For mental health patients, quality of life (QoL) can include many things like self-esteem, autonomy, satisfaction with the care they’re receiving and the staff who are caring from them, reduced symptoms, minimal side-effects from treatment and good overall functioning. Measuring QoL can pick up on difficulties a patient is having that wouldn’t have otherwise come [read the full story…]
Carers are integral to health care improvement. This report highlights evidence that shows “the economic value of the contribution they make is £119bn per year”. However, without support, carers can feel isolated, depressed, and may be living in poor financial circumstances, which can lead to poor health for the carer too. The problem health and [read the full story…]
Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) have shortened life expectancies compared to the general population. This is partly down to higher rates of chronic physical illness. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among patients using mental health services. It is assumed that interventions used to reduce CVD are similarly effective in patients with [read the full story…]
Mindfulness is an approach to life based on an ancient Buddhist practice which means paying attention to the present moment in a non-judgemental manner, which aims to increase awareness, clarity and acceptance. As a number of studies have looked at mindfulness-based interventions the authors of this narrative review set out to look at the clinical [read the full story…]
A key question facing commissioners of support services is how to develop personalised quality services for people within an increasingly tighter financial envelope. Some recent research published by Social Finance and Community Catalysts, may suggest one approach that could prove to be of benefit in developing community connections for people as well as reducing costs. [read the full story…]
In the UK alone it’s estimated over two million adults have type 2 diabetes. That clearly warrants some serious research into its prevention and treatment, including the valuable role of exercise. We also know the effects of diabetes are not confined to physical problems, linked as it is to reduced quality of life as well [read the full story…]
This paper is particularly pertinent to commissioners of both health and social care, as it addresses the needs of informal carers of people suffering from long-term neurological conditions (LTNCs), such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), Motor Neuron Disease (MND), and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Implications of long-term neurological conditions LTNCs get progressively worse, with sufferers becoming more and [read the full story…]
Quality of life is becoming a common outcome in the reporting of trials. The authors of this literature review were interested to look systematically at the use of quality life as an outcome in pharmacological research on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Currently, the most frequently used outcome measures in such trials are measures of changes in [read the full story…]
Measurement of quality of life for people who may not be able to verbally express their feelings remains a major challenge for providers of services to people with learning disabilities. Scores from self-reports of people with learning disabilities able to respond to questionnaires do not always match scores obtained from family members or support staff. [read the full story…]
Services for people with learning disabilities will be subject to external scrutiny to ensure they are meeting minimum standards of care delivery and will also have internal quality assurance processes to look at the quality of the support they provide, The key question however, particularly in a situation where an individual may be getting support [read the full story…]
