The rapidly changing NHS: communication in the age of coronavirus

The rapidly changing NHS: communication in the age of coronavirus
NHS Confederation 12 August 2020

• Research conducted by the Centre for Health Communication Research at Bucks New University, in conjunction with the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers examined the changing nature of communications during the pandemic and what learning there is for future practice.
• What is clear from this report is the vital and strategic role that communicators across the NHS have played in responding to the pandemic. The profession has mobilised and been at the heart of the response, working innovatively and creatively to adapt to the unprecedented challenge. Many of the innovations and new ways of working that have been introduced now need to be locked-in for the long term.

Summary

Development of a checklist for people communicating evidence-based information about the effects of healthcare interventions: a mixed methods study

Development of a checklist for people communicating evidence-based information about the effects of healthcare interventions: a mixed methods study.
BMJ Open. 2020 Jul 21;10(7):e036348. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036348

• Researchers developed guidance and a checklist to those producing and communicating evidence-based information about the effects of interventions intended to inform decisions about healthcare. The checklist has 10 recommendations. Three recommendations focus on making it easy to quickly determine the relevance of the information and find the key messages. Five recommendations are about helping the reader understand the size of effects and how sure we are about those estimates. Two recommendations are about helping the reader put information about intervention effects in context and understand if and why the information is trustworthy.

Innovation and Communication Media in Virtual Teams – An Experimental Study

Innovation and Communication Media in Virtual Teams – An Experimental Study
IZA DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 13218 (May 2020)

• In a novel real-effort setting, we experimentally study the effects of different communication media on creative performance in a collaborative tasks. We find that creative performance significantly decreases when group members communicate via chat instead of face-to-face. However, we find no significant difference between performances of groups that communicate via video conferences as compared to face-to-face. Thus, we provide evidence that barriers to creativity in virtual teams can be mitigated by real-time video conference communication.

Digital exclusion in population screening programmes

Digital exclusion in population screening programmes
Citizens Online 13 May 2020

• An Equality Impact Assessment of channel shift from printed media to online information within NHS England’s population screening programmes.

Covid-19 news and information: consumption and attitudes

Covid-19 news and information: consumption and attitudes
Ofcom 21 April 2020

• Ofcom is providing a range of information about how people are getting news and information about the crisis. They have commissioned a weekly online survey of around 2,000 people over the next three months, and also provide key findings from other datasets such as BARB and comScore.

Health at Home toolkit

Health at Home https://www.nhs.uk/health-at-home/  toolkit

NHS 17 April 2020

• A new campaign to help people manage their health at home, and easily access NHS services online. The Health at Home webpage gives information on how to contact your GP, order repeat prescriptions, manage long-term conditions  and maintain your mental and physical wellbeing
• NHS Health at Home Toolkit and Assets - PDF toolkit with newsletter copy, website copy and social media post content

Online Community Involvement in COVID-19 Research & Outbreak Response

Online Community Involvement in COVID-19 Research & Outbreak Response Early Insights from a UK PerspectivePatient Experience Research Centre (PERC) at Imperial College London 3 April 2020

• Findings from online surveys of members of the public, carried out by the Patient Experience Research Centre, reveal that ineffective communication (including access to information and misinformation) are key concerns for the public, while vaccine development was considered the most urgent research priority.

Mobile phones for targeted communication with clients, patients and the public: implementation considerations

Mobile phones for targeted communication with clients, patients and the public: implementation considerations
Cochrane Norway/EPOC March 2020

• Questions for implementers when implementing mHealth strategies taken from a recent Cochrane Review of qualitative research explored how clients, patients, and the public view and experience targeted communication by mobile phone. Includes issues around access and content.
• Includes studies that had been published up to July 2017.

Getting our communication tools right [blog]

Getting our communication tools right [blog]
NHS X 20 March 2020

• Dr James Maguire, clinical lead for secondary care in the COVID-19 Clinical Cell at NHSX discusses the benefits of communication tools during Covid-19 and what to consider when using them.

Knowledge Panels

NHS working with Google on Knowledge Panels
NHS Digital 11 March 2020

• The NHS has worked with Google to ensure it provides the public in the UK with easy access to NHS information about more than 250 of the most searched for health conditions on the NHS website, through new Knowledge Panels.
• The NHS wants to ensure the public are presented with accurate and up to date information, however they search for information. The Knowledge Panels will include information about symptoms, treatment and causes.

Knowledge translation strategies for dissemination with a focus on healthcare recipients: an overview of systematic reviews.

Knowledge translation strategies for dissemination with a focus on healthcare recipients: an overview of systematic reviews.
Implementation Sci 15, 14 (4 March 2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-020-0974-3

• An overview of systematic reviews identified 44 systematic reviews that describe effective strategies to disseminate health knowledge to the public, patients, and caregivers (aka knowledge translation). 
• Effectiveness improved when interventions were combined, frequent, and/or intense over time. 
• In relation to barriers and facilitators, lack of health literacy or e-literacy could increase inequities, and the benefits of social media were also emphasized, for example by widening access to health information for ethnic minorities and lower socioeconomic groups.

Abstract

Microfunding, co-production and community development

Changing a place: Microfunding, co-production and community development
Ambition for Ageing January 2020

• A suite of documents looking at the conditions needed to get microfunding right. The documents draw on its five years of delivering microfunding to highlight areas of success, note challenges and share learning for those who may want to implement similar practices.

Perceptions and experiences of targeted digital communication

Clients’ perceptions and experiences of targeted digital communication accessible via mobile devices for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health: a qualitative evidence synthesis
Cochrane Systematic Review 14 October 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD013447

• This qualitative evidence synthesis (35 studies) explores clients' views and experiences of being communicated with by the health system through their mobile phone. The synthesis looked at communication about pregnancy, newborn, and child health, sexual health, and family planning.

See also:
Qualitative evidence synthesis informing our understanding of people's perceptions and experiences of targeted digital communication
Cochrane Editorial 23 October 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.ED000141

Primary Care Networks - National Voices resources

Primary Care Networks 
National Voices October 2019

• 'Explainer' resources that can be used by voluntary sector groups and networks to explain the changes, and explore why and how to work with PCNs.

Mobile phone text messaging and app‐based interventions for smoking cessation

Mobile phone text messaging and app‐based interventions for smoking cessation

Cochrane Systematic Review: 22 October 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD006611.pub5

• Based on 26 RCTs the synthesis found that text messaging programmes may be effective in supporting people to quit, increasing quit rates by 50% to 60%. This was the case when they were compared to minimal support or were tested as an addition to other forms of stop‐smoking support. There was not enough evidence to determine the effect of smartphone apps.

Report of The Independent Review of Adult Screening Programme in England

Report of The Independent Review of Adult Screening Programme in England
NHS England 16 October 2019

• A review of the adult screening programme makes a number of recommendations around governance, IT systems, uptake and delivery, performance, financial incentives, creating capacity to change, improving audit and research.
• A key change is that NHS England should take responsibility for the delivery of all screening programmes, integrating the delivery of targeted and population screening previously split between NHS England and PHE.
• Around uptake and coverage the report recommends high priority to implementation of evidence based initiatives to increase uptake – including us of social media, engagement with people with disabilities, wider community engagement and equalities awareness for staff.
• Around information systems the report recommends that NHSX sets out a roadmap for the delivery of new targeted and population screening IT systems as soon as possible, and that IT developments should focus on the functionality needed to support improvements in the uptake and coverage of screening.

Raising staff awareness of the NHS App

Raising staff awareness of the NHS App
NHS Digital October 2019

• A resource pack, including posters, images for social media, a presentation, web banners, and suggested copy for bulletins and newsletters, to help NHS communications teams raise staff awareness of the NHS App and be part of the campaign.

Five tips for successfully leading a primary care network

Five tips for successfully leading a primary care network
Kings Fund 12 September 2019

• Based on their work supporting PCN development the Kings Fund offer five suggestions to support these new organisations and leaders:
• Develop a shared vision and direction
• Develop the skills to improve conversations
• Find the allies in your system
• Set up small shared projects
• Find personal support

Instruments measuring interprofessional collaboration in healthcare – a scoping review

Instruments measuring interprofessional collaboration in healthcare – a scoping review
Journal of Interprofessional Care, 23 July 2019, DOI: 10.1080/13561820.2019.1637336

• A literature review identified 29 instruments measuring interprofessional collaboration.

NHS App pilot research findings

NHS App pilot research findings
NHS Digital 8 April 2019

• An outline of the research carried out to test and improve the user experience of the NHS App, and plan effective support for GP practices as connection to the app rolls out across England.