Drug and alcohol round-up

From the Department for Education, a cost benefit analysis of specialist drug and alcohol services for young people. Key findings from the Alcohol Harm Reduction National Support Team visits up to the end of the programme in March this year focus substantially on organisational and leadership aspects with emphasis on design of services, integration and assessment. The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health includes a study on the ethnic density effect on alcohol use amongs ethnic minority people in the UK.

Migrant health

Local Government Improvement and Development has issued guidance on how to include migrants in Joint Strategic Needs Assessments. More good practice emerges from a survey of healthcare professionals who work with migrants in 16 European countries. A qualitiative study from the Netherlands looks at negative health care experiences amongst immigrants using hospital services. Being an immigrant in a high-income country is a serious risk factor for mental health problems, a team from Sweden has confirmed, adding that refugee status for women increases that risk.

UK child poverty snakes and ladders

The improvements in child poverty levels made by the UK prior to the global financial crisis could well be reversed under present circumstances, a report from the OECD suggests. In its survey of family wellbeing across OECD countries, the thinktank shows that UK child poverty levels fell more than any other OECD country, from 17.5% in 1995 to 10.5% in 2005, below the OECD average of 12.7% . Between 2003 and 2007, UK government spending on families was higher than most of its peers. However, the OECD warns that cutting back on early years services could threaten this progress, as it limits the ability of parents to get back into work. Childcare costs are one of the biggest barriers, the OECD argues, but not the only factor. Interviewed in the Guardian, one of the report's authors also suggested that how the government spends is as important as how much, comparing the UK with Nordic countries' child poverty interventions and outcomes, where "in kind" support (such as childcare) rather than direct financial support tends to be the preferred option.

Beside the seaside

The Department of Communities and Local Government has published a useful benchmarking report on smaller seaside towns, comparing data with regional and rural as well as national figures. This follows an earlier report on larger seaside towns and covers towns with a population of up to 10 000.

Diabetes care

Ethnicity disparities in diabetes management are starting to be addressed effectively, according to a study of patients with diabetes in North West London. The study's authors conclude that, along with specific attendtion being paid to South Asian groups, all ethnic groups in the population benefit from recent quality improvement measures. A systematic review of physical activity and dietary interventions for people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes found that the most effective interventions were associated with higher levels of contact frequency and certain types of behaviour change techniques (goal-setting, self-monitoring)

Scoffing at QOF?

According to research commissioned by NIHR, the GP pay-for-performance scheme, the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) has had minimal impact on public health in deprived areas. As well as milling the data (HES statistics, spearhead status etc.), the team from the King's Fund and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine conducted interviews with PCT and general practice staff. The gap in performance between least deprived and most deprived practices has decreased since the implementation of QOF, but differences were already small. It should be noted that QOF was never designed to address public health or inequalities issues: the report's main criticisms are reserved for the QOF system itself, which does not incentivise health improvement or public health activities, so much as efficient management of known/existing problems. The content of the 2012/13 QOF is currently being considered.

Nudge, nudge

The latest offering from the Government's Behavioural Insight Team (aka the Nudge Team) is Better choices, better deals, a paper which anticipates an increasingly consumer-empowered world. Amongst the health issues addressed is the role of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, a compact between government, food producers and retailers launched earlier this year with food-related pledges on labelling, salt content levels and use of transfats. An article in the British Journal of Healthcare Management makes a sober assessment of the science behind the nudge approach and considers whether clinicians and health sector managers should pay attention.