in Health Care Settings.

The extent to which a museum object-handling intervention enhanced older adult well-being across three health care settings was examined. The program aimed to determine whether therapeutic benefits could be measured objectively using clinical scales. Facilitator-led, 30 to 40 min sessions handling and discussing museum objects were conducted in acute and elderly care (11 one-to-ones), residential (4 one-to-ones and 1 group of five), and psychiatric (4 groups of five) settings.

Museums and art galleries as partners for public health interventions.

The majority of public health programmes are based in schools, places of employment and in community settings. Likewise, nearly all health-care interventions occur in clinics and hospitals. An underdeveloped area for public health-related planning that carries international implications is the cultural heritage sector, and specifically museums and art galleries.

Enhancing cancer patient well-being with a nonpharmacological, heritage-focused intervention.

Context: Nonpharmacological, arts-focused interventions in health care have demonstrated considerable improvements in cancer patient well-being, although there is a little clinically robust, empirical evidence to demonstrate the value of heritage-focused practices.

Objectives: This study examined the effectiveness of a novel, nonpharmacological, heritage-focused intervention with adult female inpatients receiving cancer treatment in oncology wards of a large, central London hospital.

Methods: In the tactile experimental condition, participants handled and discussed a selection of museum objects with a facilitator, whereas in the visual control condition, participants discussed photographs of the same objects.

Investigating the therapeutic potential of a heritage-object focused intervention: a qualitative study.

This study explores the therapeutic potential of heritage-object handling in nurse-patient encounters with women facing cancer. Ten women participated in an object-focused conversation with a nurse specialist. Sessions were audio-tape recorded and transcribed.

Inter- and intra-specific scaling of articular surface areas in the hominoid talus.

The morphology of postcranial articular surfaces is expected to reflect their weight-bearing properties, as well as the stability and mobility of the articulations to which they contribute. Previous studies have mainly confirmed earlier predictions of isometric scaling between articular surface areas and body mass; the exception to this is 'male-type', convex articular surface areas, which may scale allometrically due to differences in locomotor strategies within the analysed samples. In the present study, we used new surface scanning technology to quantify more accurately articular surface areas and to test those predictions within the talus of hominoid primates, including modern humans.