This report, written in partnership with various Royal Medical Colleges and Public Health England, sets out the essential actions to improve the physical health of adults with severe mental illness (SMI) across the NHS. The report makes practical re
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commendations for changes that will help adults with SMI to receive the same standards of physical healthcare as the general population and reduce the risk of premature death.
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Although Kenyans enjoy comparatively good health, the prevalence of
chronic disease is increasing and our ageing population is placing evergrowing pressures on the finite resources of our health system.
The companion Handbook on Humanitarian Access presents the normative framework pertaining to humanitarian access in situations of armed conflict, and therefore serves as a useful reference source fo
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r humanitarian practitioners on the normative framework.
This initial version of the Field Manual – labeled Version 1.0 – was elaborated by Conflict Dynamics International in collaboration with the FDFA and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Development of the structured approach and guidance contained in this Manuel
involved a consultation process which included bilateral meetings with humanitarian organizations, regional consultation events and consultations during several field visits, including dedicated field missions
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The WHO Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour provide evidence-based public health recommendations for children, adolescents, adults and older adults on the amount of physical acti
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vity (frequency, intensity and duration) required to offer significant health benefits and mitigate health risks. For the first time, recommendations are provided on the associations between sedentary behaviour and health outcomes, as well as for subpopulations, such as pregnant and postpartum women, and people living with chronic conditions or disability.
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A new frontier for integrated care.
Until now, most efforts to promote integrated care have focused on bridging the gaps between health and social care or between primary and secondary care. But the NHS five year forward view has highlighted a third dimension – bringing together
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physical and mental health. This report makes a compelling case for this ‘new frontier’ for integration. It gives service users’ perspectives on what integrated care would look like and highlights ten areas that offer some of the biggest opportunities for improving quality and controlling costs.
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Background
Noncommunicable diseases are major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Modifying the risk factors for these conditions, such as physical inactivity, is thus essential. Addressing the context or circumstances in which
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physical activity occurs may promote physical activity at a population level. We assessed the effects of infrastructure, policy or regulatory interventions for increasing physical activity.
Methods
We searched PubMed, Embase and clinicaltrials.gov to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs), controlled before-after (CBAs) studies, and interrupted time series (ITS) studies assessing population-level infrastructure or policy and regulatory interventions to increase physical activity. We were interested in the effects of these interventions on physical activity, body weight and related measures, blood pressure, and CVD and type 2 diabetes morbidity and mortality, and on other secondary outcomes. Screening and data extraction was done in duplicate, with risk of bias was using an adapted Cochrane risk of bias tool. Due to high levels of heterogeneity, we synthesised the evidence based on effect direction.
Results
We included 33 studies, mostly conducted in high-income countries. Of these, 13 assessed infrastructure changes to green or other spaces to promote physical activity and 18 infrastructure changes to promote active transport. The effects of identified interventions on physical activity, body weight and blood pressure varied across studies (very low certainty evidence); thus, we remain very uncertain about the effects of these interventions. Two studies assessed the effects of policy and regulatory interventions; one provided free access to physical activity facilities and showed that it may have beneficial effects on physical activity (low certainty evidence). The other provided free bus travel for youth, with intervention effects varying across studies (very low certainty evidence).
Conclusions
Evidence from 33 studies assessing infrastructure, policy and regulatory interventions for increasing physical activity showed varying results. The certainty of the evidence was mostly very low, due to study designs included and inconsistent findings between studies. Despite this drawback, the evidence indicates that providing access to physical activity facilities may be beneficial; however this finding is based on only one study. Implementation of these interventions requires full consideration of contextual factors, especially in low resource settings.
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Regular physical activity is proven to help prevent and treat noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and breast and colon cancer. It also helps to prevent hypertension, overweight and obesity and can improve mental h
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ealth, quality of life
and well-being.
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Detailed adapted physical activities are provided with practical guides, group sport guides and assessment tools in order to promote a more inclusive society through sports
Physical distancing measures are important to reduce COVID-19 transmission. However, when stringently applied, they can result in negative health and socio-economic impacts. This report draws on a rapid review of available literature, case studies f
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rom across Africa and expert knowledge to make recommendations on adapting classic physical distancing measures to the contextual realities in Africa and on mitigating potential negative impacts.
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Operational guidance for managing programme quality.
These guidelines are about implementing the programme-quality standards of the Core Humanitarian Standard in limited access humanitarian response. They have been developed using approaches and to
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ols tested by Oxfam, other INGOs and the UN in Afghanistan, DRC, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The guidelines are an operational resource to help programme designers and decision makers deliver ‘good enough’ programme quality in limited access humanitarian response.
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This report explores the access to healthcare granted to irregular migrants in 10 EU Member States. It focuses on migrants who are present in an irregular situation, namely those who do not fulfil conditions for entry, stay or residence. Through int
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erviews with a range of different sources including public authorities at the national and local level, health professionals, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) providing helathcare and irregular migrants themselves, this report documents the legal, economic and practical obstacles that hinder migrants' access to healthcare.
For versions in French, Polish, German and Swedish check also http://fra.europa.eu/de/publication/2012/migranten-einer-irregulren-situation-zugang-zu-medizinischer-versorgung-zehn
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The “ActiveAge Handbook” is an outcome of the “ActiveAge Project, which was carried out from January 2013 until June 2014 in the frame of “2012 Preparatory Actions in the Field of Sport” of the European Commission Directory General Education and Cul-
ture (DG EAC) in cooperation with 13 E
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uropean partners under the leadership of the German Gymnastic Federation (DTB). “ActiveAge” was set up as a transnational project that fosters the exchange of knowledge and experience to counteract the physical inactivity of elderly people through capacity building for physical activities and sport programs of aging people in well-
structured and wide-spread settings, with the starting point in sport-organizations.
The handbook is intended to be used as a guideline for further activities of the “European Platform Active Aging in Sport” (EPAAS), which will continue the mission of the ActiveAge Project. Furthermore the handbook should serve as well for any other stakeholder interested to promote physical activities and sport for elderly people.
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A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN PUBLIC HEALTH OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA
A new report released today documents an “invisible wall” which has blocked migrants from accessing basic services since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is now preventing them from accessing vaccines.