Healthinformation News July2016

HealthInformation News July2016

This newsletter is intended for staff who provide health information to the public to keep informed of latest news and resources available in the Health Information field. If you would like to submit a news item – email

News

Health Information Week was held 4th -10th July 2016 – A huge number of events and displays were held during this week and were promoted on the Events Diary for HIW. This year was the first year that HIW has ventured wider than the West Midlands and we had a successful social media campaign to raise awareness across England. Please send in your feedback, impact stories, numbers attending, comments from users etc. to so we can try to demonstrate the impact of the week. Next year (July 3-9th 2017) we hope to get more events planned earlier across the country – watch this space…

STPs and Patient Information – Blog article on the Knowledge for Healthcare website

Diabetes prevention education programme rolled out- Thousands of people at high risk of Type 2 diabetes in ten areas will start to benefit from the first ever national NHS diabetes prevention programme in the next few weeks.The Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme launched in April and up to 100,000 people a year will benefit from it by 2020 and after.Healthier You: the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programmewill initially roll out to 27 areas this year in 2016 covering 26 million people, around half of the population, and making up to 40,000 referrals in 2016.Those referred will get tailored, personalised help to reduce their risk of Type 2 diabetes including education on healthy eating and lifestyle, help to lose weight and bespoke physical exercise programmes, all of which together have been proven to reduce the risk of developing the disease.Implementation will be staggered with the first ten as above and this will roll-out to the whole country by 2020 with an expected 100,000 places on programmes available each year after.There are currently 2.6 million people with Type 2 diabetes in England with around 200,000 new diagnoses every year.

Better mental health for all: A public health approach to mental health improvement - This report focuses on what can be done individually and collectively to enhance the mental health of individuals, families and communities by using a public health approach. It is intended as a resource for public health practitioners to support the development of knowledge and skills in public mental health. It presents the latter from the perspective of those working within public health, giving valuable interdisciplinary perspectives that focus on achieving health gains across the population.Report

Respiratory cancer awareness campaign to be launched next month -Public Health England (PHE) has announced its latest national Be Clear on Cancer campaign highlighting the respiratory symptoms of a persistent cough and inappropriate breathlessness. Thecampaignwill run for 14 weeks between 14 July and 16 October 2016.The campaign will target those aged 50 and over. Promotional plans are likely to include TV, radio, press, online and out of home advertising and a programme of supporting PR activity.PHE has also produced resources for pharmacy teams to support the campaign, including a briefing sheet, posters, symptoms sheets, shelf wobblers and video briefings for staff.The decision to run a campaign on respiratory symptoms is based on positive evidence from the evaluation of the previous campaigns for lung cancer andfrom the evaluation of the previous campaigns for lung cancer andbreathlessness (as a symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and a range of other conditions).GP attendance data for the first national lung campaign in 2012 showed that more people with a persistent cough went to their GP. When looking at the period May to July 2012 compared with May to July 2011, the number of patients aged 50+, presenting with a persistent cough went up 64% – the equivalent of around 3.1 additional visits per practice per week. More patients were referred for a chest x-ray by a GP during the first month of the campaign compared to the month prior to the campaign – up 20%.You can read more about the campaign and access the resources on the Public Health England website.

New self care app launched for students - A new app, ESC Student, has been launched aiming to provide a one-stop guide to answering common student health questions within seconds.Thisapp is part of a wider campaign to help increase health literacy amongstudentsand support them in making informed decisions about their health.It has been developed by PIF member organisation, Expert Self Care, and covers 120 student health topics looking at:

Troubling health problems– check out what to do next and when to see a pharmacist, nurse or doctor
Emergencies and general ill health– discover the truth about life-threatening illnesses as well as sleep problems, feeling stressed, and being tired all the time
Common ailments– get to the bottom of headaches, find out how to treat your spots, and manage common aches and pains
Mental health– find out what to do when you (or one of your friends) feel low or anxious, self-harm or are worried about drinking too much alcohol
Useful links– get fast access to hundreds of links to useful further information

The app has been developed with studentsandexperts from the University of Bristol Students’ Health Service.You can find out more about the app on the Expert Self Care website.

Events

Thursday 15th and Friday 16th September 2016 - CILIP Health Libraries Group Conference 2016 at The Scarborough Spa, Scarborough. Library & Knowledge Services staff are vital to healthcare and underpin clinical and management decision making. The services you provide enable staff, patients and their carers to access the right knowledge and evidence to achieve high quality healthcare and health improvement. Health Library and Information professionalsneed to stay a step ahead, and right now the need has never been greater. So what can you do to ensure your role stays vital and relevant?Attending the CILIP Health Libraries Group Conference (Scarborough Spa, 15th & 16th September 2016) will give you the extra skills you need at your fingertips in just two information-packed days.

3rd -9th July 2017 - Health Information Week

There a calendar of Health Awareness Events that is regularly updated and is on-

Other online newsletters:

Knowledge for Healthcare updates – Keep in touch with progress from all of the themes on the blog page: which includes the blogs from the Patient and Public Information Group who also tweet on @K4H_PPI

Reading Agency -