Perspectives in Public Health最新文献

This article discusses how effective the smoking policies that are being introduced are, whether more is action needed, and who is being most impacted. Through this article Howell aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on smoking prevention and control, and to shield future generations from adverse health effects.

Aims: This co-inquiry project aimed to develop a qualitatively informed model of professionally led stop smoking outreach. It involved 13 staff from a Stop Smoking Service (SSS) which operates across three Local Authorities in England (Central Bedfordshire, Bedford Borough and Milton Keynes). Staff's outreach sought to engage people from the most deprived areas who smoked but were not engaging with the service.

Methods: The co-inquiry comprised six reflection sessions and ethnographic research which aimed to explicate and examine staff's assumptions about how outreach works, conducted over 12 months. Data included 32 diary entries, eight observations of staff's outreach events, 10 interviews with staff and eight interviews with members of the communities being targeted. Data were reflected on to develop a 'real-world' logic model and summarised using thematic analysis.

Results: Professionally led outreach can raise awareness of service offers, remove access barriers and generate referrals. A non-judgemental, person-centred approach is vital through which staff carefully initiate conversations with community members about smoking, and tailor information to community members' needs and preferences. Such an approach, in combination with an e-cigarette support option, can generate interest in SSS and challenge negative perceptions. However, outreach is time-consuming for busy frontline staff, unpredictable and best implemented via effective community partnerships.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that stop smoking advisors' outreach can contribute substantially to national ambition to create a 'smoke free generation' provided that sufficient investment is provided. Professionally led outreach, delivered in partnership with community organisations, can generate referrals among people who are disconnected from health services. Such non-traditional referral routes are likely to become more significant as smoking prevalence further declines in the general population.

This article expands upon the existing discourse on smoke-free policies by examining the practical and public health impacts of prohibiting smoking in outdoor sports settings, a policy supported by a majority of UK adults. Viggars and Philpott's article offers timely insights in light of emerging UK legislation proposals.

This feature article explores the role of the workplace in smoking cessation. Blake looks into the current measures in place, and explores how employers can benefit from and support employees by implementing smoke-free policy and regulation in the workplace.

Aim: This qualitative study aimed to investigate how young people understand vaping among their peers to directly inform practice within a Local Authority (LA) public health team in the North of England.

Method: The study was undertaken using a co-creation model of qualitative research between LA practitioners and Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) embedded researchers. The study team collaboratively planned and collected data and analysed findings. Four focus groups were held with 17 young people aged between 13 and 23 years between May and August 2024. Participants were recruited from communities with reported high electronic cigarette (vape) use. Data analysis was informed by Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis approach.

Results: Results suggest the importance of friendship groups, social media, mental wellbeing and family in the prevalence of youth vaping, alongside the accessibility and appeal of flavours, colours, and brands of vapes. Young people identified a lack of clear information and guidance about vapes with a mixed understanding of legal frameworks. They made valuable suggestions including specialist advisors within schools, increased regulation of the accessibility and promotion of vapes, and further information about health harms.

Conclusions: This study supports existing findings about the appeal of vapes to young people. The findings also add important knowledge about experiences of young people from a range of backgrounds where vaping has been identified as more prevalent locally and which mirrors health inequality data. Findings also highlight lack of awareness of legal frameworks and health harms of vaping products. Young people's suggestions on support to reduce vaping point towards several policy and practice interventions for use in LA settings, including providing accurate and clear information on vape harms, enhancing support services and reducing vape access and appeal.

E-cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular within Australia with uptake particularly amongst the younger population. This article covers the history of e-cigarette legislation within Australia, focusing on the first e-cigarette specific legislation in 2021 (TGO110) and the major reforms that have taken place since and are yet to be implemented throughout 2024/2025.

Aims: Late adolescence/young adulthood represents a transition to independence, with increasing control over health behaviours (HB). However, HB data of late adolescents are often reported in wide and inconsistent age brackets, making comparisons with age-targeted guidelines difficult. We aimed to characterise important HB (body composition, physical activity (PA), diet) of late adolescents from North East England.

Methods: A total of 145 17- to 19-year olds from the Gateshead Millennium Study birth cohort participated in 2017 to 2018. Measurements including height, weight, body fat, accelerometer-measured PA and sedentary behaviour, and 24-hour dietary recall were taken. Comparisons with current global age-appropriate recommendations were made for four variables: (1) 60 min moderate-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA)/day (age 17 years old) or 150 min MVPA/week (18- to 19-years old); (2) body fat (<25% for males, <30% for females); (3) free sugars <5% total energy intake; (4) five portions fruit and/or vegetables/day.

Results: Most recommendations were not met: MVPA averaged 37 min/day, 20% of 17-year olds met 60 min/d, and 55% of 18- to 19-year olds met 150 min/week. About 26.5% of participants had excess body fat. Daily fruit/vegetable consumption was 2.7 portions; 12% consumed '5-a-day' portions of fruit and/or vegetables, 13.5% consumed <5% energy from free sugars. Together, 43% of participants met 0/4, 44% met 1/4%, and 0% met 4/4 age-appropriate health recommendations.

Conclusion: These novel empirical data reveal concerning HB in this population of late adolescents, suggesting targeted health messaging to improve HB is needed.

Aims: Health and social services are fundamental to public and population health, and disruptions can have devastating effects on individuals of all ages. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the availability of health and social services rapidly changed. Existing resources experienced changes in operation and mode of service delivery, while new resources emerged to address escalating needs. Both the general public and service providers lacked access to accurate information on availability and access, and existing service directories became obsolete or unreliable. To address this gap, a committee of university students expanded its volunteer base, partnered with a local non-profit organization, and invested in maintaining a centralized, up-to-date resource directory for the region.

Methods/results: Student volunteers sourced and consolidated existing county-level directories to curate more than 370 resources across 12 healthcare and social care domains in a Google Sheets platform. This directory was publicly accessible, available in English and Spanish, adjustable to community feedback and needs, disseminated through the local health system intranet, synthesized into paper handouts for food pantries, and utilized to curate a directory aimed toward older adult needs. Students worked in a tiered leadership model and mobilized quickly to respond to immediate community needs.

Conclusion: This academic-community partnership engaging student volunteers can be a low-cost, high-value resource to support public health systems meet the information needs of their community, particularly during periods of crisis or rapid changes in service availability.