Browsing by Person "Bell, Fiona"

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Pharmacist Review of Medicines Following Ambulance-Attended Falls—A Multi-Methods Evaluation of a Quality Improvement Initiative
(MDPI AG, 2025-10-18) Mulrooney, William; Wilson, Caitlin; Pilbery, Richard; Fisher, Ruth; Whiterod, Sarah; Smith, Heather; Turner, Emily; Edmonds, Heather; Webster, Peter; Prestwich, Graham; Bell, Fiona; McLaren, Rebecca
Background: Falls in older adults are a leading cause of morbidity, particularly when compounded by polypharmacy. There is mixed evidence of the efficacy of medicine reviews, but there is little work exploring this in the ambulance setting. A new referral pathway enabling ambulance staff to connect patients to primary care pharmacists aimed to address this. This study explored staff and patient experiences with the pathway and its potential to improve medication safety after a fall. Methods: A mixed-method service evaluation was conducted to assess the implementation and impact of this pathway. Routine data from an ambulance trust and pharmacist proformas were used to address objectives relating to referral rates, clinical appropriateness, and fall recurrence. Patient and staff stakeholder perspectives were gathered through two cross-sectional surveys designed to explore emotional, behavioral, and practical responses to the intervention. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively and using ordinal logistic regression where appropriate. Free-text responses were analyzed thematically. Results: Between May 2019 and March 2020, referrals were initiated for 775 older adults after ambulance attendance for a fall, with pharmacists completing medicine reviews on 340 patients. Survey data revealed improvements in patients’ emotional responses to their medicines. Ambulance clinicians identified patient disclosure, stockpiling, and the presence of expired medicines as key indicators of poor medicines management and valued the ability to refer patients. Conclusions: Overall, referral to the pathway demonstrates a marginal improvement in recontact rates in the short-term but does not necessarily represent an improvement in overall patient safety. The cost of such an intervention and patient expectations need further exploration to prove efficacy and patient satisfaction.
The Eclipse of Cooking and Meals: How primary care nurses now frame dietary advice
(Nova Science Publishers, 2010) Lyon, Phil; Schroder, Monika; Bell, Fiona; Fortier, Andre; Turcotte, Sophie
Book Description: Health education is the profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health. Recent statistics show that, in many countries, one in four individuals will experience mental illness during their lifetime, with mental health conditions contributing more to disability than any other single disease group, including cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The Emergency Department (ED) may be the only site where some isolated and marginalized mentally ill populations such as the homeless receive their healthcare - medical as well as psychiatric. The authors of this book examine mental health and illness in the ED. Challenges presented in nursing patients who attend an ER following an incident of self-harm or attempted suicide is also examined. In addition, researchers have reported that children are involved in very few conversations with their doctors. Positive practices relating to improved doctor-child communications are discussed. Other chapters in this book examine the use of drugs among adolescents, children's and parents perceptions about managing their diabetes, a discussion on how the concept of spirituality is defined/described in the professional health literature, the importance of understanding lay appraisal of illness symptoms as a facet of successful health education interventions, and the role of primary care practice nurses in making patients aware of changes that could improve their health.