Partnership working in dual diagnosis.

Many mental health clients have problems with drug and alcohol use. This article describes how a collaborative project at Leicestershire Partnership Trust is addressing the needs of clients with dual diagnosis. It outlines the aims of the project, the successes and the challenges, and provides guidance on setting up a collaborative service.

Developing a training programme for detecting and tackling childhood sexual abuse.

Childhood sexual abuse can be implicated in a range of mentalhealthproblems, including depression and anxiety, but often mental healthcare staff lack confidence in dealing with the issue. Leicestershire Partnership Trust, which provides mental health, learning disability and substance use services, introduced the Department of Health's violence and abuse training programme, as part of the second wave pilot, to support staff in raising the issue and providing appropriate care.

Physical activity for primary and secondary prevention. Position paper of the Working Group on Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology of the European Society of Cardiology.

There is now clear scientific evidence linking regular aerobic physical activity to a significant cardiovascular risk reduction, and a sedentary lifestyle is currently considered one of the five major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In the European Union, available data seem to indicate that less than 50% of the citizens are involved in regular aerobic leisure-time and/or occupational physical activity, and that the observed increasing prevalence of obesity is associated with a sedentary lifestyle. It seems reasonable therefore to provide institutions, health services, and individuals with information able to implement effective strategies for the adoption of a physically active lifestyle and for helping people to effectively incorporate physical activity into their daily life both in the primary and the secondary prevention settings.

Secondary prevention through cardiac rehabilitation: position paper of the Working Group on Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology of the European Society of Cardiology.

The purpose of this statement is to provide specific recommendations in regard to evaluation and intervention in each of the core components of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) to assist CR staff in the design and development of their programmes; the statement should also assist health care providers, insurers, policy makers and consumers in the recognition of the comprehensive nature of such programmes. Those charged with responsibility for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, whether at European, at national or at individual centre level, need to consider where and how structured programmes of CR can be delivered to the large constituency of patients now considered eligible for CR.