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Little is understood about social work students or social workers' perceptions of ageing in the UK. This paper presents a small-scale study of 20 master social work students' perceptions of ageing during the first year of their programme. A mixed method approach was employed over a two-staged research project, in both stages the social work students were asked to complete Kogan's attitudes towards older people scale (KATOPS) and draw a person aged 75. Results demonstrated that most students had neutral to positive attitudes towards older people at the beginning of the programme and these improved in stage two; all had positive attitudes. The drawings provided a visual narrative of their perceptions of older people; visual signifiers included physical signs of ageing. Fulfilment, emotion, family, individuality and appearance were emergent themes. Whilst the programme enhanced the students' perceptions more work is needed to dispel the myths and stereotypes about ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Eating self-regulatory capacity can help individuals to cope with the obesogenic environment and achieve, as well as maintain, a healthy weight and diet. At present, there is no comprehensive, reliable and valid questionnaire for assessing this capacity and measuring change in response to self-regulation interventions in adults. This paper reports the development of the Self-regulation of Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (SREBQ) for use in UK adults, and presents evidence for its reliability and construct validity. The development of the SREBQ involved generation of an item pool, followed by two pilot studies (Samples 1 and 2) and a test of the questionnaire's underlying factor structure (Sample 3). The final version of the SREBQ was then assessed for reliability and construct validity (Sample 4). Results: Development of the SREBQ resulted in a 5-item questionnaire. The face validity was satisfactory, as assessed by the pilot studies. The factor structure analysis (Sample 3) suggested that it has a single underlying factor, which was confirmed in a second sample (Sample 4). The SREBQ had strong construct validity, showing a positive correlation with general measures of self-regulation. It was also positively correlated with motivation and behavioural automaticity, and negatively correlated with food responsiveness and emotional over-eating (p < 0.001). It showed good discriminant validity, as it was only weakly associated with satiety responsiveness, food fussiness and slowness in eating. Conclusions: The SREBQ is a reliable and valid measure for assessment of eating self-regulatory capacity in the general UK adult population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focusses on coping strategies employed by children and adolescents with diagnosed short stature, assesses the impact of socio-demographic and clinical characteristics on coping, examines the relationship between coping and health related quality of life (QoL) and investigates the role of coping strategies in mediating the relationship between height and QoL. Coping with a disease (CODI) and quality of life in short stature youth (QoLISSY-QoL) questionnaires were completed by 137 short-statured children and adolescents between 8 and 18 years, participating in the crosssectional European QoLISSY study. Clinical and socio-demographic data were collected to examine differences in coping via variance and regression analyses, associations between CODI and QoLISSY were inspected using correlation and mediation analyses. Most frequently employed coping strategies in the CODI were 'Acceptance' and 'Wishful Thinking', with 'Emotional Reaction' used least. Significant effects of age, diagnosis and treatment status on coping strategies were detected. CODI scales 'Acceptance' and 'Distance' were associated with higher QoLISSY-QoL scores, 'Emotional Reaction' and 'Wishful Thinking' with lower scores. Coping strategies predicted 60 % of the QoLISSY-QoL variance. Relationships between height deviation and QoLISSY-QoL were mediated by the coping strategies of 'Wishful Thinking' and 'Distance'. Findings suggest that coping efforts vary with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, that protective coping strategies in terms of QoL can be identified and that coping mediates the relationship between short stature and QoL. Future longitudinal research should focus on the adaptive function of coping in relation to QoL over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To demonstrate the prevalence of care left undone and its relationship to registered nurse staffing levels within community nursing. Background: Much research has been completed on nursing care left undone in the acute sector. Little has been done in the community nursing context. Method: Secondary analysis from a cross‐sectional survey of 3,009 registered nurses working in the community and care home sector was completed. Measures reported are 'care left undone', 'nurse staffing levels' and 'type of shift'. Results: Only 37% of community respondents, and 81% of care home staff, reported having the planned number of nurses on their last shift. Prevalence of care left undone was 34% in the community sector, 33% in the care home sector and 23% in primary care. Care left undone increased as the proportion of registered nurses fell below planned numbers. Conclusion: Care left undone is a significant issue across the community nursing context and is related to registered nurse staffing levels. Implications for Nursing Management: This work is the first to look directly at the relationship of registered nurse staffing levels to care left undone in the community. Current policy on safe staffing needs to ensure consideration of the community nursing context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redesigned health systems could meet the rising demand for healthcare, with community pharmacy currently an underused resource for the treatment and management of patients requiring urgent care. This study aimed to investigate whether a training intervention delivered over 2 days to community pharmacists resulted in behaviour and practice change. Validated measures of psychological motivation and capability factors relevant to understanding behaviour and behaviour change were collected 1 week before, 1 week after and 2 months after training in a non‐controlled before and after study design. Two targeted behaviours of the intervention were the primary outcome measures: taking a structured history and applying clinical examination techniques to patients requiring urgent care. Secondary outcomes measured participants' reported patient management behaviours to investigate possible bridging of gaps in the health system. Training was provided in 14 locations in the UK to 258 community pharmacists, with data collection occurring from July 2015 to September 2016. In total, 81 participants completed all three rounds of data collection (31.4%). Findings suggest that 1‐week post‐training significant changes in psychological capability had taken place, and that these were sustained 2 months later: of the eight domains influencing behaviour and stimulating behaviour change, knowledge, skills, professional role, beliefs about capabilities and goals all increased significantly between T1 and T2, and T1 and T3 (all p < 0.0001). At T3, participants were more likely to have taken a structured history than performed a clinical examination, and reported both managing patients themselves and changing referral practices to other healthcare providers. Participants reported workload and the need for liability insurance as structural and contextual barriers to implementation. While findings suggest the potential to transform models of care through training to extend community pharmacists' practice these barriers to successful implementation of the urgent care service would need to be addressed if this service is rolled out nationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background There is some evidence that vocabulary intervention is effective for children, although further research is needed to confirm the impact of intervention within contexts of social disadvantage. Very little is known about the effectiveness of interventions to increase adolescent knowledge of cross-curriculum words. Aims To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention programme designed to develop adolescents' knowledge of cross-curriculum words. Methods & Procedures Participants were 35 adolescents aged between 12 and 14 years who were at risk of educational underachievement with low scores on a range of assessments. Participants received a 10-week intervention programme in small groups, targeting 10 cross-curriculum words (e.g., 'summarize'). This was evaluated using a bespoke outcome measure (the Word Knowledge Profile). The study involved an AABA design, with a repeated baseline, delayed intervention cohort and blind assessment. Intervention included both semantic and phonological information about the target words and involved the adolescents using the words in multiple contexts. Outcomes & Results Results were promising and participants' knowledge of the targeted words significantly increased following intervention. Progress was demonstrated on the Word Knowledge Profile on the item requiring participants to define the word (for the summer intervention group only). This increase in depth of knowledge was seen on taught words but not on matched non-taught words. Conclusions & Implications Cross-curriculum words are not consistently understood by adolescents at risk of low educational attainment within a low socio-economic context. A 10-week intervention programme resulted in some increases to the depth of knowledge of targeted cross-curriculum words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To prospectively investigate the impact of transitions in informal caregiving on emotional well-being over two years in a large population study of older people. Methods: Information on provision of unpaid care in 2004/2005 and 2006/2007 was available for 6571 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Three well-being domains were also assessed on each occasion: life satisfaction (measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale); quality of life (assessed with the CASP-19 scale); and depression symptoms (measured using the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale). Multivariable analyses of the impact on well-being of two-year caregiving transitions (caregiving entry and caregiving exit, or continued caring) were conducted separately for spousal/child carers and carers of other family/non-relatives. Results: Compared to non-caregiving, entry into spousal/child caregiving was associated with decline in quality of life (B = −1.60, p <.01) whereas entry into caregiving involving other kin relations increased life satisfaction (B = 1.02, p <.01) and lowered depression symptoms (B = −0.26, p <.05). Contrary to expectations, caregiving exit was related to increased depression in both spousal/child (B = 0.44, p <.01) and non-spousal/child (B = 0.25, p <.05) carers. Continued spousal/child caregiving was also related to decline in quality of life (B = −1.24, p <.05). Other associations were suggestive but non-significant. Conclusion: The emotional impact of different caregiving transitions in later life differs across kin relationships; notably, spousal and child carers' well-being was consistently compromised at every stage of their caregiving career over the two-year study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Consumption of sugar-reformulated products (commercially available foods and beverages that have been reduced in sugar content through reformulation) is a potential strategy for lowering sugar intake at a population level. The impact of sugar-reformulated products on body weight, energy balance (EB) dynamics and cardiovascular disease risk indicators has yet to be established. The REFORMulated foods (REFORM) study examined the impact of an 8-week sugar-reformulated product exchange on body weight, EB dynamics, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, glycemia and lipemia. Methods: A randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover dietary intervention study was performed with fifty healthy normal to overweight men and women (age 32.0 ± 9.8 year, BMI 23.5 ± 3.0 kg/m) who were randomly assigned to consume either regular sugar or sugar-reduced foods and beverages for 8 weeks, separated by 4-week washout period. Body weight, energy intake (EI), energy expenditure and vascular markers were assessed at baseline and after both interventions. Results: We found that carbohydrate ( P < 0.001), total sugars ( P < 0.001) and non-milk extrinsic sugars ( P < 0.001) (% EI) were lower, whereas fat ( P = 0.001) and protein ( P = 0.038) intakes (% EI) were higher on the sugar-reduced than the regular diet. No effects on body weight, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, fasting glycemia or lipemia were observed. Conclusions: Consumption of sugar-reduced products, as part of a blinded dietary exchange for an 8-week period, resulted in a significant reduction in sugar intake. Body weight did not change significantly, which we propose was due to energy compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most prevalent endocrine disorder in women and confers a substantial health burden. It is important to explore modifiable extrinsic factors that contribute to disease risk. The aim of the present study was to compare the dietary intake, physical activity and physiological characteristics of women with PCOS with those of controls to identify lifestyle behaviours associated with known cardiometabolic risk factors. Methods: A seven‐day food and activity diary was completed and anthropometric and biomarkers of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease risk were measured in 38 women with PCOS, and 30 controls, matched for age and body mass index. Results: Similar energy intakes and activity levels were observed between groups. Percentage energy intakes from total, saturated and monounsaturated fats were significantly higher (P = 0.008, P = 0.012 and P = 0.003, respectively) and % energy from carbohydrate was significantly lower (P < 0.001) in participants with PCOS compared with controls (P < 0.001). Insulin levels, two hours after a glucose challenge, were significantly higher in PCOS participants compared with controls (P = 0.029). Increased dietary glycaemic index appeared to be associated with a more negative biochemical profile in women with PCOS compared to controls, being significantly associated with an increased waist circumference and LDL‐cholesterol and decreased HDL‐cholesterol. Conclusions: The present study has identified suboptimal dietary patterns in women with PCOS, and highlighted dietary factors associated with cardiometabolic risk factors that warrant monitoring in both lean and obese women with PCOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research focused upon the power of different messages to increase self-reported physical activity (PA). Five hundered and ninety six participants were randomised to one of five conditions that varied in the content of message: short-term affective, short-term cognitive, long-term affective, long-term cognitive and a no message control. PA was measured at baseline and follow-up (seven days later) was done using the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire over the subsequent seven day period. The affective short-term message (ASM) was shown to be equally effective at increasing self-reported PA as a cognitive long-term message. Furthermore, when controlling for baseline activity levels, the ASM emerged as being the message that produced the highest levels of self-reported PA at follow-up. The findings point to the value of distinguishing between health messages in terms of the focus on affective and cognitive outcomes and the temporal nature of the outcomes (short-term or long-term). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective:This pilot study investigated the use of patient drawings to explore patient experiences of symptoms of melanoma prior to health care use. Design:Patients (n = 63) with melanoma were interviewed within 10 weeks of diagnosis. Participants were asked to draw what their melanoma had looked like when they first noticed it, and to make additional drawings to depict changes as it developed. Main outcome measure:The size and features of the drawings were compared between participants and with clinical data (thickness of the melanoma; histological diameter; clinical photographs). Results:Eighty-four percent of participants were able to produce at least one drawing. This facilitated discussion of their lesion and recall of events on the pathway to diagnosis. Common features of the drawings related to the view, presence of shading, inclusion of sections and the shape and border of the lesion. There was potential for disparity between the details in awareness resources and the perceptions of patients. The drawings resembled the clinical photographs and the size of the drawings was positively associated with the histological diameter, but did not differ according to tumour thickness. Conclusion:Asking patients to make drawings of their melanoma appears to be an acceptable, inclusive, feasible and insightful methodological tool. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Summary: Observational (epidemiological) studies suggest the positive association between dietary silicon intake and bone mineral density may be mediated by circulating estradiol level. Here, we report the results of a silicon supplementation study in rats that strongly support these observations and suggest an interaction between silicon and estradiol. Introduction: Epidemiological studies report strong positive associations between dietary silicon (Si) intake and bone mineral density (BMD) in premenopausal women and indicate that the association may be mediated by estradiol. We have tested this possibility in a mixed-gender rodent intervention study. Methods: Tissue samples were obtained from three groups of 20-week-old Sprague Dawley rats (five males and five females per group) that had been supplemented ad libitum for 90 days in their drinking water with (i) <0.1 mg Si/L (vehicle control), (ii) 115 mg Si/L (moderate dose) or (iii) 575 mg Si/L (high dose). All rats received conventional laboratory feed, whilst supplemental Si was in the form of monomethylsilanetriol, increasing dietary Si intakes by 18 and 99 %, for the moderate- and high-dose groups, respectively. Results: Fasting serum and tissue Si concentrations were increased with Si supplementation ( p < 0.05), regardless of gender. However, only for female rats was there (i) a trend for a dose-responsive increase in serum osteocalcin concentration with Si intervention and (ii) strong significant associations between serum Si concentrations and measures of bone quality ( p < 0.01). Correlations were weaker or insignificant for tibia Si levels and absent for other serum or tibia elemental concentrations and bone quality measures. Conclusions: Our findings support the epidemiological observations that dietary Si positively impacts BMD in younger females, and this may be due to a Si-estradiol interaction. Moreover, these data suggest that the Si effect is mediated systemically, rather than through its incorporation into bone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical teaching evaluations are common in health profession education programs to ensure students are receiving a quality clinical education experience. Questionnaires students use to evaluate their clinical teachers have been developed in professions such as medicine and nursing. The development of a questionnaire that is specifically for the osteopathy on-campus, student-led clinic environment is warranted. Previous work developed the 30-item Osteopathy Clinical Teaching Questionnaire. The current study utilised Rasch analysis to investigate the construct validity of the Osteopathy Clinical Teaching Questionnaire and provide evidence for the validity argument through fit to the Rasch model. Methods: Senior osteopathy students at four institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom rated their clinical teachers using the Osteopathy Clinical Teaching Questionnaire. Three hundred and ninety-nine valid responses were received and the data were evaluated for fit to the Rasch model. Reliability estimations (Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega) were also evaluated for the final model. Results: The initial analysis demonstrated the data did not fit the Rasch model. Accordingly, modifications to the questionnaire were made including removing items, removing person responses, and rescoring one item. The final model contained 12 items and fit to the Rasch model was adequate. Support for unidimensionality was demonstrated through both the Principal Components Analysis/t-test, and the Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega reliability estimates. Analysis of the questionnaire using McDonald's omega hierarchical supported a general factor (quality of clinical teaching in osteopathy). Conclusion: The evidence for unidimensionality and the presence of a general factor support the calculation of a total score for the questionnaire as a sufficient statistic. Further work is now required to investigate the reliability of the 12-item Osteopathy Clinical Teaching Questionnaire to provide evidence for the validity argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]