CBT plus mother-child interaction for anxiety disorder

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Paul Ramchandani considers an RCT of treatment for childhood anxiety disorder in the context of maternal anxiety disorder, which finds that mother-child interaction might be of value for childhood anxiety disorder.

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Stratify, specialise, standardise, analyse: maximising quality and efficiency in elective care

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Our resident Elf Economist Chris Sampson summarises a recent report from Monitor (England’s health services regulator), which looks at how NHS providers can improve productivity in elective care.

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Patient safety- few dental studies have been conducted

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There is growing interest in patient safety in health care. This review sought to identify any dental research in this area, only a small number of studies were identified demonstrating the need for further research

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Crowns improved survival of root treated teeth suggests review

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This technology review looked at the effectiveness of crowns on root treated teeth. 3 systematic reviews and 4 non-randomised studies were included. They found that the short term survival with crowns or direct fillings is comparable but long term root canal treated teeth may have better survival.

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Art therapy for common mental health disorders

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Chris Sampson reports on a new HTA systematic review and economic evaluation of art therapy for non-psychotic mental health disorders like depression, anxiety and phobias.

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Away from crime and into treatment: diversion and aftercare for drug-using offenders

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Can we steer drug-using offenders away from crime and into treatment? Chris Sampson explores a study of the cost-effectiveness of diversion and aftercare programmes for offenders using class A drugs.

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Can telecare be cost effective and improve quality of life?

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Clarissa Giebel tackles a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of telecare assistive technology and examines the findings on cost effectiveness and quality of life.

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Searching for the cost of bipolar disorder

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Bipolar disorder is associated with high economic costs…or is it? Chris Sampson reports on a new systematic review, which highlights limitations in our understanding.

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Do perinatal mental health problems cost the UK £8 billion per year?

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A recent report estimated the societal cost of perinatal mental health problems to be £8 billion, but should we believe it? Chris Sampson advises caution.

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Mental health support for older adults needs to improve

Previous research shows that low education, hypertension, smoking and diabetes may all have causal associations with dementia.

Dave Steele summarises an NIHR funded mixed methods study that concludes we don’t know much about how we should support older adults with mental health problems, except to say that we should be doing better.

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