Although poor mental health among young people has been increasing in the past decades, many young people are reluctant to use traditional mental healthcare. To cater to the needs of young people, various youth-friendly treatment options have been developed. These include the youth-friendly health service (YFHS) standards put forth by the WHO in 2012 and the integrated youth services (IYS) for mental health developed in certain countries globally. However, no synthesis of the effect of these services on youth mental health has been conducted. The aim of the proposed study is to conduct a systematic review of the effect of mental health treatments conducted within YFHS and IYS clinics. The primary research question is what effect mental health interventions given at ‘youth-friendly’ clinics for treating mental health, such as IYS and YFHS, have on the mental health and quality of life (QoL) of young people?
A preliminary search for other reviews on the topic was conducted during the first half of 2024, after which a protocol of the present study was registered in PROSPERO. In May 2024, a search was carried out in the PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Web of Science databases, which gave references for 12 738 papers to be screened for inclusion in the review, and a follow-up search was carried out in April 2025, yielding a further 2182 references. For inclusion, studies must have participants between 12 and 25 years of age; interventions be given at clinics designed to be ‘youth-friendly’ or given at an IYS; control condition, if any, consisting of standard care or waiting list; outcomes must be mental health symptomology or QoL. To be included, studies must be published from 2012 and onwards. Screening of titles and abstracts in the initial search was carried out independently by two reviewers. Screening of studies found in the follow-up search and in the reference lists of included articles will be carried out in the same way. Data analysis of the initial search was conducted in the latter half of 2024, while final data analysis including the results from the follow-up search is ongoing. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tools will be used to assess bias of included articles, and certainty of the evidence will be evaluated according to the GRADE methodology. A meta-analysis of the results will be performed if a sufficient amount of homogenous data is found; otherwise, a synthesis without meta-analysis will be conducted.
The proposed review may form a valuable synthesis of the state of the art of treatment options catering to young people. Investigating the effectiveness of YFHS or IYS in treating young people’s mental health may inform future directions for development and research. The present study does not need ethical approval, since only previously published, ethically approved data are used in the current study. The findings of the study will be disseminated through submissions to peer-reviewed journals and international conferences, as well as disseminated within the Swedish YFHS community.
ID nr CRD42024528687.
Distal radius fractures account for one-fifth of all fractures in the active elderly population and may cause chronic pain, loss of hand function and reduced work productivity, imposing a significant socioeconomic burden. Most are initially treated with closed reduction and casting, but 30% subsequently require surgery due to insufficient realignment. The current approaches for analgesia for closed reduction are suboptimal. A brachial plexus nerve block provides complete pain relief and muscle relaxation distal to the elbow, potentially creating better conditions for realignment of the fractured bone ends. This may ultimately translate into reduced need for surgery and result in better functional outcomes and fewer complications compared to a haematoma block, which is the current standard care in Denmark.
The BLOCK Trial is an investigator-initiated, parallel-group, allocation-concealed, outcome assessor and analyst-blinded, superiority, randomised, controlled, clinical multicentre trial performed at 11 Danish emergency departments. Eligible adult patients with a distal radius fracture who need closed reduction will be included and allocated 1:1 to either an ultrasound-guided brachial plexus nerve block or a haematoma block. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients with distal radius fracture surgery 90 days after closed reduction. We will include 1716 participants to detect or discard a relative risk reduction of surgery of 20%. Secondary outcomes include treatment-related complications, patient-reported wrist function, pain during closed reduction and proportion of patients with unacceptable radiographic fracture position immediately after closed reduction.
The trial is approved by the Danish Medicines Agency and the Danish Research Ethics Committees (EU CT number: 2024-512191-35-00). All results will be summarised on www.theblocktrial.com, clinicaltrials.gov and euclinicaltrials.eu after publication. Primary and secondary outcome results from 0 to 90 days will be presented in the main article and submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. Results from outcomes on the 12-month follow-up will be presented separately.
The COVID-19 pandemic induced significant changes in access policies to general practice (GP) in most countries. This study aimed to compare and discuss changes in the diagnostic patterns and GP procedures before and during the pandemic.
A register study including data from 11 Danish GP clinics.
Enlisted patients from GP followed 1 year before (February 2019 to January 2020; n=48 650) and 1 year during (April 2020 to March 2021; n=47 207) the COVID-19 pandemic.
Diagnostic patterns, consultation type (face-to-face, email and phone), contact persons (GP or GP staff) and patient characteristics.
The average number of contacts with GP increased from 6.3 contacts per year per patient before the pandemic to 8.3 annual contacts during the pandemic (p
Although these findings cannot prove causality, they demonstrate significant changes in diagnostic patterns, balance between different contact types, and responsible contact persons during the pandemic. Changes mean that it has become a significantly different product that GPs offer their patients. The coming years will show whether these changes remain, whether the quality of treatment and care is the same and whether the changed balance in patient handling (GP or GP staff) is experienced as beneficial by the patients.
Current clinical practice in bariatric surgery follow-up care is highly heterogeneous, and patients have reported needing more and extended personalised support. Especially, they want more support on how to self-manage and cope with the changes and challenges of living with the chronic aspects of obesity and a changing body following surgery. The overall aim of this study protocol is to develop and validate a digital self-management support checklist in bariatric surgery aftercare.
We propose a protocol for a modified, electronic Delphi study design using qualitative and quantitative methods to develop and validate the content of the checklist. The study is divided into two phases: (1) generation of candidate checklist attributes and (2) validation of candidate checklist attributes. In Phase 1, two qualitative studies involving individual interviews with patients and focus groups with healthcare professionals will be conducted to derive context-specific knowledge. This knowledge will be combined with best-practice evidence and stakeholder input to generate candidate checklist attributes, that is, principles, items and features. In Phase 2, a two-round electronic Delphi survey with an expert panel will be conducted to assess the relevance, comprehensibility and comprehensiveness of candidate checklist attributes and to determine the final checklist attributes based on content validity results from the Delphi process. Reflexive thematic analysis will be used on qualitative data and descriptive statistics on quantitative data.
The study has been approved by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics, Region West (2023/676367). The Data Protection Officer at Førde Hospital Trust and collaborating hospital trusts have approved the project (4386–4386). The results will be presented at scientific conferences, published and open-accessed in international peer-reviewed journals.
The UK government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic included a ‘test, trace and isolate’ strategy. Testing services for healthcare workers, care homes and schools accounted for the greatest spend and volume of tests. We reviewed relevant literature to identify common and unique barriers and facilitators to engaging with each of these testing services.
Scoping review.
PubMed, Scopus and the WHO COVID-19 Research Database were searched for evidence published between 1 January 2020 and 7 November 2022. This was supplemented by evidence identified via free-text searches on Google Scholar and provided by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Data were extracted by a team of reviewers and synthesised thematically under the broad headings of perceptions, experiences, barriers and facilitators to engaging with the COVID-19 testing programme.
This study included 40 sources, including 17 from projects that informed UKHSA’s decisions during the pandemic. Eight themes emerged and were used to categorise barriers and facilitators to engaging with the testing services for healthcare workers, care homes and schools: (1) perceived value, (2) trust in the tests and public bodies, (3) importance of infrastructure, (4) impact of media and social networks, (5) physical burden of the test, (6) perceived capability to undertake testing, (7) importance of relevant information and 8) consequences of testing.
Universal barriers and facilitators to engagement with the testing programme related to the core elements of each testing service, such as uncomfortable specimen collection and the influence of media and peers; these could be mitigated or leveraged to increase engagement across settings. However, the individuals involved, perceptions of value and available resources differed across services, leading to unique experiences between settings. Thus, consideration of context is crucial when designing and implementing a testing programme in response to a pandemic.
To explore home-dwelling people with dementia and family members' perceptions of the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention using dementia-related literature excerpts to facilitate conversations on ethical issues related to living with dementia.
Ethical issues in dementia care emerge throughout the illness. In the early stages, they may involve decisions about disclosing the illness to the family, shifting roles and responsibilities, and considerations of transitioning to a nursing home. Addressing ethical issues and providing adequate support to home-dwelling people with dementia and their families are often lacking.
An exploratory-descriptive qualitative study.
We conducted eight interviews with 14 home-dwelling persons with dementia and their family caregivers. Six were dyadic interviews, and two were individual interviews with family caregivers. We analysed the interview data using template analysis. We adhered to the COREQ checklist in reporting this study.
Using excerpts from dementia-related literature was a feasible and acceptable way of initiating discussions on ethical issues among home-dwelling persons with dementia and family caregivers. However, engaging the families of newly diagnosed individuals was challenging due to emotional distress. The intervention provided peer support, including identifying with others and sharing experiences. Moreover, participating couples found intimacy and relational attunement through shared reflections.
Based on the findings, it appears that the participants in this study felt that using excerpts from dementia-related literature to deliberate on ethical issues was feasible and acceptable. Deliberating on ethical issues with peers and family caregivers offers valuable social support and opportunities for strengthening relationships.
This study makes an important contribution by providing valuable insights into how ethical issues related to living with dementia can be addressed using related literature and suggests how the intervention can be integrated into existing care initiatives for home-dwelling people with dementia and their families.
We have adhered to relevant EQUATOR guidelines with the COREQ reporting method.
A healthcare professional working as a so-called dementia coordinator (a title used in the Danish context) was involved in the conduct of this study by being responsible for the recruitment of home-dwelling people with dementia and their family members. Moreover, she had joint responsibility for facilitating the intervention along with the first author.