For most carers the decision to move the person they are supporting, either from their own home or from the carer’s home, into residential care, can cause great difficulty and distress. For some people, they prefer to support the person at home for as long as possible. When this is no longer possible, they would […]

The scan at the first appointment is looking for previously unrecognised heart valve disease. Anyone who is suspected to have a heart valve problem following screening is invited for a follow up hospital appointment for a more detailed scan, an ECG (echocardiogram) and other tests. They may be invited back for further monitoring in future, […]

Being a grandparent of a child or children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has both similarities and differences to that of being a grandparent to any child. Grandparents of children with ASD often play a more extended or intense role in the lives of their grandchildren compared to other grandparents. Some grandparents we talked with […]

The onset of dementia may be very gradual, and where the person concerned lives alone with members of their immediate family living separately, often nowhere near, it may be several years before the extent of the problem is recognised. Many such people are used to their independence and any suggestions from their family that they […]

For some women who are uncertain about the use of HRT or do not want to use it, complementary therapies have become a popular ‘natural’ alternative to prescription medicines. Pharmacies, supermarkets, health food shops and internet websites offer a wide variety of herbal remedies including red clover, agnus castus and St Johns Wort, which all […]

INVOLVE is an NHS National Institute for Health Research advisory group that supports public involvement in health and social care research. INVOLVE defines public involvement as ‘research being carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them’. By ‘public’ INVOLVE means patients and their relatives as well as […]

Fatigue and low energy are common symptoms of depression. Everyone we spoke with described struggles with tiredness and/or loss of motivation. Many people also talked about the specific impact depression had on their ability to complete everyday tasks — things like housework, personal hygiene, or going outside. Many people also had trouble getting out of […]

People with depression may choose to take prescribed medications to help with depression symptoms. Some people we interviewed managed their depression with medication alone. Others used medication in combination with therapy, lifestyle changes and/or holistic and integrative treatments. Some did not use medication at all and only used other approaches to manage their depression. The […]

We know from recent research that, on average, autistic people die earlier than non-autistic (or neurotypical) people and one of the biggest causes of death is suicide (Hirvikoski et al 2016). In this NIHR funded study we reanalysed in-depth interviews with 37 autistic people to gain a better understanding of how to improve the healthcare […]

There are many psychological and organisational theories about the factors which affect whether people adopt new practices. A common component of these theories is the extent to which people believe that a new practice is justified, that a good case has been made, that it will bring benefit, and that the costs of doing it […]