Patient Information Forum

News & Events > 2010 > February

Resources for 'mid-lifers'

26 February 2010
News & Events > Sourcing health information

Two new information campaigns and resources have launched this week aimed at 'mid-lifers'. NHS MidLifeCheck is a free, online lifestyle assessment service for adults aged 40 and over. 'Swap It, Don't Stop It' is a Change4Life campaign aimed at overweight adults encouraging them to swap unhealthy behaviours for healthy ones.

Equality, diversity and health online case studies and discussions

26 February 2010
News & Events > Accessibility and usability

From next week the Healthy Communities Programme will be hosting a series of cases studies focused on the relationship between health and issues of equality and diversity. The case studies will be accompanied by an online "hotseat" discussion on the Healthy Communities, Community of Practice (CoP). You are invited to join and to share your thoughts and experiences on topics such as offender, gypsy and traveller health and removing the barriers to a healthy life.

New TB awareness campaign

25 February 2010
News & Events > Sourcing health information

A new campaign to boost awareness of tuberculosis in England was launched this week. "The truth about TB," campaign centres on the experiences of people who have or used to have tuberculosis, whose stories are included in a DVD and on a website. The website contains resources for health professionals and the public, including information leaflets, posters and personal stories.

Event: Effective Corporate Affairs

25 February 2010
News & Events

This day-long course, from the Association of Healthcare Communicators, is aimed at marketing and communications managers, press managers and heads of communication and media departments. The focus is on further developing advanced skills, especially the management of high pressure and time-limited situations. This course is aimed at senior level communicators who are new to, or want to develop a broader remit for their role encompassing corporate affairs and stakeholder relations. It takes place on March 25th in London.

Guides to using YouTube and Twitter

25 February 2010
News & Events > Using electronic media

Krū Research is a global think tank, based in the US, that is focused on "empowered patients" - those who are increasingly using digital technologies and communicating with peers to actively manage their health. They are offering two free download guides about using Twitter and YouTube for e-Patient Communications. You will need to sign up to their newsletter mailing list in order to gain access to the documents.

A guide to values in the NHS

25 February 2010
News & Events > Policy matters

The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement have been working with organisations from across the NHS to co-design resources that are useful and usable in the development of organisational values and alignment with the national values in The NHS Constitution. The Values Development Resource,developed by the NHS, for the NHS, that can help organisations to start to develop and embed their own local values is now available.

How to use the NHS in Scotland

25 February 2010
News & Events > Sourcing health information

NHS Scotland have launched a new website - How to use the NHS in Scotland. The site contains information in 17 different languages and is aimed at those new to the NHS or NHS services. Information is available on the web site, in video or text form, and as a DVD. The videos which make up the DVD provide a clear and simple guide to the NHS in Scotland. This includes information about family doctors (GPs), dentists, opticians, pharmacists, and out of hours services.

Regional and country co-ordinators

25 February 2010
News & Events > PiF membership news

We're delighted to announce that we have three new regional co-ordinators - for the East Midlands, for the North West and for Yorkshire and Humber. We have had a number of co-ordinators step down so we also still have some vacancies to fill, in Wales, the North East of England, South Central and London. Many thanks to all of our former co-ordinators for their time and energy.

Two guest lectures

19 February 2010
News & Events > Education and training

Coventry University run a number of guest lectures as part of the of the MA Health Communication Design course. The previous two lectures - setting good design standards for health information and Swine flu and the media: problems with complex messages are still available for you to watch on You Tube.

Making information about medicines available online

19 February 2010
News & Events > Medicines information

The Medicines and Healthcare product Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have commissioned an online discussion site asking whether key information about medicines should be available online. The discussion site, aimed at healthcare professionals and the public, asks whether it is a good idea to make the MHRA's definitive database of patient information leaflets (PILs) and Summaries of Product Characteristics (SPCs) available online and, if so, what the site should look like. The discussion runs until 8 March.

ABPI Conference 2010 and joint working award

19 February 2010
News & Events

The Association of British Pharaceutical Industry (ABPI) conference will seek to explore ways the industry can collaborate with the NHS and support them in delivering greater improvements in healthcare for patients. The theme of the conference is "working together to make a difference" and includes speakers such as Sir Mike Richards "“ National Clinical Director, Cancer and Professor Roger Boyle - National Clinical Director, CHD. The conference takes place in London on April 27th.

Patient Views of Medicines Use Review

19 February 2010
News & Events > Medicines information

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has published the results of a survey of pharmacists, general practitioners, primary care organisations and patients on their views of the 'Medicines Use Review' (MUR) service. According to the audit, 80% of the patients who took part in the first audit of MUR said their knowledge on medicines and how to use them had improved because of an MUR.

Online health information use (US)

19 February 2010
News & Events > Using electronic media

A new survey from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics in the US reports that women are more likely than men to use the internet to find health information - with 58% of women and 43% men going online to look up health information in the past 12 months. Women were also more likely to use internet chat rooms, communicate with a health professional by email and use the Internet to book appointments.

The State of Care

19 February 2010
News & Events > Policy matters

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) this week published The State of Care, a report that sets out how well health care and social care services in England performed in 2009, and the improvements leading up to 2009. This year's report is the first time that CQC can give a complete picture of health care and adult social care in England "“ including how well the two sectors work together.

Fair Society, Healthy Lives (The Marmot Review)

19 February 2010
News & Events > Policy matters

The aim of the review was to propose an evidence based strategy for reducing health inequalities from 2010. The strategy includes policies and interventions that address the social determinants of health inequalities. The review had a number of tasks, including identifying health inequalities challenges and showing how evidence could be translated into practice.

Online module: Communicating Risk

19 February 2010
News & Events > Education and training

Coventry University are running an online module on communicating risk, starting April 2010. This is a self-contained postgraduate module which you can study for continuing professional development or as a taster to try out online learning and the MA Health Communication Design. The course will enable you to analyse the factors influencing risk perception and the decision-making process and to use different methods of assessing and evaluating health risk.

Lib Dems set out ideas for NHS and IT

12 February 2010
News & Events > Using electronic media

Liberal Democrat shadow health secretary Norman Lamb has called for NHS Connecting for Health to be scrapped, the Care Records Service to be abandoned, and Choose and Book to be revamped as a simple online booking system. The MP has set out his proposals in a document, The NHS: a liberal blueprint, which the party says is not formal party policy but Lamb's vision of a decentralised NHS.

Event: For the Record - advanced media handling

12 February 2010
News & Events > Education and training

This interactive day-long course is aimed at marketing and communications managers, press managers and heads of communication and media departments. Sessions include those on setting the agenda, handling difficult questions and tips for radio, TV and telephone. The event takes place in Sheffield on March 11th.

Wales: Profiles of Lifestyle and Health

12 February 2010
News & Events

Profiles of lifestyle and health have been produced by the Public Health Wales Observatory as part of a series following the demography profile released in June 2009. It aims to assist the health boards in understanding the health of their population and in their planning activities, as well as provide a resource on lifestyle for other stakeholders. It presents information on behaviours relating to health, as well as their impact on health in Wales through outcome measures.

Research: Parents' medication dosing accuracy and effect of health literacy

12 February 2010
News & Events > Health literacy

Parents' dosing accuracy using a range of instruments for measuring out liquid medicines has been assessed in a study, which also sought to determine the extent to which health literacy affects the frequency and magnitude of dosing errors. The researchers conclude from these findings that dosing errors by parents were highly prevalent with cups compared with droppers, spoons, or syringes. Strategies to reduce errors should address both accurate use of dosing instruments and health literacy.

Communications and behaviour change

12 February 2010
News & Events

The report is published by the Central Office for Information. It draws on key sources from the disciplines of social psychology, economics and behavioural economics to explore behaviour change. It seeks to distil this information into some key factors that are important to consider for anyone developing communications that seek to influence behaviour, and to develop a framework for applying these factors to the development of a communications strategy.

Research: The effect of giving coronary risk information

12 February 2010
News & Events

Providing people with information on their global coronary risk seems to improve the accuracy of their risk perception, but the impact on long-term clinical outcome is less clear, according to a systematic review. The studies that measured changes in subjects' personal risk perception found that providing global CHD risk information, with or without some additional education, did modestly improve risk perception. Providing global risk information with education increases intent to start therapy, especially if combined with counselling.

Personalisation and social care

12 February 2010
News & Events > Policy matters

This paper is a joint report from the University of Birmingham, In Control and The Centre for Welfare Reform. It discusses the background to personal budgets in social care and introduces the concept of them as 'Conditional Resource Entitlements' (CREs) - a means of targeting resources towards those who are eligible, but with specific conditions attached. The authors suggest personal budgets can form part of a wider strategy for welfare reform which places emphasis on promoting citizenship and personal responsibility.

Event: Information Standard and Social Care Seminar

19 March 2010
News & Events > PiF membership news

This joint Association of Social Care Communicators/ PiF seminar looks at the Information Standard and its application in the social care arena (adult care, children and family care, and the voluntary sector). It will give you the chance to check out The Information Standard, including what has happened so far, what the options are now and what to do next. It's also a great opportunity to ask questions and take part in discussion about the use of the scheme in the social care arena. The seminar takes place on March 29th in London.

NHS Direct to increase web presence

05 February 2010
News & Events

NHS Direct Chief Executive, Nick Chapman, wants to significantly shift its operations towards the web, saying the health service needs to leave behind its "1950s bank" approach to services. He said the National Pandemic Flu Service, set up last year to take demand off GPs at the height of the swine flu outbreak, had shown the potential role internet assessment could play - more than 40 per cent were completed on the website.

Half of U.S. adults look up health topics online

05 February 2010
News & Events > Using electronic media

About 51% of U.S. adults went online to look up health information last year, according to a new report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. Researchers found that adults ages 18 to 49 were more likely than older adults to seek health information online and women were slightly more likely than men to use the Internet for discussing health topics in online chats and researching health information.

Online learning course

05 February 2010
News & Events > Education and training

This University of London course is for people who would like to understand more about teaching and learning online, especially with web 2.0. It's aimed at teachers at all levels, and also to librarians, technologists, clinical staff, people who manage, administer or assist e-learning teams (e.g. educational administrators, instructional designers, and course authors) all of whom nowadays need to manage learners through digital technologies.

Wales: New structure of Community Health Councils

05 February 2010
News & Events > Patient and public involvement

Health Minister Edwina Hart has announced reforms to Community Health Councils (CHCs) in Wales following extensive consultation. Under the changes, from 1 April, 17 of the existing 19 CHCs will be dissolved and six new CHCs created in their place, with the same boundaries as the Health Boards. Each new CHC will consist of Local Committees, providing strong local links and having the same boundaries as the local authorities within the CHC's area.

Libraries and community health information

05 February 2010
News & Events

The Museum and Libraries Archive Council has commissioned a major new project looking at the contribution public libraries are making to the health and wellbeing of the communities they serve. The team will examine the current landscape of health-related library work, focusing in particular on partnerships with health service providers such as the NHS and on a wide range of models including the highly successful Books on Prescription scheme, creative bibliotherapy, health information and public health activity. It will also look at the future potential for this work.

Three new campaigns aimed at young people

05 February 2010
News & Events > Sourcing health information

Young people must feel well and truly targeted at the moment with three new campaigns aimed specifically at them launched in the past few weeks. "Why let drink decide?" tackles alcohol awareness, "Lets Dance" gets them "boogying" and "Say Yes to a chlamydia test" does what it says on the tin.

Health literacy and long term conditions report

05 February 2010
News & Events > Health literacy

ALISS (Access to Local Information to Support Self Management) is a project based in Scotland, which aims to make it easier for people with long term conditions to access information about support on offer. One of their main work streams is health literacy and they have recently published a new report. The report aims to examine the impact of poor literacy on accessing local support to manage long term conditions. The project sought to learn how individuals with long term conditions who were disadvantaged by low literacy skills obtained, processed and understood information about local resources.

Editorial: Helping patients make treatment decisions

05 February 2010
News & Events > Patient and public involvement

Dr Angela Coulter is hosting a web seminar later this month with the NHS Institute. Prior to the event the NHS Institute have published an editorial piece on the same subject, in which Dr Coulter discussed some of the key issues in shared decision making. Go to the news story on the PiF web site for details of the web seminar.

Research: Evidence for the benefits and outcomes for digital health services

05 February 2010
News & Events > Using electronic media

This was a 'rapid review' carried out in August-October 2009 of the literature on the impact of e-health. The University of Plymouth, working with PiF, were given a specific remit from NHS Choices and the report aims to meet the questions set. It is not a systematic review and, in some senses, can be thought of as 'work in progress'. To write the report we identified many more publications than have been cited and will be continuing to review the literature.