Background The Feedback Intervention Trial was a national trial of an intervention to increase hand hygiene behavior in English and Welsh hospitals. It significantly improved behavior, the effect increasing with fidelity to intervention, but the intervention proved more difficult to implement than anticipated. This study aimed to identify the barriers …

In response to the lead paper, the authors of this commentary propose that there are three fundamental sorts of reform for which Canada’s healthcare system would need to provide evidence of progress before public health professionals should get fired up about lumping everything together inside the care system, to help …

BACKGROUND: We examined how socioeconomic position (SEP) across the lifecourse (three critical periods, social mobility and accumulated over time) is associated with allostatic load (a measure of cumulative physiological burden). METHODS: Data are from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study, with respondents aged 35 (n’€‰=’€‰740), 55 (n’€‰=’€‰817) and 75 (n’€‰=’€‰483). …

Background It is widely believed that females have longer telomeres than males, although results from studies have been contradictory. Methods We carried out a systematic review and meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that in humans, females have longer telomeres than males and that this association becomes stronger with increasing age. …

Purpose Mismatches between pre- and post-natal environments have implications for disease in adulthood. However, less is known about how this mismatch can affect physiological systems more generally, especially at younger ages. We hypothesised that mismatches between pre- and post-natal environments, as measured by the measures of birthweight and adult leg …

This outcomes framework has been developed for Scotland’€™s National Parenting Strategy. NHS Health Scotland has developed this framework in collaboration with a wide range of partners to set out key outcomes required to support parents and families to give children and young people the best start in life. It also …