Category Archives: Publications

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CaHRU sleep research cited in UK parliamentary briefings on Sleep and Health

Sleep and healthResearch from CaHRU was cited in the recently published parliamentary briefing on Sleep and Health and Sleep and Long-term Health. The briefing was issued as a POSTnote from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and cited CAHRU’s work on primary care for insomnia including the Resources for Effective Sleep Treatment (REST) website. Professor Graham Law and Niro Siriwardena met with one of the co-authors Lev Tankelevitch earlier this year to discuss their work.

Sleep and longterm healthThe briefing on Sleep and Health also cites two systematic reviews led by CaHRU’s Dr Coral Sirdifield on patient and general practitioner (GP) perceptions of the problems of benzodiazepine sleeping pills, an article by Prof Siriwardena providing guidance for GPs, and the OASIS trial (led by Prof Dan Freeman of Oxford University) showing the effects of treatment using digital Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (dCBTi) on psychiatric symptoms. The briefing on Sleep and Long-term Health  research papers on sleep assessment and the DIALS trial showing the effect of dCBTI on quality of life which is due for publication this autumn.

rest-logoThe REST project is also explicitly mentioned: ‘One strategy to improve training for healthcare professionals is through online training developed by the Resources for Effective Sleep Treatment project’ and the REST e-learning programme for GPs and healthcare staff has been accessed over 16,000 times by users in over 160 countries.

POSTnotes are distributed in paper copies to Parliamentarians, placed in the reference libraries of both Houses of Parliament and also promoted via social media using Twitter @POST_UK. CaHRU are currently collaborating in a major trial of sleep restriction therapy in primary care, the HABIT trial. You can find out more about our work on sleep from our infographic on ‘Sleep and Insomnia‘.

By Prof Niro Siriwardena

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Joseph Akanuwe receives PhD for work on communicating cancer risk

Joseph Akanuwe, doctoral student at CaHRU was recently confirmed by the College of Social Science Research Degrees Board that he be awarded his PhD for his thesis ‘Exploring service user and practitioner perspectives of using cancer risk assessment tools in primary care consultations. Cancer risk prediction tools are novel tools that combine risk factors and symptoms to predict an individual’s risk of developing cancer.

WP_20160208_16_16_01_RichThe work included a systematic scoping review followed by interviews of 19 service users and 17 primary care practitioners, the latter before and after they had used the tools in patient consultations. Participants suggested ways to best communicate cancer risk to patients in primary care consultations, emphasising the importance of: tailoring visual representation of risk; being open and honest; informing and involving patients in use of cancer risk prediction tools and providing time for listening, explaining and reassuring in the context of a professional approach.

He also found barriers to the uptake of cancer risk prediction tools including: the additional time required; worry and anxiety generated by referral for investigations; potential for over-referral; practitioner scepticism about using the new tool; and the need for evidence of effectiveness before introducing cancer risk prediction tools in general practice consultations. These barriers were perceived before the use of the tools. The findings add to the knowledge and understanding of how best to communicate cancer risk information to patients when using cancer risk prediction tools. Joseph was supervised by Profs Niro Siriwardena and Sara Owen, together with Dr Sharon Black.

By Prof Niro Siriwardena

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CaHRU Newsletter (Spring 2018)

CaHRU_logotypeThe latest edition of the CaHRU Newsletter (Spring 2018) was published in July 2018. The newsletter presents the work of the research centre over the previous three months and includes articles from the CaHRU blog covering publications, conferences and funding. The newsletter is written by members of the CaHRU team and produced by Sue Bowler, CaHRU administrator.

[su_document url=”https://communityandhealth.dev.lincoln.ac.uk/files/2018/07/CaHRU-Newsletter-Spring-2018.pdf” width=”660″]Multi-morbidity, goal-oriented care, the community and equity[/su_document]

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CaHRU present at EMS2018 conference in Copenhagen

emscopenhagen CaHRU was represented by Prof Niro Siriwardena together with colleagues from East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust at the recent EMS2018 conference which took place at Copenhagen’s Tivoli Congress Hall, 16-18 April 2018. The theme of the conference was “It Takes a System to Save a Life – Next is Now”, emphasising the importance of systems in emergency and out-of-hospital care.

photo2italiccolourWORDSProf Siriwardena presented work from the NIHR funded Prehospital Outcomes for Evidence Based Evaluation (PhOEBE) programme with an abstract entitled, ‘Preventable mortality in patients at low risk of death requiring prehospital ambulance care: retrospective case record review study‘.

emschamp1Other studies involving CaHRU and East Midlands Ambulance Service were an abstract presented by Janette Turner from University of Sheffield, also from the PhOEBE study: ‘Development of risk adjusted indicators of EMS performance and quality (phoebe programme)‘ and another from Dr Alison Porter’s Electronic Records in Ambulances study, ‘The digital ambulance: electronic patient clinical records in prehospital emergency care‘. All the abstracts were published in BMJ Open.

heartrunnersAnother highlight of the conference was the European EMS Championship competition where teams from all over the world were assessed in various emergency situations – the competition winners from a strong field including Denmark, Scotland, and Australia, were the team from East Midlands! The social programme included a walk through Copenhagen with the city’s ‘Heart Runners’, a programme to train the population in basic life support for cardiac arrest and a dinner at the Circus Building in the town centre. Overall the conference provided an excellent opportunity to present CaHRU’s work and to hear about developments in prehospital care in the beautiful setting of Copenhagen.

By Prof Niro Siriwardena