Health & Social Care in the Community

This scoping review explored the interventions available for children with disabilities who are restricted eaters. The review will further identify aspects of parent coaching within these interventions. Initial journal searches were completed in July 2020 and updated in July 2022 with 13 articles included in the final review, which were thematically analysed. Three major themes were identified as follows: (1) a wide range of interventions ranging from nonresponsive practices to responsive approaches to mealtimes, (2) meaningful outcomes, and (3) varying degrees of parent involvement. No articles stated they were using parent coaching as a stand-alone intervention; however, features of parent coaching were evident in some of the studies. There is no overarching framework incorporating explicit aspects of coaching approaches to support clinicians’ work with children with restricted eating and their families.

Unemployment or being at-risk of unemployment is a health risk factor. Back Onside is a physical activity programme run in Bradford (UK) by the Bradford Bulls Foundation. It is aimed at improving the mental and physical health and wellbeing of adults who are unemployed or at-risk of unemployment. The programme is delivered in a relaxed and sociable environment to help build a positive mindset towards physical activity. We conducted semistructured interviews with participants on the programme (n = 5) and external stakeholders (n = 6) between 24 June and 12 July, 2021. Data analysis was completed using the context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) framework of realist evaluation. Four CMOs were identified: (1) resocialisation following COVID-19 lockdown restrictions; (2) congruence between the programme and participants’ goals; (3) engaging people in enjoyable activities; and (4) inclusive environments. We recommend future programmes to take an inclusive and relaxed approach to physical activity and be congruent with participants’ goals and values to ensure participants’ feel supported and adhere to the programmes.

In England, approximately 1 in 6 people have a common mental health condition, with certain groups experiencing worsening mental health since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, improving mental health remains a key priority for policy makers and practitioners. Community-based interventions are increasingly used to improve health and reduce inequalities. Evaluation of such interventions is important to ensure they are effective and to maintain financial support for continued delivery. Hesitation to complete administratively demanding evaluative measures by service users, which may not be suited to evaluating low intensity activities, point to the need to identify acceptable, unobtrusive methods of data collection. This review focuses on identifying unobtrusive methods that have previously been used to examine service user’s perceptions of community-based interventions and their effectiveness, and the acceptability of the methods. A review of peer reviewed, and grey literature was undertaken in July 2022. Literature was identified via six databases, Google searches, and by contacting experts. Literature was included if it described unobtrusive methods to gather service users’ perceptions of an intervention and/or reported the acceptability of such methods. Literature was excluded if it described traditional methods to gather service users’ perceptions of an intervention. Our search identified 930 citations from searching databases (n = 886), Google (n = 40), and from contacting 15 experts directly, and over 300 experts indirectly via three e-mail lists (n = 4). No literature met our inclusion criteria. We report an empty review. There is no peer reviewed or grey literature that describes unobtrusive methods of data collection for mental health and wellbeing focused community-based interventions, or their perceived acceptability. The findings from this review indicate the need to develop unobtrusive methods of data collection in the field of public mental health, suitable for low intensity activities, and examine the acceptability and feasibility of such methods.

Objectives. The aim of this study was to explore self-reported changes in personal development and meaning in life of older adults in the Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic and characteristics of the groups that reported these changes. Methods. Older adults from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam completed a questionnaire on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were asked to rate changes in personal development and meaning in life. These variables were descriptively analysed and logistic regression analyses were used to explore characteristics of the groups that reported these changes. Results. Of the 1099 older adults (aged 62–102 years), 25.7% paid more attention to things one enjoys doing in spare time, 36.6% reflected more on important things in life, and 16.8% made less future plans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-reported changes in meaning in life and personal development differed between specific subgroups of older adults. The largest changes in aspects of personal development and meaning in life were reported by older adults who experienced personal adverse experiences such as death of a loved one (ORs 2.03) and/or health problems such as functional limitations (ORs ranging from 1.59 to 2.84) and depression (ORs ranging from 1.69 to 2.77). Discussion and Implications. A substantial share of the participants reported changes in specific aspects of personal development and meaning in life. This was especially true for certain subgroups of older adults. Relatives and caregivers should be aware of changes in personal development and meaning in life since lower scores are known to be associated with poor physical, psychological, and social well-being outcomes.

Play is fundamental to a person’s well-being. However, cultural norms and ageism have negatively impacted this practice among older adults. This study explored to what extent medical clowning promotes play among older adults. Qualitative data were collected in weekly group sessions of medical clowning in an Israeli retirement home. Group medical clowning offered participants a new sort of playground, which combined body play, cognitive play, and role-play. The clown created an ambience that legitimized older adults’ loosening-up, expanding their space, feeling happy, and developing new creative interactions. He enabled participants to get involved in free play, thus freeing them of social constructions regarding older adults. The medical clown created a community of play and legitimized play among older adults, thereby breaking rules based on social stereotypes, the convention that older adults should not behave nonsensically and challenging the accepted social norms of the retirement home.

Research has historically focussed on participants who are relatively easy to access; those who have resources (time and literacy) to respond to surveys, who can travel, and are socially connected. Failure to meaningfully engage with intended participants and achieve representativeness in participation risks diminishing the applicability and impact of research findings to local contexts. Motivated by goals of social justice and health equity, this scoping review sought to identify strategies to effectively engage and integrate the “authentic voice” of populations that are described as vulnerable or precarious and therefore perceived as “hard-to-reach.” A system tic search strategy identified 34 eligible papers. Articles underwent (i) a title and abstract screening by two reviewers, followed by (ii) a full text review of eligible articles by one author. Free-form research problem mind-mapping was applied to facilitate analysis and generate creative associations between ideas. Thematic and content analysis was then applied to generate themes and subthemes. Four high-level themes emerged: key players, trust and rapport, navigating structural precarity, and moving beyond “participation.” We identified that substantial shifts in researcher mindsets are required to reframe perceptions of vulnerability and move towards strengths-based approaches. Efforts need to be directed towards establishing deep trust and rapport through early engagement and social reciprocity. Systemic barriers to research participation and partnership must be addressed to overcome issues of structural precarity. We urge researchers and practitioners to embrace “scholar activism” and to actively dismantle the precarity that limits active “participation” and to build deliberate strategies to create forums where the “authentic” voice can be amplified.