Health & social care in the community
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Health Soc Care Community · Oct 2020
Triggers of mental health problems among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in private care homes and domiciliary care agencies: Lived experiences of care workers in the Midlands region, UK.
COVID-19 was first reported in China and later spread across the world causing panic because there is no cure for it. The pandemic has adversely affected frontline health workers and patients, owing to poor preparedness. The study explored the triggers of mental health problems among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ A thematic approach underpinned by some aspects of interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) and the Silences Framework (SF) was utilised. The research found that triggers of mental health problems among frontline health workers in private care homes and domiciliary care agencies are fear of infection and infecting others, lack of recognition/disparity between National Health Service (NHS) and social care, lack of guidance, unsafe hospital discharge, death and loss of professionals and residents, unreliable testing and delayed results and shortage of staff. It is important to support frontline workers in private care homes and domiciliary care agencies.
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Health Soc Care Community · Oct 2020
Understanding how the Australian vaccine-refusal movement perceives itself.
Public health responses to the vaccine-refusal (VR) movement are hindered by inadequate research about the movement's aims, identity and perceived value for its members. This study examined how members of the VR movement in Australia described the movement and what being part of it meant to them. Descriptions of the VR movement by 696 members from across Australia were collected between January and May in 2017 via an online survey. ⋯ Our findings contribute to understanding these beliefs. Furthermore, our findings suggest what messages targeting vaccine-refusing people should focus on. This may include acknowledging the significant effort that vaccine-refusing people invest in trying to protect their children, catering to vaccine-refusing people's high engagement and desire for detailed information, and avoiding stigmatising or confrontational vaccine-promotion strategies.
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Health Soc Care Community · Sep 2020
Awareness of HPV and drivers of HPV vaccine uptake among university students: A quantitative, cross-sectional study.
HPV vaccination is a milestone in primary prevention. However in Italy, vaccine coverage is still nowhere near the target of 95%. We investigated factors associated with inclination to get vaccinated in university students, as they are likely to have just assumed a central role in their healthcare decision-making. ⋯ Only 12% of participants were acquainted with skin to skin HPV transmission, while 75% believed in a full effectiveness of condom; less than 22% associated HPV with cancer (other than cervical cancer). Efforts to increase awareness are likely to be worth considering that: awareness is the main determinant of vaccine acceptance; only 50% of individuals not interested in receiving vaccine were aware of it; males are much less aware (AOR: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.07-0.11). Moreover, this study spotlights some misconceptions around HPV and acknowledges a pivotal role of healthcare workers, family and peer influence.
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Health Soc Care Community · May 2020
Under the radar: General practitioners' experiences of directly employed care workers for older people.
The Care Act 2014 allows eligible people with care and support needs to access funding directly from local authorities in England. Such funds may be used to employ care workers. Others may employ care workers using their own or family resources. ⋯ GPs envisaged such workers as potentially valuable assets in community-based care for an ageing population. They called for skills training for this workforce and the development of protocols for delegation of health tasks and safeguarding of vulnerable older people. Older people employing care workers and those advising or supporting them should address communications with health providers in employment contracts and job descriptions.
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Health Soc Care Community · Nov 2019
Qualitative study of social and healthcare educators' perceptions of their competence in education.
Competent educators are needed to ensure that social and healthcare professionals are effective and highly competent. However, there is too little evidence-based knowledge of current and required enhancements of educators' competences in this field. The aim of this study was to describe social and healthcare educators' perceptions of their competence in education. ⋯ Enhancement of adaptability to rapid changes was recognised as a necessity. The findings have social value in identifying requirements to improve social and healthcare educators' competence by helping educational leadership to improve educational standards, construct a continuous education framework and create national and/or international curricula for teacher education degree programs to enhance the quality of education. We also suggest that educational leadership needs to establish, maintain and strengthen collaborative strategies to provide effective, adaptable support systems, involving educators and students, in their working practices.