scholarly journals The route to diagnosis of sarcoma patients: Results from an interview study in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0243439
Author(s):  
Vicky L. M. N. Soomers ◽  
Winette T. A. van der Graaf ◽  
Shane Zaidi ◽  
Suzanne E. J. Kaal ◽  
Andrew J. Hayes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Waiting Times ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Information Provision ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Rare Tumours ◽  
Diagnostic Interval ◽  
The Impact

Introduction Sarcomas are rare tumours. Early diagnosis is challenging, but important for local control and potentially survival and quality of life(QoL). We investigated (1)the route to diagnosis (RtD) experienced by sarcoma patients, including factors contributing to the length of the RtD from patients’ perspective; (2)the impact of the RtD on QoL and care satisfaction; and (3)differences in aims 1–2 between English and Dutch patients. Methods Fifteen sarcoma patients from The Royal Marsden Hospital, United Kingdom, and Radboud University Medical Centre, The Netherlands, were interviewed, exploring RtD experiences. Interviews were analysed according to qualitative content analysis. Results The main themes were: patient interval, diagnostic interval, reflection on the RtD and recommendations for improvement. Patient interval was long if symptoms were attributed as benign, did not interfere with daily life or were expected to cease. An incorrect working diagnosis, ineffective process of additional investigations, long referral times and lack of a lead clinician lengthened the diagnostic interval. Long waiting times, false reassurance and inadequate information provision led to dissatisfaction and a high emotional burden. Factors for improvement included increasing awareness of patients and healthcare providers, empowering patients, and having a lead clinician. Conclusion The RtD of sarcoma patients is complex. Increasing awareness of patients and healthcare providers may contribute to shorten the RtD.

scholarly journals Gypsy–Traveller communities in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands: socially and digitally excluded?

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 637-653
Author(s):  
Leanne Townsend ◽  
Koen Salemink ◽  
Claire Denise Wallace
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Digital Communications ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Mainstream Society ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Socially Excluded ◽  
The Impact

With the pervasiveness of digitisation communications, those that are left behind are seen as socially excluded. In both academic and policy discourses, it is assumed that digital inclusion as a route into mainstream society is a desirable solution to problems of multiple exclusion and has led to many studies of the digital inclusion/exclusion of ‘hard to reach’ groups. Yet, Gypsy–Travellers, among the most marginalised people in society, have received little attention. Using data from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, we assess the impact of digital communications on Gypsy–Traveller communities. This article makes a contribution in the following ways: First, we address the theories of ‘fields of inclusion’ to show how exclusion and inclusion work together in different ways; Second, we explore how different policy frameworks in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom shape these possibilities; Third, we document the forms of inclusion that Gypsy–Travellers experience in terms of digital communications; Fourth, we look at how Gypsy–Travellers use digital communications to recreate their own cultures as well as selectively integrate with mainstream society.

scholarly journals Using Smartphones and Wearable Devices to Monitor Behavioral Changes During COVID-19 (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaoxiong Sun ◽  
Amos A Folarin ◽  
Yatharth Ranjan ◽  
Zulqarnain Rashid ◽  
Pauline Conde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Wearable Devices ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Low Bmi ◽  
The Impact ◽  
At Home

BACKGROUND In the absence of a vaccine or effective treatment for COVID-19, countries have adopted nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as social distancing and full lockdown. An objective and quantitative means of passively monitoring the impact and response of these interventions at a local level is needed. OBJECTIVE We aim to explore the utility of the recently developed open-source mobile health platform Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse (RADAR)–base as a toolbox to rapidly test the effect and response to NPIs intended to limit the spread of COVID-19. METHODS We analyzed data extracted from smartphone and wearable devices, and managed by the RADAR-base from 1062 participants recruited in Italy, Spain, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. We derived nine features on a daily basis including time spent at home, maximum distance travelled from home, the maximum number of Bluetooth-enabled nearby devices (as a proxy for physical distancing), step count, average heart rate, sleep duration, bedtime, phone unlock duration, and social app use duration. We performed Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by post hoc Dunn tests to assess differences in these features among baseline, prelockdown, and during lockdown periods. We also studied behavioral differences by age, gender, BMI, and educational background. RESULTS We were able to quantify expected changes in time spent at home, distance travelled, and the number of nearby Bluetooth-enabled devices between prelockdown and during lockdown periods (<i>P</i>&lt;.001 for all five countries). We saw reduced sociality as measured through mobility features and increased virtual sociality through phone use. People were more active on their phones (<i>P</i>&lt;.001 for Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), spending more time using social media apps (<i>P</i>&lt;.001 for Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands), particularly around major news events. Furthermore, participants had a lower heart rate (<i>P</i>&lt;.001 for Italy and Spain; <i>P</i>=.02 for Denmark), went to bed later (<i>P</i>&lt;.001 for Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands), and slept more (<i>P</i>&lt;.001 for Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom). We also found that young people had longer homestay than older people during the lockdown and fewer daily steps. Although there was no significant difference between the high and low BMI groups in time spent at home, the low BMI group walked more. CONCLUSIONS RADAR-base, a freely deployable data collection platform leveraging data from wearables and mobile technologies, can be used to rapidly quantify and provide a holistic view of behavioral changes in response to public health interventions as a result of infectious outbreaks such as COVID-19. RADAR-base may be a viable approach to implementing an early warning system for passively assessing the local compliance to interventions in epidemics and pandemics, and could help countries ease out of lockdown.

scholarly journals The United Kingdom and the Netherlands maternity care responses to COVID-19: a comparative study    

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauri van den Berg ◽  
Marie-Clare Balaam ◽  
Rebecca Nowland ◽  
Gill Moncrieff ◽  
Anastasia Topalidou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Service User ◽  
User Involvement ◽  
Neonatal Care ◽  
Service User Involvement ◽  
Multidisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Care System

Background: The national health care response to coronavirus (COVID-19) has varied between countries. The United Kingdom (UK) and the Netherlands (NL) have comparable maternity and neonatal care systems, and experienced similar numbers of COVID-19 infections, but had different organisational responses to the pandemic. Understanding why and how similarities and differences occurred in these two contexts could inform optimal care in normal circumstances, and during future crises. Aim: To compare the UK and Dutch COVID-19 maternity and neonatal care responses in three key domains: choice of birthplace, companionship, and families in vulnerable situations. Method: A multi-method study, including documentary analysis of national organisation policy and guidance on COVID-19, and interviews with national and regional stakeholders. Findings: Both countries had an infection control focus, with less emphasis on the impact of restrictions. Differences included care providers’ fear of contracting COVID-19; the extent to which personalised care was embedded in the care system before the pandemic; and how far multidisciplinary collaboration and service-user involvement were prioritised. Conclusion: We recommend that countries should 1) make a systematic plan for crisis decision-making before a serious event occurs, and that this must include authentic service-user involvement, multidisciplinary collaboration, and protection of staff wellbeing 2) integrate women’s and families’ values into the maternity and neonatal care system, ensuring equitable inclusion of the most vulnerable and 3) strengthen community provision to ensure system wide resilience to future shocks from pandemics, or other unexpected large-scale events.

A survey of exercise advice and recommendations in United Kingdom paediatric cardiac clinics

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 951-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig A. Williams ◽  
Lucy Gowing ◽  
Richard Horn ◽  
Alan Graham Stuart
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Information Provision ◽  
Support Teams ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Specific Advice ◽  
Physical Activity Advice ◽  
Important Health ◽  
Main Factors

AbstractBackgroundPhysical activity and exercise have important health benefits for children and adolescents with CHD. The objective of this study was to survey the provision of advice and recommendations in United Kingdom paediatric CHD clinics.MethodsA three-page questionnaire was sent out to paediatric cardiac consultants in the United Kingdom, paediatric consultants with expertise in cardiology, and nursing staff (Paediatricians with Expertise in Cardiology Special Interest Group), as well as all members of the British Congenital Cardiovascular Association. The aim of this questionnaire was to determine the extent and scope of current information provision and to assess the importance that clinicians place on this advice.ResultsThere were 68 responses in total, and the data showed that, of these, 24 (36%) clinicians had never provided paediatric CHD patients with written advice about exercise. Only 27 (39%) clinicians provided physical activity advice at every appointment. Lack of time during consultation (n=39, 56.9%), lack of training (n=38, 55.2%), and uncertainty about appropriate recommendations (n=38, 55.2%) were identified as the main factors preventing clinicians from providing patients with advice about physical activity.ConclusionAlthough healthcare providers consider physical activity to be very important, the provision of clear, specific advice and recommendations is underutilised; therefore, more education and provision of resources to support the promotion of exercise need to be provided to clinicians and their support teams.

scholarly journals Using Smartphones and Wearable Devices to Monitor Behavioral Changes During COVID-19

10.2196/19992 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. e19992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaoxiong Sun ◽  
Amos A Folarin ◽  
Yatharth Ranjan ◽  
Zulqarnain Rashid ◽  
Pauline Conde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Wearable Devices ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Low Bmi ◽  
The Impact ◽  
At Home

Background In the absence of a vaccine or effective treatment for COVID-19, countries have adopted nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as social distancing and full lockdown. An objective and quantitative means of passively monitoring the impact and response of these interventions at a local level is needed. Objective We aim to explore the utility of the recently developed open-source mobile health platform Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse (RADAR)–base as a toolbox to rapidly test the effect and response to NPIs intended to limit the spread of COVID-19. Methods We analyzed data extracted from smartphone and wearable devices, and managed by the RADAR-base from 1062 participants recruited in Italy, Spain, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. We derived nine features on a daily basis including time spent at home, maximum distance travelled from home, the maximum number of Bluetooth-enabled nearby devices (as a proxy for physical distancing), step count, average heart rate, sleep duration, bedtime, phone unlock duration, and social app use duration. We performed Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by post hoc Dunn tests to assess differences in these features among baseline, prelockdown, and during lockdown periods. We also studied behavioral differences by age, gender, BMI, and educational background. Results We were able to quantify expected changes in time spent at home, distance travelled, and the number of nearby Bluetooth-enabled devices between prelockdown and during lockdown periods (P<.001 for all five countries). We saw reduced sociality as measured through mobility features and increased virtual sociality through phone use. People were more active on their phones (P<.001 for Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), spending more time using social media apps (P<.001 for Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands), particularly around major news events. Furthermore, participants had a lower heart rate (P<.001 for Italy and Spain; P=.02 for Denmark), went to bed later (P<.001 for Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands), and slept more (P<.001 for Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom). We also found that young people had longer homestay than older people during the lockdown and fewer daily steps. Although there was no significant difference between the high and low BMI groups in time spent at home, the low BMI group walked more. Conclusions RADAR-base, a freely deployable data collection platform leveraging data from wearables and mobile technologies, can be used to rapidly quantify and provide a holistic view of behavioral changes in response to public health interventions as a result of infectious outbreaks such as COVID-19. RADAR-base may be a viable approach to implementing an early warning system for passively assessing the local compliance to interventions in epidemics and pandemics, and could help countries ease out of lockdown.

scholarly journals Social media gatekeeping: An analysis of the gatekeeping influence of newspapers’ public Facebook pages

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 4728-4747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasper Welbers ◽  
Michaël Opgenhaffen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Time Series ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
The Impact

Due to the rising importance of social media platforms for news diffusion, newspapers are relying on social media editors to promote the distribution of their news items on these platforms. In this study, we investigate how much of an impact these social media editors really have, focusing on the impact of newspapers’ public pages on Facebook. Since the actions of individual users are not visible on many platforms due to privacy consideration, we propose a method that leverages time series of aggregated scores for total user engagement, which are available for various platforms. We use this method to study and compare the influence of Facebook pages for six newspapers from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Flanders, for all news items published over 2 weeks in 2017.

scholarly journals A Study to Explore the Impact of Endometriosis in the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Content Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19
Author(s):  
Babu Karavadra ◽  
◽  
Paul Simpson ◽  
Edward Prosser-Snelling ◽  
Edward Mullins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Impact

Administrative Measures in Counter-terrorism and the Protection of Human Rights

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 128-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bérénice Boutin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Control Orders ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

This article analyses the increasing use of administrative measures, such as travel bans and control orders, in the counter-terrorism context. On the basis of a review of the use of these measures in three selected states (the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands), the paper provides a critical assessment of the use of administrative measures in counter-terrorism. It identifies situations in which the use of administrative measures might be justified, and assesses the impact of the use of these measures on the protection of human rights. In conclusion, the paper recommends that limits and safeguards be established around the use of administrative measures in counter-terrorism.

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