Produced by an expert task force of IMPRESS, this new guide on pulmonary rehabilitation services (PR) aims to answer the questions that most healthcare commissioners want answered. It supplements a Commissioning Pack for COPD due to be issued by the Department of Health England early in 2012. Providing clinical leadership to the NHS to stimulate [read the full story…]
Based on the ‘Health Inequalities and People with Learning Disabilities in the UK’ report this document looks at ways to put the evidence base into practice to improve health outcomes for people with learning disabilities. The report looks at what is known about the social determinants of poorer health in people with learning disabilities, increased [read the full story…]
Adult mental health services in the NHS should be improved to provide person-centred care that tackles the stigma associated with mental illness, says NICE. People with mental health issues should have access to mental health services when they need them, and should be actively involved in shared decision-making and supported in self-management. This latest NICE [read the full story…]
This new guideline published today suggests that psychological interventions should be offered to people who self-harm to help them overcome their behavioural problems. Specifically it recommends that healthcare professionals should offer 3-12 sessions of a psychological intervention that is specifically structured for people who self-harm. The intervention should aim to reduce self-harm and should be [read the full story…]
An international group of eminent clinicians have produced an executive report for the World Psychiatric Association, which looks at how well antidepressants work in the acute treatment of depression. The study is described as a ‘scholarly narrative review’ and the authors have considered guidelines, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and randomised controlled trials from a very wide [read the full story…]
This Canadian rapid response report will be of interest to anyone looking for a general introduction to the high level evidence relating to hospital admission and the treatment of patients with anorexia nervosa. The authors found 1 meta-analysis, 2 systematic reviews and 3 guidelines, but no health technology assessments. They summarised their findings as follows: [read the full story…]
NICE have published a new guide to help commissioners, clinicians and managers who commission services for people with common mental health disorders. Here’s the blurb from the NICE press release: Approaching the commissioning of mental health services as part of an integrated care pathway and illustrated with service models, the NICE guide for commissioners identifies [read the full story…]
Aripiprazole (brand names Abilify and Aripiprex) is an atypical antipsychotic drug used to treat a number of mental health disorders including schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. This new guidance has been written by a group of Pan-European experts who have come together to review new clinical guidelines for the management of mania and the role of aripiprazole [read the full story…]
Assisted suicide generates debate on a variety of levels – ethical, moral, religious, spiritual, political, cultural, psychological, professional and legal. It is an issue that affects the nursing workforce, both as individuals and as health professionals. Most people who are approaching the end of their lives in the UK do not ask a health professional [read the full story…]
The use of topical fluoride together with fluoridated water and fissure sealants are mainstays of caries management. A range of non-fluoride agents caries preventive agents are also in use and these are reviewed to provide evidence-based clinical recommendations. The authors evaluated studies of sucrose-free polyol chewing gums, xylitol dentifrices, chlorhexidine, chlorhexidine in combination with thymol, [read the full story…]
