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Background: Whilst research into the wide‐ranging needs of family members following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is well established, investigation into the specific needs of families in relation to supporting cognitive–communication difficulties, relationships and social participation is limited. Aims: To identify the family needs for cognitive‐communication difficulties following TBI and to explore whether current services are meeting these needs. Methods & Procedures: Following a successful pilot, family members from the UK and Australia were invited via posters, social media and e‐mail to take part in an anonymous, communication needs survey. Data arising from the thirty two closed questions (six eligibility, nine demographic and seventeen needs questions) were analysed using SPSS descriptive statistics. Data arising from one open question were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Outcomes & Results: A total of 102 family members from the UK (n = 89, 87%) and Australia (n = 13, 13%) completed the survey. The majority of respondents were female (n = 76; 75%), between the ages of 30 and 69 (n = 88; 87%), and either a parent or a partner of the person following TBI (n = 78;76%). Respondents rated information about expected recovery from cognitive‐communication difficulties and training in helpful strategies as their most important needs. The majority of respondents (more than 60%) were not satisfied that any of their cognitive–communication needs had been fully met and high levels of unmet need remained evident at three years or more post‐injury. Written information, communication partner training and counselling were identified as key supports. Conclusions & Implications: Families report high levels of unmet need for managing cognitive‐communication difficulties following TBI. Access to written information and communication partner training should be available to families at various time points following TBI and not just in the early stages. What this paper addsWhat is already known on this subjectAttempting to support a person who has cognitive‐communication difficulties following TBI has been found to be highly burdensome for family members. However, few studies have asked how families perceive their needs in relation to cognitive‐communication difficulties or measured how well current services are meeting their needs.What this paper adds to existing knowledgeThis study demonstrates that current speech and language therapy services are not yet meeting the needs of the relatives of individuals with cognitive‐communication difficulties following TBI. Important insights into the information, training and support families' rate as important are identified in addition to how these needs develop over time.What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?Speech and language therapy service design requires to reflect the ongoing nature of familial needs for cognitive‐communication difficulties following TBI. Families require access to appropriate literature, speech and language therapy support, and communication partner training in the longer term, not just in the acute phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Quality of life is included in the economic evaluation of health services by measuring the preference for health states, i.e. health state utilities. However, most intervention studies include a disease-specific, not a utility, instrument. Consequently, there has been increasing use of statistical mapping algorithms which permit utilities to be estimated from a disease-specific instrument. The present paper provides such algorithms between the MacNew Heart Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (MacNew) instrument and six multi-attribute utility (MAU) instruments, the Euroqol (EQ-5D), the Short Form 6D (SF-6D), the Health Utilities Index (HUI) 3, the Quality of Wellbeing (QWB), the 15D (15 Dimension) and the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL-8D). Methods: Heart disease patients and members of the healthy public were recruited from six countries. Non-parametric rank tests were used to compare subgroup utilities and MacNew scores. Mapping algorithms were estimated using three separate statistical techniques. Results: Mapping algorithms achieved a high degree of precision. Based on the mean absolute error and the intra class correlation the preferred mapping is MacNew into SF-6D or 15D. Using the R squared statistic the preferred mapping is MacNew into AQoL-8D. Implications for research: The algorithms reported in this paper enable MacNew data to be mapped into utilities predicted from any of six instruments. This permits studies which have included the MacNew to be used in cost utility analyses which, in turn, allows the comparison of services with interventions across the health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The main aim of this study was to explore any association between colorectal cancer (CRC) and rotating shift work in nurses and midwives. The secondary aim of this study was to identify risk factors for CRC in nurses and midwives who are rotating shift workers. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Electronic survey of participants from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Subjects A sample of 8,199 male and female nurses and midwives from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom invited through their registration papers or newsletter advertisement. Main outcome measure Prevalence of CRC in participants who have worked rotating shifts for 1-14 years or ≥15 years compared to participants who have never worked rotating shifts. In addition, risk factors for CRC in the rotating shift work population were analysed in a multivariate logistic regression model in order to obtain odds ratio of CRC. Results No statistically significant difference was found in the prevalence of CRC between those who have never worked rotating shift work, worked 1-14 years and worked 15 or more years. Among rotating shift workers, diabetes was associated with a 123-fold (95% CI 39-392; p<0.001) increased odds of CRC, while Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) was associated with a 190-fold (95%CI 68-526; p<0.001) increased odds of CRC. Screening colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy for CRC was associated with a 10-fold (95% CI 3-35; p<0.001) increased odds of being diagnosed with CRC. Conclusion No significant association was found between rotating shift work and colorectal cancer in nurses and midwives. In nurses and midwives who are rotating shift workers, diabetes, IBD and CRC screening significantly increased the odds of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim The successful development and maintenance of professional identity is associated with professional development and retention in the health workforce. This paper explores students' perspectives on the ways pre-entry experiences and curricula content shape professional identity. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was sent to students enrolled in the final year of entry-level programmes in five countries. Descriptive statistical analyses of data were completed. Results The results reflect the perceptions of 319 respondents from five countries. Respondents identified professional education (98%) and professional socialisation during placement (92%) as curricula components with the greatest influence on professional identity formation. Discipline-specific knowledge such as, occupation-focussed models and occupational science were ranked lower than these aspects of practice. The students' length of programme and level of entry-level programme did not impact on these results. Conclusion When designing curricula educators need to be mindful that students perceive practice education and professional socialisation have the greatest affect on professional identity formation. The findings reinforce the need for curricula to provide students with a range of practice experiences, which allow the observation and application of occupation-based practices. It highlights a need for educators to provide university-based curricula activities, which better prepare students for a potential dissonance between explicit occupation-based curricula and observed practice education experiences. The study indicates the need for further research into the role curricula content, and in particular practice education, plays in the multidimensional formation of professional development within entry-level programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]