An evaluation of the inappropriate prescribing in older residents in long term care facilities in the greater Cork and Northern Ireland regions using the STOPP and Beers' criteria.

This work has highlighted a number of areas of prescribing concern, for example, the long term use of both benzodiazepines and hypnotics, in older residents residing in long term care facilities. Each of these individual areas should be further investigated to determine the underlying reason(s) for the prescribing concerns in these areas and strategic methods of addressing and preventing further issues should be developed on a national level.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

In-depth assessment delivers the verdict on the Government�۪s promise of a more equal society

An independent and detailed expert analysis of a decade of reforms (published 25 February) takes up the challenge made by Peter Mandelson in 1997 to “judge us after ten years of success in office. For one of the fruits of that success will be that Britain has become a more equal society.����”Commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the study, by a team led by LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, shows sharp contrasts between different policy areas. Notable success stories include reductions in child and pensioner poverty, improved education outcomes for the poorest children and schools, and narrowing economic and other divides between deprived and other areas.But health inequalities continued to widen, gaps in incomes between the very top and very bottom grew, and poverty increased for working-age people without children.����In several policy areas there was a marked contrast between the first half of the New Labour period and the second half, when progress has slowed or even stalled.John Hills, one of the leaders of study, said, “Whether Britain has moved towards becoming a ‘more equal society’ depends on what you look at, and when. Where clear initiatives were taken, results followed. But as the growth of living standards slowed, even well before the recession, and public finances tightened, momentum seems to have been lost in several key areas.”Kitty Stewart added, “The government can take heart from achievements such as the reduction in child poverty up to 2004.����Recent data show that by then, child well-being in the UK had begun to move up the European league table from its dismal showing at the start of the decade that formed the basis of UNICEF’s damning 2007 report. But even with improved figures, Britain was still left with one of the highest rates of child poverty out of the 15 original EU members, and the latest figures show it had increased again by 2006/7.”����The study concludes that the decade from 1997 was favourable to an egalitarian agenda in several ways: the economy grew continuously; the government had large majorities and aspired to create more equality; and public attitudes surveys suggested pent-up demand for more public expenditure. But that environment now looks very uncertain, not just in the near future, but also in the longer term.����Fiscal pressures from an ageing society could further constrain resources available for redistribution, and public attitudes towards the benefit system have hardened while support for redistribution has declined.Hills added, “The 1980s and 1990s showed that hoping that rapid growth in living standards at the top would ‘trickle down’ to those at the bottom did not work.����The period since 1997 has shown that gains are possible through determined interventions, but they require intensive and continuous effort to be sustained.”JRF Chief Executive Julia Unwin added, “We know the potential impact the deepening recession will have on those already living in poverty. This book provides an important, timely and comprehensive assessment of where we are and what remains to be done.”

CARDI Research Brief: Medication use in patients with dementia at the end of life

��Palliative care and medication use are important issues in dealing with end-of-life stage dementia. As research into palliative care for patients with advanced dementia has been limited to date, CARDI funded a project, led by Dr. Carole Parsons of Queen’s University Belfast, as part of its grants programme. This project aimed to evaluate the extent to which patient-related factors influenced clinical decision-making with regard to medication use in patients with endstagedementia. This research brief presents a summary of the findings from the full report, Assessment of factors which influence physician decisionmaking regarding medication use in patients with dementia at the end of life (Parsons, et al., 2012).Read the research brief here: Medication use in patients with dementia at the end of lifeRead the press release here

Indications of public health in the English regions - 6: sexual health

This report is the sixth in the series, "Indications of Public Health in the English Regions" commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer and has been produced jointly by the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) and the Health Protection Agency (HPA). Sexual health is identified as one of the key national priorities for action in the White Paper Choosing Health. Influenced by the broad definition of sexual health provided in the National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV, this report presents regional comparative data on a wide range of indicators of sexual health and its determinants, and highlights apparent inequalities.