Perspectives in Public Health最新文献

Aims: To explore the principles of the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) framework in relation to climate change as a global threat to mental health. To introduce WRAP to public health practitioners involved in improving the mental health of diverse populations in response to climate change. To critically review how privileging the principles of WRAP can inform public and healthcare practitioner approaches to tackling rising distress resulting from climate change.

Methods: A selective, iterative, purposive review of theoretical and empirical studies, within a critical realist epistemology, was undertaken. Analysis was undertaken deductively.

Findings: The WRAP principles of personal responsibility, self-advocacy, hope, support, and education are considered in turn. While exploring the principles of WRAP, additional frameworks and concepts in mental health are explored in relation to climate change. Each of the principles explored has a link to the work already being undertaken informally by those involved in climate activism. Principles of recovery from distress draw our attention to 'active hope' and 'citizenship' through reconnection with people and planet, and sharing common experiences.

Conclusions: Experiences of those experiencing distress and those involved in climate activism can provide new ways to re-formulate theory and practice for public health initiatives. By meeting the concerns of citizens in relation to their health in the context of a changing climate, health practitioners have the opportunity to improve psychological and material circumstances by using accessible, personally meaningful, and community-connecting frameworks such as WRAP. By encouraging hope-full re-orientation and action, healthcare workers and the citizens they aim to serve can improve their mutual health and inform future individual or collective action in relation to climate change.

The climate and nature crises are driving a decline in the mental health of young people that cannot be ignored. While other drivers such as technology and social media use or the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns are more commonly discussed, this quiet crisis requires urgent action by charities and governments alike. We also cannot afford to dismiss the impacts of environmental change on youth mental health as 'eco-anxiety': these impacts are complex and wide-ranging.

In this article, authors Bell and Woodhead look at the terminology surrounding and impact of catastrophic events on mental health on a global basis. They outline the role that governments can take to address these issues and support populations that are the most vulnerable to these events.

Aims: By discussing the mental health challenges faced by left-behind children, this article recommends or comments on existing social protection policies that can affect left-behind children's mental health at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels to holistically understand how a range of parties can jointly socially include left-behind children, a process which is conducive to the latter's mental health development.

Methods: J.H. carried out a systematic review by searching through the English bibliographical databases Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus, in addition to Chinese bibliographic databases CNKI, Wanfang Data and VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals. Here J.H. searched for the words ('social protection' OR 'socially protected') AND ('mental health' OR 'psychological wellbeing' OR 'mental problems' OR 'psychological problems') AND ('left-behind children' OR 'LBC' OR 'leftover children') AND ('China' OR 'Chinese'). Publication dates of the search results were limited to between 2010 and 2022.

Results: One of the primary problems encountered by left-behind children is their inadequate home supervision. A further study indicates that parental migration serves as a crucial risk factor for child depression. State-level provision of insurance programmes helps curtail these children's encounters of mental health challenges. Moreover, an improvement in family and school protection is essential when optimising the protection system for left-behind rural Chinese children from poor villages. It is necessary for upper-level government units to re-structure their lower-level counterparts to improve the local administration. This allows lower-level government units to exploit preferential policies, refine relevant regulations and policies on child protection, and facilitate the establishment of social organisations where local policies can be successfully implemented to socially include and protect left-behind children in villages.

Conclusions: At the meso-level, community environment construction should be emphasised. At macro- and meso-levels, government authorities and social organisations should encourage the marketisation of hiring professional surrogate parents. At the micro-level, migrant parents should proactively take an initiative to contact their left-behind children via telecommunications.

Aims: The rising number of displaced children and youth underscores the urgent need for appropriate mental health support. Arts-based interventions (ABI) offer a promising approach to addressing this need. This scoping review aims to map key themes on the effects of the different types of ABI on the mental health of refugee and asylum-seeking children and youth (RASCY), identifying gaps and recommendations for future intervention and mental health policy.

Method: Literature was searched across Web of Science, PubMed, ERIC, and Scopus (till March 2024) in the English language. A narrative analysis identified themes and mapped the intervention types to the themes.

Results: Four main themes emerged from the eight included studies, indicating that ABI positively impacts RASCY's emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing and behaviour, consistent with the WHO definition of mental health, with an additional outcome: behavioural change. Findings highlight the need for mixed-methods approaches and stand-alone dance, drama and poetry interventions. Future interventions should commit to longer interventions (⩾ 10 weeks), integrate ABI into schools and community settings, and provide training on ABI for both educational and health professionals.

Conclusions: There is strong evidence that ABI can effectively improve RASCY's mental health and prevent mental health difficulties by changing behaviour and promoting mental wellbeing. ABI can help these vulnerable populations thrive and contribute to healthier, more inclusive societies. The integration of ABI within mental health intervention and prevention strategies should be promoted and implemented, particularly for RASCY.

Aims: Social prescribing (SP) is a mechanism of care referring people to non-clinical forms of support and services in local communities to improve health and wellbeing. But there is much contention over whether SP is provided disproportionately more to individuals who are less disadvantaged. A comprehensive analysis of who is receiving SP from both medical and non-medical referral routes has never been undertaken.

Methods: We used data from 7283 adults aged 50+ in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), incorporating novel questions on SP into Wave 10. Multiple logistic regression models were used to explore predictors of self-reported referrals to SP.

Results: A total of 495 adults (6.8%) reported receiving an SP referral and 435 (88%) accepted. Referrals were more likely among older adults (odds ratio (OR) = 1.02, confidence interval (CI) = 1.01-1.03), those with chronic pain (OR = 1.78, CI = 1.40-2.27), those who were lonely (OR = 2.20, CI = 1.63-2.97), those from the lowest wealth tertile (OR = 1.59, CI = 1.17-2.18) and those receiving benefits (OR = 2.02, CI = 1.52-2.69). Diagnosed psychiatric conditions and depressive symptoms, sedentary behaviours, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and physical inactivity predicted referrals only in minimally adjusted models. But those with multiple long-term conditions were more likely to be referred (OR = 2.02, CI = 1.00-4.08).

Conclusion: There is promising initial evidence that SP referrals are occurring among older adults in England, with high uptake among those referred. Promisingly, those with the highest socio-economic need and most long-term health conditions particularly appear to be receiving support. Mental health appears more of a secondary rather than a primary referral predictor.

This manuscript examines the emerging phenomenon of dopamine-scrolling and its implications for public health, particularly regarding mental wellbeing and digital behaviour patterns. While extensive research exists on Internet addiction, problematic social media use, and doom-scrolling, the authors of this paper identify dopamine-scrolling as a distinct behavioural pattern that warrants specific attention from public health professionals and policymakers.