Drawing on emotions: the evolving role of art therapy.

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses art media to improve well-being. This article explores the history and development of art therapy, from the first description of art therapy in the 1940s, to the two main approaches still in use today. The benefits of art therapy with regard to its delivery, patient population, and cost are then broadly discussed.

A practitioner behaviour change intervention for deprescribing in the hospital setting.

Background: hospital deprescribing trials have demonstrated marginal increases in deprescribing activity that are not sustained beyond the trial period. The hospital deprescribing implementation framework (hDIF) links barriers and enablers of deprescribing in hospital with 44 potential intervention components. This study aimed to support geriatricians and pharmacists to select and characterise hDIF components according to affordability, practicability, effectiveness, acceptability, safety and equity (APEASE) to design a deprescribing intervention in the English hospital setting.

Continuous glucose monitoring in older people with diabetes and memory problems: a mixed-methods feasibility study in the UK.

Objectives: Older people with diabetes are at increased risk of harm from hypoglycaemia, particularly where there are coexisting memory problems. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) offers important benefits in terms of detecting hypoglycaemia, but the feasibility of use and extent of data capture has not been tested in this patient group. Our objective was to investigate the feasibility of trialling a CGM intervention in the community setting in older people with diabetes and memory problems.

Development of a hospital deprescribing implementation framework: A focus group study with geriatricians and pharmacists.

Background: over 50% of older people in hospital are prescribed a pre-admission medicine that is potentially inappropriate; however, deprescribing by geriatricians and pharmacists is limited. This study aimed to characterise geriatricians' and pharmacists' barriers and enablers to deprescribing in hospital. It also intended to develop a framework of intervention components to facilitate implementation of hospital deprescribing.

Attitudinal predictors of older peoples' and caregivers' desire to deprescribe in hospital.

Background: Deprescribing is a partnership between practitioners, patients and caregivers. External characteristics including age, comorbidities and polypharmacy are poor predictors of attitude towards deprescribing. This hospital-based study aimed to describe the desire of patients and caregivers to be involved in medicine decision-making, and identify attitudinal predictors of desire to try stopping a medicine.

Validation and Feasibility of the Medication Acceptability Questionnaire to Investigate Tablet and Liquid Alendronic Acid with Older Hospital Patients.

The effects of formulation characteristics on acceptability are poorly understood. This study evaluated the validity and feasibility of using the Medication Acceptability Questionnaire (MAQ) to investigate factors influencing acceptability of tablet compared with liquid alendronic acid. Written consent was obtained from eligible patients on Older People's Medicine wards.

Deprescribing admission medication at a UK teaching hospital; a report on quantity and nature of activity.

Background Deprescribing medication may be in response to an adverse clinical trigger (reactive) or if future gains are unlikely to outweigh future harms (proactive). A hospital admission may present an opportunity for deprescribing, however current practice is poorly understood. Objective To quantify and describe the nature of deprescribing in a UK teaching hospital.

Addressing inequalities in eye health with subsidies and increased fees for General Ophthalmic Services in socio-economically deprived communities: a sensitivity analysis.

Objectives: Poor knowledge of eye health, concerns about the cost of spectacles, mistrust of optometrists and limited geographical access in socio-economically deprived areas are barriers to accessing regular eye examinations and result in low uptake and subsequent late presentation to ophthalmology clinics. Personal Medical Services (PMS) were introduced in the late 1990 s to provide locally negotiated solutions to problems associated with inequalities in access to primary care. An equivalent approach to delivery of optometric services could address inequalities in the uptake of eye examinations.

Do older patients find multi-compartment medication devices easy to use and which are the easiest?

Background: multi-compartment medication devices (MMDs) are widely used, primarily by older people, to aid correct-medication taking. Several MMD types are available yet little is known about the ease with which patients with varying functional ability use these devices and whether some types are easier than others. Such knowledge would assist healthcare practitioners in advising patients on a suitable choice of device.

Improving recruitment of older people to research through good practice.

There is widespread evidence both of the exclusion of older people from clinical research, and of under-recruitment to clinical trials. This review and opinion piece provides practical advice to assist researchers both to adopt realistic, achievable recruitment rates and to increase the number of older people taking part in research. It analyses 14 consecutive recently published trials, providing the number needed to be screened to recruit one older participant (around 3:1), numbers excluded (up to 49%), drop out rates (5-37%) and whether the planned power was achieved.

Prevalence, characteristics and outcomes of people aged 65 years and over with an incidental rise in cardiac troponin I. An observational prospective cohort study.

Background: Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is a sensitive and specific marker of acute cardiac damage. We examined the prevalence, characteristics and outcome of incidental cTnI rises in older patients.

Methods: One hundred and eighty-seven consecutive patients aged 65 years or over with a raised cTnI on admission at least 8 h after symptom onset were categorised into: (1) ST-elevation myocardial infarction, (2) other acute coronary syndromes (ACS), (3) other recognised non-ACS causes of cTnI rise and (4) non-ACS with no other identifiable cause (an incidental finding).

CT diagnosis and outcome of primary brain tumours in the elderly: a cohort study.

Background: The incidence of primary brain tumours (PBT) increases with age. Survival outcome depends on the treatment modality and histological type of the tumour.

Objectives: To compare the survival outcome between those who had brain biopsy and those who did not among those who had PBT diagnosed by computerised tomography (CT).