This overview has highlighted the need to extend the evidence base for psychosocial well-being of children, parents and siblings.

This overview has highlighted the need to extend the evidence base for psycho-educational interventions, particularly in a UK context. It is essential that effective interventions are implemented and embedded in service provision in order to maximize empowerment through self-care for children, adolescents and their parents.

Background: Depression is common in older people with dementia. Physical activity is effective in reducing depression in adults but there is limited evidence about its effectiveness in people with dementia. Design and Methods: A systematic review and partial meta-analysis of physical activity interventions in people with dementia is reported. We searched eight databases for English language papers and reference lists of relevant papers. Included studies reported a physical activity intervention lasting at least 12 weeks in which participants were older and had a diagnosis of dementia. Studies compared the intervention with a non-active or a no-intervention control and reported at least one outcome related to physical function, quality of life or depression. At least two authors independently assessed each paper for inclusion and for study quality and extracted data. Results: We included 13 randomised controlled trials with 896 participants. Three of six trials that reported walking as an outcome found an improvement, as did four of the five trials reporting timed get up and go tests. Only one of the four trials that reported depression as an outcome found a positive effect. Both trials that reported quality of life found an improvement. Conclusions: There is some evidence that physical activity interventions improve physical function in older people with dementia. Evidence for an effect on depression and quality of life is limited.

No abstract

SummaryBackgroundDepression is common and is associated with poor outcomes among elderly care-home residents. Exercise is a promising low-risk intervention for depression in this population. We tested the hypothesis that a moderate intensity exercise programme would reduce the burden of depressive symptoms in residents of care homes.MethodsWe did a cluster-randomised controlled trial in care homes in two regions in England; northeast London, and Coventry and Warwickshire. Residents aged 65 years or older were eligible for inclusion. A statistician independent of the study randomised each home (1 to 1·5 ratio, stratified by location, minimised by type of home provider [local authority, voluntary, private and care home, private and nursing home] and size of home [<32 or ≥32 residents]) into intervention and control groups. The intervention package included depression awareness training for care-home staff, 45 min physiotherapist-led group exercise sessions for residents (delivered twice weekly), and a whole home component designed to encourage more physical activity in daily life. The control consisted of only the depression awareness training. Researchers collecting follow-up data from individual participants and the participants themselves were inevitably aware of home randomisation because of the physiotherapists' activities within the home. A researcher masked to study allocation coded NHS routine data. The primary outcome was number of depressive symptoms on the geriatric depression scale-15 (GDS-15). Follow-up was for 12 months. This trial is registered with ISRCTN Register, number ISRCTN43769277.FindingsCare homes were randomised between Dec 15, 2008, and April 9, 2010. At randomisation, 891 individuals in 78 care homes (35 intervention, 43 control) had provided baseline data. We delivered 3191 group exercise sessions attended on average by five study participants and five non-study residents. Of residents with a GDS-15 score, 374 of 765 (49%) were depressed at baseline; 484 of 765 (63%) provided 12 month follow-up scores. Overall the GDS-15 score was 0·13 (95% CI −0·33 to 0·60) points higher (worse) at 12 months for the intervention group compared with the control group. Among residents depressed at baseline, GDS-15 score was 0·22 (95% CI −0·52 to 0·95) points higher at 6 months in the intervention group than in the control group. In an end of study cross-sectional analysis, including 132 additional residents joining after randomisation, the odds of being depressed were 0·76 (95% CI 0·53 to 1·09) for the intervention group compared with the control group.InterpretationThis moderately intense exercise programme did not reduce depressive symptoms in residents of care homes. In this frail population, alternative strategies to manage psychological symptoms are required.FundingNational Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to (1) demonstrate the development and testing of tools and procedures designed to monitor and assess the integrity of a complex intervention for chronic pain (COping with persistent Pain, Effectiveness Research into Self-management (COPERS) course); and (2) make recommendations based on our experiences.DesignFidelity assessment of a two-arm randomised controlled trial intervention, assessing the adherence and competence of the facilitators delivering the intervention.SettingThe intervention was delivered in the community in two centres in the UK: one inner city and one a mix of rural and urban locations.Participants403 people with chronic musculoskeletal pain were enrolled in the intervention arm and 300 attended the self-management course. Thirty lay and healthcare professionals were trained and 24 delivered the courses (2 per course). We ran 31 courses for up to 16 people per course and all were audio recorded.InterventionsThe course was run over three and a half days; facilitators delivered a semistructured manualised course.OutcomesWe designed three measures to evaluate fidelity assessing adherence to the manual, competence and overall impression.ResultsWe evaluated a random sample of four components from each course (n=122). The evaluation forms were reliable and had good face validity. There were high levels of adherence in the delivery: overall adherence was two (maximum 2, IQR 1.67–2.00), facilitator competence exhibited more variability, and overall competence was 1.5 (maximum 2, IQR 1.25–2.00). Overall impression was three (maximum 4, IQR 2.00–3.00).ConclusionsMonitoring and assessing adherence and competence at the point of intervention delivery can be realised most efficiently by embedding the principles of fidelity measurement within the design stage of complex interventions and the training and assessment of those delivering the intervention. More work is necessary to ensure that more robust systems of fidelity evaluation accompany the growth of complex interventions.Trial Registration ISRCTN NoISRCTN24426731.

Despite the limitations of reviewed studies, there appears to be sufficient evidence to warrant greater exploration of self-management in these disorders.

There are insufficient robust data on moderators to be useful in clinical practice. This review has identified some important potential moderators of treatment effect worthy of testing in future confirmatory analyses.