The role of participatory music making in supporting people with dementia in hospital environments.

Background Improving the quality of care for people with dementia in general hospitals is a key priority. Creative activities including music have been examined for their potential role in enhancing quality of life for people with dementia, although relatively few studies have evaluated their use in acute hospital settings. Methods A mixed methods study examined the effects of a ten week period of weekly music sessions on the wellbeing of patients with dementia and on the ward environment in an acute elderly care service in a UK hospital.

Strengthening medical appraisal: reactions to proposals for a new appraisal system to support revalidation.

This paper introduces the first stage of the NHS Revalidation Support Team's (RST) proposals to strengthen medical appraisal. It reports on four focus groups held at London Deanery in 2010, with the aim of gauging initial reactions from general practitioners (GPs). The four groups consisted of two groups of appraisers and two groups of appraisees.

Mentoring for NHS general practitioners: a prospective pilot study of an action learning approach.

Background: Annual GP appraisal provides a standardised system to identify poorly performing or underperforming doctors as well as development needs. Mentoring is widely used for enhancing personal and professional development and might help address these needs. However, doubts have been expressed in the literature about the strength of the supporting evidence.

Using actors to simulate doctors in the continuing professional development of GP trainers and appraisers.

Simulation has radically changed medical training and is set to continue to do so in the future. The branch of simulation that sees actors playing a role in training and assessment is long-established and well-developed. Typically actors have been used to play the role of patient.