Things in the library 4th Jan...

Happy New Year to you all

Things to attend...

Our excellent Critical Appraisal course is running again on Thurs 31st Jan from 9:00 - 13:00. No prior knowledge of the subject is required and you will learn the basics of how to critically read an article and judge its value in a small group. If you are interested please sign up for this training via the SCH intranet as soon as possible.

Things about screentime...

A study of the effects of screentime on children and young people (CYP) is in the news today. The systematic review it comes from concludes:

"There is considerable evidence that higher levels of screentime is associated with a variety of health harms for CYP, with evidence strongest for adiposity, unhealthy diet, depressive symptoms and quality of life. Evidence for impact on other health outcomes is largely weak or absent. We found no consistent evidence of health benefits from screentime. While evidence for a threshold to guide policy on CYP screentime exposure was very limited, there is weak evidence that small amounts of daily screen use is not harmful and may have some benefits.

These data broadly support policy action to limit screen use by CYP because of evidence of health harms across a broad range of domains of physical and mental health. We did not identify a threshold for safe screen use, although we note there was weak evidence for a threshold of 2 hours daily screentime for the associations with depressive symptoms and with HRQOL. We did not identify evidence supporting differential thresholds for younger children or adolescents.

Any potential limits on screentime must be considered in the light of a lack of understanding of the impact of the content or contexts of digital screen use. Given the rapid increase in screen use by CYP internationally over the past decade, particularly for new content areas such as social media, further research is urgently needed to understand the impact of the contexts and content of screen use on CYP health and well-being, particularly in relationship to mobile digital devices."

and also... 

The RCPCH issued guidance today on the health effects of screentime for children. The guide provides a summary of existing research on the health effects of screen time on children and young people. It outlines recommendations for health professionals and families on screen time use. Their primary recommendation is:

 "that families should negotiate screen time limits with their children based upon the needs of an individual child, the ways in which screens are used and the degree to which use of screens appears to displace (or not) physical and social activities and sleep. We would also adopt the expert recommendation that screens are avoided for an hour before the planned bedtime."

Things about refugees...
The World Health Organisation has recently published technical guidance on the health of refugee and migrant children. Policy considerations include an intersectoral approach to promote good health and well-being, particularly mental health, in migrant children that target risk factors at the individual, family and community levels. Particular emphasis is placed on how national/local governments have an important role in fostering or hindering living conditions for refugee and migrant children in the areas of housing, health care services and education.

Things about cancer...
The Healthcare Quality Improvement Policy produced a report in December 'Cancer in Children, Teens and Young Adults'. This report deliberately focuses on a sample of patients who were a high-risk group who died or who had an unexpected admission to intensive care. The rationale being that this is where care-planning, service provision and communication should excel. Any remediable factors in care for this group would benefit all children, teenagers and young adults receiving SACT( systemic anti-cancer therapy). The report can be downloaded from this page.

Things to read...

Our Reading group is next week (normally the first Wednesday of the month) I have enjoyed both our Christmas read choices and they are available to borrow from the library if you wish to read them. The meeting next week is at 17:15, drinks and nibbles provided and if one of your New Year resolutions was to read more do come and join us...it doesn't matter if you haven't read the book! Both books feature an American Northern Cardinal bird on the cover (despite one of the stories being set in Ukraine).

Things about Christmas trees...

If you didn't get chance to book a collection for your real Christmas Tree in aid of SCH charity then you can take it along to University of Sheffield Information Commons car park tomorrow  Sat 5th Jan from 8am to 3pm where it will be chipped and used on the campus as a mulch during the year.




Things to make...
Not to eat this week...we have all done a lot of eating recently...but some creative ideas for recycling your Christmas cards rather than putting them in your (probably) overfull blue bin.


Things coming soon...
After the success of our recent Randomised Coffee Trial will will be organising another one soon...