Patient reactions to community pharmacies' roles: evidence from the Portuguese market.

Background: There is little knowledge about how patients perceive and react to the extended role of community pharmacies.

Aim: To develop a model describing the expanded role of Portuguese community pharmacies as comprising three roles - medicines supplier, advice provider and community health promoter - and two important patient reactions: satisfaction and loyalty.

Design: In 2010, 1200 face-to-face interviews were conducted with patients of community pharmacies in Portugal.

Development of a competency tool for adult trained nurses caring for people with intellectual disabilities.

Aim: To develop and test a competency assessment tool for adult trained nurses caring for people with intellectual disabilities in hospital.

Background: The report 'Death by indifference' in 2007 highlighted inadequate care given to people with intellectual disabilities in hospital. This study sought to develop and test a competency assessment tool for adult trained nurses in the care of this patient group.

Shingles vaccination: background and advice for community nurses.

Shingles (or zoster) is a reactivation of an existing varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection. During the initial infection, VZV causes a systemic disease known as varicella or chickenpox, and this initial infection normally occurs early in childhood in the absence of routine vaccination. Although varicella is normally a mild disease, shingles is associated with significant morbidity and some mortality, particularly in older people.

Recognising and managing atrial fibrillation in the community.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and has greater prevalence in the increasing ageing population, with an estimated 10% of those over 80 years having AF. Symptoms associated with AF include palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath and fatigue. Those presenting with these symptoms need to be investigated and the appropriate treatment should be initiated if AF is detected.

Clinical handovers between prehospital and hospital staff: literature review.

Background: Clinical handover plays a vital role in patient care and has been investigated in hospital settings, but less attention has been paid to the interface between prehospital and hospital settings. This paper reviews the published research on these handovers.

Methods: A computerised literature search was conducted for papers published between 2000 and 2013 using combinations of terms: 'handover', 'handoff', 'prehospital', 'ambulance', 'paramedic' and 'emergency' and citation searching.

Using peer observers to assess the quality of cancer multidisciplinary team meetings: a qualitative proof of concept study.

Background: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) working is well established as the foundation for providing cancer services in the UK and elsewhere. A core activity is the weekly meeting (or case conference/tumor boards) where the treatment recommendations for individual patients are agreed. Evidence suggests that the quality of team working varies across cancer teams, and this may impact negatively on the decision-making process, and ultimately patient care.

A survey of sitting time among UK employees.

Background: Sedentary behaviour is a known risk factor for a wide range of chronic diseases. This major health risk is likely to increase given the increasingly sedentary nature of work.

Aims: To investigate the prevalence of sedentary behaviour in a sample of UK working-aged adults, across a range of employment sectors.

Poorer glycaemic control in type 1 diabetes is associated with reduced self-management and poorer perceived health: a cross-sectional study.

Aims: Many people with type 1 diabetes do not achieve optimal treatment targets despite high patient and professional input. To investigate the reasons underlying suboptimal control we have studied clinical characteristics and self-management behaviours in adults with type 1 diabetes attending a large treatment centre.

Methods: A questionnaire-based enquiry into self-care behaviours of 380 patients with type 1 diabetes (mean age: 48 (±15) years and mean duration of diabetes: 26 (±15) years), linked with validated measures of impact of treatment on perceived health and hypoglycaemia recognition (Insulin Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire; and EuroQoL EQ-5D, Gold score) and retrospective case note review of biomedical parameters.

Community nursing and intermittent self-catheterisation.

Clean intermittent self-catheterisation (CISC) is a treatment option for people with urinary incontinence-particularly those with neurogenic bladder dysfunction. When used for appropriate patients it has been shown to promote continence, maintain safe bladder function and improve quality of life. There is a range of different products available on prescription for patients, and community nurses are ideally placed to advise them regarding products and to offer choice to those performing CISC.

Older people and alcohol use.

The proportion of older people drinking alcohol above the recommended levels has been increasing in the UK. Alcohol dependency and misuse can lead to various physical and psychological problems for older people. A range of factors can influence alcohol dependency and misuse among older adults, which need careful consideration when interventions are being developed to reduce consumption.

Safer@home-Simulation and training: the study protocol of a qualitative action research design.

Introduction: While it is predicted that telecare and other information and communication technology (ICT)-assisted services will have an increasingly important role in future healthcare services, their implementation in practice is complex. For implementation of telecare to be successful and ensure quality of care, sufficient training for staff (healthcare professionals) and service users (patients) is fundamental. Telecare training has been found to have positive effects on attitudes to, sustained use of, and outcomes associated with telecare.

Influence of primary care practices on patients' uptake of diabetic retinopathy screening: a qualitative case study.

Background: The NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme aims to reduce the risk of sight loss among people with diabetes in England by enabling prompt diagnosis of sight-threatening retinopathy. However, the rate of screening uptake between practices can vary from 55% to 95%. Existing research focuses on the impact of patient demographics but little is known about GP practice-related factors that can make a difference.

Does the Use of Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine in Treating Patients with Uncomplicated falciparum Malaria Reduce the Risk for Recurrent New falciparum Infection More Than Artemether-Lumefantrine?

Malaria contributes significantly to the global disease burden. The World Health Organization recommended the use of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) for treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria a decade ago in response to problems of drug resistance. This review compared two of the ACTs-Dihydroartemisinin-Piperaquine (DP) and Artemether-Lumefantrine (AL) to provide evidence which one has the ability to offer superior posttreatment prophylaxis at 28 and 42 days posttreatment.

Do doctors' smoking habits influence their smoking cessation practices? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims: To assess the association between doctors' smoking status and the use of the '5As' of smoking cessation.

Methods: A systematic search of 11 databases covering English and Spanish language publications since 1996 was undertaken. Studies were included if they reported doctors' smoking status (current, former or never smoker) and rates of practising any of the 5As of smoking cessation (Ask; Advise; Assess; Assist; and Arrange).

Exaltation in temporal lobe epilepsy: neuropsychiatric symptom or portal to the divine?

Religiosity is a prominent feature of the Geschwind syndrome, a behavioural pattern found in some cases of temporal lobe epilepsy. Since the 1950s, when Wilder Penfield induced spiritual feelings by experimental manipulation of the temporal lobes, development of brain imaging technology has revealed neural correlates of intense emotional states, spurring the growth of neurotheology. In their secular empiricism, psychiatry, neurology and psychology are inclined to pathologise deviant religious expression, thereby reinforcing the dualism of objective and phenomenal worlds.

Maternal extraversion, emotional stability and conscientiousness are associated with initiation and continuation of breastfeeding.

Implications for practice and research: Understanding maternal trait personality could inform targeted interventions for women identified as requiring additional breastfeeding support and help to facilitate discussion of barriers to breastfeeding. Further research is needed to explore the impact of maternal personality on effectiveness of interventions designed to increase coping strategies and influence of social networks among women who wish to start and continue to breastfeed.

Employers' and employees' views on responsibilities for career management in nursing: a cross-sectional survey.

Aim: To examine nurse employees' and employers' views about responsibilities for managing nurses' careers.

Background: Career management policies are associated with cost savings, in terms of workforce recruitment and retention and an increase in job and career satisfaction. In nursing, responsibility for career management remains relatively unexplored.

Effectiveness of alcohol brief interventions in general practice.

Harmful levels of alcohol consumption are a longstanding but continually growing health concern affecting individuals, and consequently populations. Through personalised advice, alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) target drinking habits, which are deemed damaging to health. They are not targeted at dependent drinkers for whom a more intensive and specialist service would be better suited.

A feminist narrative study of the maternity care experiences of women who were sexually abused in childhood.

Background: One in five women experience childhood sexual abuse and these women may suffer trauma during childbirth. Their maternity care is often reminiscent of their abuse.

Objective: To inform practice by exploring the impact that childhood sexual abuse has on the maternity care experiences of adult women.