Purpose: To research involvement of healthcare staff in the UK and identify practical organisational and policy solutions to improve and boost capacity of the existing workforce to conduct research.
Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-method study presenting three work packages here: secondary analysis of levels of staff research activity, funding, academic outputs and workforce among healthcare organisations in the United Kingdom; 39 Research and Development lead and funder interviews; an online survey of 11 healthcare organisations across the UK, with 1,016 responses from healthcare staff included for analysis; and 51 interviews of healthcare staff in different roles from six UK healthcare organisations.
Findings: Interest in research involvement is strong and widespread but hampered by a lack of systematic organisational support despite national policies and strategies to increase staff engagement in research.
Matern Child Nutr
January 2023
Media can be a powerful communication tool to promote breastfeeding, influence mothers' breastfeeding behaviour, create positive social norms and generate support among stakeholders and policymakers for breastfeeding. However, negative stories could deter women from starting or continuing to breastfeed. This study aimed to describe the breadth and focus of the media coverage of breastfeeding and the message frames that are found in three of the most widely read national newspapers and three popular women's magazines in Great Britain over a 12-month period, as part of the Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly in Great Britain (BBF-GB) study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBreastfeeding is the most accessible and cost-effective activity available to public health and has been shown to be one of the most effective preventive measures mothers can take to protect their children's health. Despite the well-documented benefits, the UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. The Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) toolkit was developed through highly structured technical and academic collaboration, led by Yale University.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) in Great Britain study was conducted during 2017-2019 comprising three country studies: BBF England, Wales and Scotland. It was part of an international project being coordinated during the same period by the Yale School of Public Health across five world regions to inform countries and guide policies to improve the environment for the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding. This paper reports on the application of the BBF process that is based on an implementation science approach, across the countries that constitute Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMatern Child Nutr
January 2023
Despite strong policy support in Scotland, United Kingdom, key challenges to scaling up promotion, protection and support for breastfeeding remain. These include low breastfeeding rates and socioeconomic and regional inequalities. The Becoming Breastfeeding-Friendly (BBF) process was implemented to highlight actions that could address these challenges.
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