Publications

The email newsletter from ARC West. In this edition: Alcohol in pregnancy: #Drymester safest approach; Telling physical activity stories; Peer support groups for chronic pain; Plus much more

Worldwide, the number of children with higher weight is increasing. This can lead to health problems, as well as potentially affecting the children psychologically and socially. Preventing childhood obesity is an international public health priority.

Up to 4,000 papers are published every year on preventing childhood obesity. The Cochrane review on preventing childhood obesity had been last updated in 2011. We worked with Durham University, Fuse (the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health) and the World Health Organisation to update the Cochrane review with a synthesis of studies up to 2015.

Millions of inflammatory marker tests are ordered by GPs in England each year and rates of testing are rising. Many of these tests will be done appropriately, but GPs are increasingly using them as a non-specific test to rule out serious underlying disease. Until now there has been no evidence about whether this is a good strategy.

The UK has strict regulations to ensure new medicines work and are cost-effective before they are recommended for use in the NHS. However, surgical procedures are less strictly regulated. This study used a type of surgery for shoulder pain called subacromial decompression as a case study to explore the relationship between evolving evidence and clinical practice, to illustrate the need for better evaluation of surgical procedures.

The email newsletter from ARC West. In this edition: John Macleod’s hopes for ARC West; Domestic violence and abuse: how NIHR research is helping families; Surgical procedures need better evaluation; Plus much more

In Bristol, telephone outreach has been used to encourage people in more deprived communities and minority ethnic groups to attend NHS Health Checks, with community outreach workers based in GP practices phoning patients. Through in-depth interviews, this study examined the views and experiences of both patients and staff of this telephone outreach approach. We wanted to find out how the intervention was delivered by the outreach workers, how the patients found it and the impact it had.

The Best of CLAHRC West highlights some of the applied research projects we’ve worked on over the five years we were operating as NIHR CLAHRC West.

In this edition: The Best of CLAHRC West; Lack of evidence in guidelines for monitoring chronic diseases; GPs should not use inflammatory marker tests to rule out serious conditions

The 3D study was the largest ever trial of an intervention for people with multimorbidity, with 1,546 patients recruited. It was a randomised control trial, the best test of any medical intervention. It evaluated a patient-centred intervention, the 3D approach, to improve how GP practices manage and care for patients with multimorbidity.

Overcoming Barriers is a short film exploring perceptions of autism in the Somali community and the experiences of parents accessing support for their children. Their stories are interwoven with the perspectives of professionals from health, social care and education who support these families.