Living less safely through the pandemic in England for people with serious mental and physical health conditions: qualitative interviews with service users and carers of Black African, Caribbean, and South-Asian descent.

Background: COVID-19 Ethnic Inequalities in Mental health and Multimorbidities (COVEIMM) is a mixed methods study to explore whether COVID-19 exacerbated ethnic health inequalities in adults with serious mental and physical health conditions. We analysed data from electronic health records for England and conducted interviews in Birmingham and Solihull, Manchester, and South London. Sites were selected because they were pilot sites for the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework being introduced by NHS England to tackle race inequalities in mental health.

How Unnatural Amino Acids in Antimicrobial Peptides Change Interactions with Lipid Model Membranes.

This study investigates the potential of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as alternatives to combat antibiotic resistance, with a focus on two AMPs containing unnatural amino acids (UAAs), E2-53R (16 AAs) and LE-54R (14 AAs). In both peptides, valine is replaced by norvaline (Nva), and tryptophan is replaced by 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid (Tic). Microbiological studies reveal their potent activity against both Gram-negative (G(-)) and Gram-positive (G(+)) bacteria without any toxicity to eukaryotic cells at test concentrations up to 32 μM.

Politics-evidence conflict in national health policy making in Africa: a scoping review.

Background: Generally, public health policy-making is hardly a linear process and is characterized by interactions among politicians, institutions, researchers, technocrats and practitioners from diverse fields, as well as brokers, interest groups, financiers and a gamut of other actors. Meanwhile, most public health policies and systems in Africa appear to be built loosely on technical and scientific evidence, but with high political systems and ideologies. While studies on national health policies in Africa are growing, there seems to be inadequate evidence mapping on common themes and concepts across existing literature.

Severe mental illness, race/ethnicity, multimorbidity and mortality following COVID-19 infection: nationally representative cohort study.

Background: The association of COVID-19 with death in people with severe mental illness (SMI), and associations with multimorbidity and ethnicity, are unclear.

Aims: To determine all-cause mortality in people with SMI following COVID-19 infection, and assess whether excess mortality is affected by multimorbidity or ethnicity.

Method: This was a retrospective cohort study using primary care data from the Clinical Practice Research Database, from February 2020 to April 2021.

Addressing the gap for racially diverse research involvement: The King's Model for minority ethnic research participant recruitment.

Objectives: Ethnic minorities (EM) are still underrepresented in research recruitment. Despite wide literature outlining the barriers, enablers and recommendations for driving inclusion and diversity in research, there is still little evidence for successful diversity in research participation, which has a direct impact on the quality of care provided to ethnically diverse individuals. A new, comprehensive approach to recruitment strategies is therefore necessary.

COVID-19 ethnic inequalities in mental health and multimorbidities: protocol for the COVEIMM study.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated ethnic health inequalities, particularly in people with multiple long-term health conditions, the interplay with mental health is unclear. This study investigates the impact of the pandemic on the association of ethnicity and multimorbidity with mortality/service use among adults, in people living with severe mental illnesses (SMI).

Methods: This study will utilise secondary mental healthcare records via the Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) and nationally representative primary care records through the Clinical Practice Interactive Research Database (CPRD).

Ethnic Disparities in Treatment of Chronic Pain in Individuals with Parkinson's Disease Living in the United Kingdom.

Background: Over 80% people with Parkinson's disease (PD; PwP) live with chronic pain.

Objective: Whether ethnic disparities in receipt of appropriate analgesia exist among PwP with chronic pain living in the United Kingdom (UK).

Methods: A retrospective datamining of an existing King's PD Pain Questionnaire validation study dataset enrolling 300 PwP.

Service user perspectives of community mental health services for people with complex emotional needs: a co-produced qualitative interview study.

Background: There is consensus that services supporting people with complex emotional needs are part of a mental health care system in which change is needed. To date, service users' views and co-production initiatives have had little impact on the development of interventions and care. This needs to change, and our paper evidences the experiences and perspectives of a diverse range of people on how community services can best address the needs of people with complex emotional needs.

Does Ethnicity Influence Recruitment into Clinical Trials of Parkinson's Disease?

Background: Lack of participation of black and minority ethnic communities (BAME) in registered clinical trials is a concern as data emerging from these studies are used to licence new drugs or other interventions, even though findings made in such selected study populations have limited external validity in the aforesaid ethnic groups.

Objective: We used Parkinson's disease (PD), the fastest rising neurodegenerative disorder in the world, as an exemplar condition to test our hypothesis that participants from BAME communities are underrepresented in clinical trials.

Methods: A systematic search of clinical trials registered on a Clinicaltrials.

Tackling racism in UK health research.

set out the barriers and solutions to eliminating inequalities embedded in the UK health research system

A Smartphone App Designed to Empower Patients to Contribute Toward Safer Surgical Care: Qualitative Evaluation of Diverse Public and Patient Perceptions Using Focus Groups.

Background: MySurgery is a smartphone app designed to empower patients and their caregivers to contribute toward safer surgical care by following practical advice to help reduce susceptibility to errors and complications.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate service users' perceptions of MySurgery, including its perceived acceptability, the potential barriers and facilitators to accessing and using its content, and ideas about how to facilitate its effective implementation. The secondary aim is to analyze how the intended use of the app might differ for diverse patients, including seldom-heard groups.

Unravelling the Perspectives of Day and Night Traders in Selected Markets within a Sub-Saharan African City with a Malaria Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Survey.

Background: Malaria is still endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, with a high disease burden. Misconceptions about malaria contribute to poor attitudes and practices, further increasing the burden in endemic countries. Studies have examined the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of malaria among different populations.

Religion and the Risks of Sexually Transmissible Infections: Evidence from Britain.

Although a growing body of literature has explored the association between religion and the prevalence of sexually transmissible infections (STIs), the focus has mainly been on HIV/AIDS and developing countries. Using data from the British National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal), we examine the direct association between religion and the prevalence of STIs including individual perception of exposure and risk of STIs. We focus on the importance of religion to respondents, religious affiliation as well as frequency of attendance to religious meetings.

Exploring the theory, barriers and enablers for patient and public involvement across health, social care and patient safety: a systematic review of reviews.

Background: The emergence of patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare in the UK can be traced as far back as the 1970s. More recently, campaigns by harmed patients have led to a renewed focus on strengthening PPI. There is a growing awareness of the benefits of PPI in research as well as a need to address power inequities and a lack of diversity and inclusion.

The importance of power, context and agency in improving patient experience through a patient and family centred care approach.

Background: Research shows that the way that healthcare staff experience their job impacts on their individual performance, patient experience and outcomes as well as on the performance of organisations. This article builds on this literature by investigating, with multi-disciplinary clinical teams as well as patients and relatives, what factors help or hinder changes designed to improve patient experience.

Methods: Qualitative research looking at patient- and family-centred care (PFCC) on two care pathways (stroke and hip fracture) was conducted in England and Wales.

A Smartphone App Designed to Empower Patients to Contribute Toward Safer Surgical Care: Community-Based Evaluation Using a Participatory Approach.

Background: MySurgery is a smartphone app designed to increase patient and carer involvement in behaviors that contribute toward safety in surgical care.

Objective: This study presents a pilot evaluation of MySurgery in which we evaluated surgical patients' perceptions of the app in terms of its content, usability, and potential impacts on communication and safety.

Methods: A participatory action research (PAR) approach was used to formulate a research steering group consisting of 5 public representatives and 4 researchers with equal decision-making input.

Influence of external contextual factors on the implementation of health and social care interventions into practice within or across countries-a protocol for a 'best fit' framework synthesis.

Background: The widespread implementation of interventions is often hindered by a decline and variability in effectiveness across implementation sites. It is anticipated that variations in the characteristics of the external context in different sites, such as the political and funding environment, socio-cultural context, physical environment or population demographics can influence implementation outcome. However, there is only a limited understanding about which and how external contextual factors influence implementation.

Exploring the theory, barriers and enablers for patient and public involvement across health, social care and patient safety: a protocol for a systematic review of reviews.

Introduction: The emergence of patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare in the UK can be traced as far back as the 1970s. More recently, campaigns by harmed patients and their relatives have emerged as a result of clinical failings in the NHS, challenging paternalistic healthcare, which have led to a new focus on PPI in quality and safety, nationally and internationally. Evidence suggests that PPI within patient safety is often atheoretical and located within a biomedical discourse.

From tokenism to empowerment: progressing patient and public involvement in healthcare improvement.

Background: There have been repeated calls to better involve patients and the public and to place them at the centre of healthcare. Serious clinical and service failings in the UK and internationally increase the urgency and importance of addressing this problem. Despite this supportive policy context, progress to achieve greater involvement is patchy and slow and often concentrated at the lowest levels of involvement.