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Care in the Community policies has led to people with mental illness receiving treatment and care at home; however, few studies have examined the impact on carers of providing care to a person with mental illness. This was a qualitative study of the experiences of 11 women who are informal carers of people with a long‐term mental illness. The study aimed to gain an understanding of the characteristics of this particular caregiving context that contributes to the stress of the role, and to identify the ways in which services could support women in these roles to promote their wellbeing and support the recovery of those they care for. Two groups of themes emerged: the first was the sources of stress, which included how they became a carer, family obligations and relationships and engaging with services. The second was the impact on health and wellbeing, including emotional and mental health, the need for, and absence of support, and coping with stress. The study highlighted a number of unique features of mental illness that lead to additional stress for the carer and render the usual support structures and delivery mechanisms inappropriate. The results pose challenges for those tasked with supporting carers in this context and developing interventions to promote recovery in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KEENEY S., MCKENNA H., FLEMING P. & MCILFATRICK S. (2010) European Journal of Cancer Care 19, 769-777 Attitudes to cancer and cancer prevention: what do people aged 35-54 years think? The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of people in mid-life towards cancer prevention. The study was undertaken in Northern Ireland between 2003 and 2007. This was a mixed methods study using a sequential exploratory design. The theoretical framework was the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the methodology was based on Sutton's framework. There were three methodological stages in the study using focus groups, a large cross-sectional survey and a volunteer sample survey. This paper focuses on the findings of the cross-sectional survey relating to the attitudes of people in mid-life towards cancer and cancer prevention. Findings are considered in relation to the respondents' level of knowledge, age, gender, level of educational attainment and socio-economic status. Evidence from this study shows that attitudes towards cancer and cancer prevention are associated significantly with level of knowledge about cancer, gender, socio-economic status and level of educational attainment. In conclusion, the evidence from this study shows that men, those with a lower level of education, those with a lower level of knowledge and those in a lower socio-economic group were more likely to hold negative attitudes about cancer and cancer prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Supporting people to live at home in line with community care policies requires increasing attention to assessing, communicating and managing risks. There is a challenge in supporting client choices that include risk‐taking while demonstrating professional accountability. Risk communication becomes increasingly important with the need to engage clients and families in meaningful shared decision‐making. This presents particular challenges in dementia services. This survey of risk communication in dementia care was administered to all health and social care professionals in community dementia services in Northern Ireland: June–September 2016. Of 270 professionals, 70 questionnaires were fully completed, with 55 partial completions. Scores on the Berlin Numeracy Test plus Schwartz items was low‐moderate (mean 2.79 out of 7). This study did not find a significant association between numeracy and accurate perceptions of risk likelihoods in practice‐based scenarios. Although 86% reported using numeric information in practice (mostly from assessment tools), respondents rarely communicated themselves using numbers. As in other domains, participants’ responses were widely variable on numeric estimates of verbal terms for likelihood. In relation to medication side effects, few participants provided responses that were concordant with those in the guidance of the European Union. The risks most commonly encountered in practice were (in rank order): falls, depression, poor personal hygiene, medicines mismanagement, leaving home unsupervised, financial mismanagement, malnutrition, swallowing difficulties, abuse from others, risks to others, home appliance accidents and refusing equipment. Respondents generally overestimated the likelihood of serious harmful events by approximately 10‐fold (having a missing person's report filed with the police; having a fall resulting in hospitalisation) and by approximately double (being involved in a car accident; causing a home fire), and with wide variation between respondents. There is potential in icon arrays for communicating risks. Risk literacy among dementia care practitioners needs to be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the actual and the potential role of the primary care nurse ( PCN) in the prevention of cancer. International studies have indicated that a range of strategies can have an impact on the incidence of cancer. Due to their frequent front-line contact with the public, PCNs can play an important role in the primary prevention of cancer. Nonetheless, there is a lack of information on their actual and potential role in cancer prevention. A sequential confirmatory mixed methods approach was used. Postal questionnaires were administered to PCNs [ n = 500; 225 returns (response rate 45%)] followed by semi-structured interviews ( n = 15). PCNs provided high levels of cancer prevention activities, specifically focusing on smoking cessation, obesity and cervical screening. They considered that their cancer prevention role could be improved through additional practice-based training and more collaborative inter-professional working. They also identified the need for a better understanding of how to change people's attitudes and behaviours regarding cancer prevention. Evidence from this study provide important insights into the potential of the PCN to empower individuals to take responsibility for their own health and make more informed lifestyle choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to compare and contrast how midwives working in either hospital or community settings are currently responding to the co-occurrence of domestic and child abuse (CA), their perceived role and willingness to identify abuse, record keeping, reporting of suspected or definite cases of CA and training received. A survey questionnaire was sent to 861 hospital and community midwives throughout Northern Ireland which resulted in 488 midwives completing the questionnaire, leading to a 57% response rate. Comparisons were made using descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation, and the questionnaire was validated using exploratory factor analysis. Community midwives reported receiving more training on domestic and CA. Although a high percent of both hospital and community midwives acknowledged a link between domestic violence (DV) and CA, it was the community midwives who encountered more suspected and definite ( P < 0.001) cases of CA. More community midwives reported to be aware of the mechanisms for reporting CA. However, an important finding is that although 12% of community midwives encountered a definite case of CA, only 2% reported the abuse, leaving a 10% gap between reporting and identifying definite cases of CA. Findings suggest that lack of education and training was a problem as only a quarter of hospital-based midwives reported to have received training on DV and 40% on CA. This was significantly less than that received by community midwives, as 57% received training on DV, and 62% on CA. The study suggests that midwives need training on how to interact with abused mothers using non-coercive, supportive and empowering mechanisms. Many women may not spontaneously disclose the issues of child or domestic abuse in their lives, but often respond honestly to a sensitively asked question. This issue is important as only 13% of the sample actually asked a woman a direct question about DV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]