The purpose of the study was to identify the educational, social and leisure activities and issues that matter to school children and young people with a visual impairment and to compare their lifestyle with fully sighted counterparts. Thirteen focus groups were conducted and the groups were stratified by age, gender, visual status and school location (urban and non-urban). The sessions were audio taped, transcribed verbatim, coded using NVivo software and a qualitative data analysis was carried out to identify the main themes. Eighty-one children and young people aged between 5–18 years participated in the focus groups; 34 were visually impaired (22 boys) and 47 were fully sighted (24 boys). In total, 121 different daily living activities important to children and young people were discussed in the focus groups. Results suggested that children and young people with a visual impairment have similar lifestyles to their fully sighted counterparts but are more restricted in some specific activities. The children and young people also reported that sometimes these restrictions were imposed by those supporting them rather than their own abilities. This information provided an in-depth understanding of the impact of visual impairment in school-aged children and young people.

Smoking cessation services have rapidly transformed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes include pivoting from face-to-face to telephone and video call support, remote provision of stop smoking aids and more flexible appointments. This study reports an evaluation of a charity-led smoking cessation service rapidly conceived and launched in this context. The pilot service accepted self-referrals in Yorkshire, England from 20 May 2020 to 5 June 2020. A dedicated smoking cessation practitioner provided 12 weeks of weekly behavioural support over telephone or video call. NRT and/or medication and/or e-cigarettes were posted to the participant bi-weekly for up to 12 weeks. Written and telephone evaluation questionnaires were administered post-programme. Of 79 participants, 57 (72.2%) self-reported a 4-week quit and 51 (64.6%) self-reported a 12-week quit. Those concurrently using e-cigarettes and NRT had an 84.1% 12-week quit rate. The majority of participants chose to use e-cigarettes and NRT in combination (55.7%). 39 participants completed an evaluation form, with at least 90% recording they were “very satisfied” with each service component. 27 participants completed a telephone interview, reporting a relationship with practitioners, as well as convenience, and organisational reputation as service strengths. Virtual services can be set up quickly and effectively in response to demand. Quit rates were highest for those concurrently using e-cigarettes and NRT. Service users value flexibility and convenience of remote support and posting of quit aids.

School readiness is a strong predictor of educational attainment and future health, but its meaning to parents is uncertain. This study aimed to generate an understanding of how parents conceptualise school readiness, and the forms of support they would find most acceptable and effective. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 17 parents and were analysed thematically. Parents appeared conflicted in their beliefs about the most important school readiness factors (physical, social and emotional health) and those they perceived schools to prioritise (numeracy and literacy). Parents reported orienting children towards developing cognitive skills because they believed schools favoured these over socio-emotional aspects of school readiness. Parents valued health visitors' input in developing understanding of school readiness. Parental understanding of school readiness could be better supported, along with information on how best to prepare children. Health visitors could play a pivotal role in school readiness and have opportunities to educate and empower parents of young children.

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Purpose:  Focus groups are one of the widely used qualitative research methods. It is defined as a carefully planned discussion with a small group of people designed to obtain perception on a defined area of research interests in a permissive and non‐threatening environment. This technique is widely used in social sciences and marketing with adult participants but rarely used with children. We tried to assess how effective this technique could be to find out the daily living activities of children with and without low vision. Methods:  A well‐structured script and a question route having questions on daily living activities were developed in best possible child friendly language. The children were approached through teachers. The children of a given age group were given information sheets and consent forms a week prior to focus groups. The teachers were asked to select 4–8 children randomly among those children who had parental consents. The focus groups were conducted in a quiet room by two moderators. The group discussions were audio recorded and the non verbal responses during the discussion of the children were noted down. Results:  There were 81 participants (boys 57% and girls 43%) from seven schools, a centre for the visually‐impaired, and a leisure centre in Wales. The age range was between 5 to 17 years with mean age of 11 years. In total 13 focus groups were conducted, seven with visually impaired children and six with normally sighted children. The focus groups resulted in 15 h of recorded discussions demonstrating how readily the children talked. All the children actively participated and readily responded to all structured questions and openly discussed issues. In the groups with a wider age range, the older children tended to dominate. There was no difference between mixed gender and single gender groups in discussion. Younger children tired and lost interest after half‐an‐hour whereas older children were still participating up to 1 h. There was no obvious difference in quality of discussion between children with and without visual impairment. The children were found to be more comfortable to talk with friends than with strangers. Conclusion:  A careful selection of the structured questions and a skilled moderator could make focus groups with children a very effective tool of qualitative data collection.

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Introduction Subnational, supra-local (or “regional”) approaches to tobacco control are often central federal nation tobacco control and can be superfluous for very small nations. However, their relevance to countries with weak intermediate tiers of governance are less clear. This study explores expert and policymaker perceptions on the function, form, footprint and funding of regional tobacco control in England. Methods One-to-one semi-structured interviews (n=16) and four focus groups (n=26) exploring knowledge and perceptions of the past, present and future of regional tobacco control in England were conducted with public health leaders, clinicians, tobacco control practitioners, civil servants and politicians. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results Participants reported several key functions for regional tobacco control, including illicit tobacco control, media campaigns, advocacy, policy development and network facilitation for local actors. A small minority of participants reported little role for regional tobacco control. Broader perceived features of effective regional tobacco control included subject expertise, strong regional ties, systems leadership, and a distinctive programme of work. Views varied on whether regional programmes should be developed nationally or locally, and their optimal footprint. Participants generally agreed stable funding was a prerequisite for success, although there was lesser agreement on funding sources. Conclusions Pooling resources at the regional level in countries with weak intermediate tiers of governance may increase reach, cost-effectiveness and impact of campaigns, policy interventions and advocacy, whilst retaining the ability to tailor approaches to regional populations. Implications There are likely to be greater funding and governance challenges associated with introducing or strengthening regional tobacco control in countries with weak intermediate tiers of governance. Despite this, evidence from England shows it is possible to develop regional tobacco control approaches reported as effective by key stakeholders. Possible benefits of regional approaches in this context include cost-effective delivery of illicit tobacco control, media campaigns, advocacy, research, policy development, and co-ordinated support for local action on tobacco.