Mandatory folic acid fortification of enriched grains has reduced neural tube defect prevalence in several countries. We examined salt as an additional vehicle for folic acid fortification. The primary objective was to examine the change in serum folate concentration after 1 month of consumption of fortified iodised salt with folic acid (FISFA) among women of reproductive age. The secondary objectives were to examine (1) the feasibility of implementing FISFA intervention and (2) the acceptability of FISFA.

We conducted a pre–post intervention study (January–April 2023). Participants received a FISFA saltshaker with the study salt (1 g of sodium chloride salt fortified with 100 mcg of folic acid) to use instead of regular table salt for 1 month. Serum folate was measured using the Elecsys Folate-III immunoassay method at baseline and 1-month endpoint. Change in serum folate was assessed using a two-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired samples.

Metropolitan city, Southern USA.

Non-pregnant, 18–40-year-old women who lived alone/with a partner.

Thirty-two eligible women consented to participate, including eleven non-Hispanic-White, eleven non-Hispanic-Black and ten Hispanic. Post-intervention, there was a significant increase in median serum folate concentration of 1·40 nmol/l (IQR 0·74–2·05; P < 0·001) from 24·08 nmol/l to 25·96 nmol/l in an analytical sample of n 29. An increase was seen in 28/29 (93 %) participants. Feasibility: 100 % study consent and compliance. FISFA acceptability: 25 d average use; 1·28 g average daily intake; 96·7 % and 90 % reported taste and colour of FISFA as highly acceptable, respectively.

FISFA is an effective approach to increasing serum folate concentrations among women of reproductive age. Findings should be replicated in a larger study.

The study of psychological well-being and related resilient outcomes is of increasing focus in cardiovascular research. Despite the critical importance of psychological well-being and related resilient outcomes in promoting optimal cardiac health, there have been very few psychological interventions directed towards children with heart disease. This paper describes the development and theoretical framework of the WE BEAT Wellbeing Education Program, a group-based psychoeducation and coping skills training intervention designed to improve psychological well-being and resilience in adolescents with paediatric heart disease.

Program development was informed by patient and family needs and input gathered via large, international survey methods as well as qualitative investigation, a theoretical framework, and related resilience intervention research.

An overview of the WE BEAT intervention components and structure of the programme is provided.

The WE BEAT Wellbeing Education Program was developed as one of the first resiliency-focused interventions in paediatric heart disease with an overall objective to foster positive psychological well-being and resilient outcomes through a health promotion and prevention lens in an accessible format while providing access to safe, peer-to-peer community building. Feasibility pilot results are forthcoming. Future directions include mobile app-based delivery and larger-scale efficacy and implementation trials.

Adults with anorexia nervosa experience high levels of relapse following in-patient treatment. ECHOMANTRA is a novel online aftercare intervention for patients and carers, which provides psychoeducation and support to augment usual care.

To explore patient and carer experiences of receiving the ECHOMANTRA intervention.

This is part of the process evaluation of the ECHOMANTRA intervention as delivered in the TRIANGLE trial (ISRCTN: 14644379). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants randomised to the ECHOMANTRA (ten patients and ten carers). Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts.

Five major themes were identified: (1) Mixed experience of the intervention; (2) tailoring the intervention to the stage of recovery; (3) involvement of carers; (4) acceptability of remote support; and (5) impact of self-monitoring and accountability.

Participants were mostly positive about the support offered. The challenges of using remote and group support were counterbalanced with ease of access to information when needed. Components of the ECHOMANTRA intervention have the potential to improve care for people with eating disorders.

The poor detection of depression in primary healthcare (PHC) in low- and middle-income countries continues to threaten the plan to scale up mental healthcare coverage.

To describe the process followed to develop an intervention package to improve detection of depression in PHC settings in rural Ethiopia.

The study was conducted in Sodo, a rural district in south Ethiopia. The Medical Research Council's framework for the development of complex interventions was followed. Qualitative interviews, observations of provider–patient communication, intervention development workshops and pre-testing of the screening component of the intervention were conducted to develop the intervention.

A multicomponent intervention package was developed, which included (a) manual-based training of PHC workers for 10 days, adapted from the World Health Organization's Mental Health Gap Action Programme Intervention Guide, with emphasis on depression, locally identified depressive symptoms, communication skills, training by people with lived experience and active learning methods; (b) screening for culturally salient manifestations of depression, using a four-item tool; (c) raising awareness among people attending out-patient clinics about depression, using information leaflets and health education; and (d) system-level interventions, such as supportive supervision, use of posters at health facilities and a decision support mobile app.

This contextualised, multicomponent intervention package may lead to meaningful impact on the detection of depression in PHC in rural Ethiopia and similar settings. The intervention will be pilot tested for feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness before its wider implementation.

In general, medical students perceive themselves as inadequately prepared to assist in disasters. This study evaluated the impact of a disaster preparedness curriculum and medical students’ views toward required preparedness education for health care professionals.

A comprehensive disaster preparedness curriculum was evaluated on its effect on medical students’ views on preparedness education requirements, preparedness, and prior disaster training using self-report survey methodology.

Results provide evidence to support curricular effectiveness in significantly increasing initial participant views of health professionals’ education requirements, perceived preparedness for integrating professional roles into the emergency response system, and confidence in exposure risk assessment and triage skills. Most participants possessed limited recent prior disaster training and drill experience. Most interestingly, the majority consistently believed throughout the study that disaster preparedness training should be a medical license mandate.

For those instructing current medical students in disaster preparedness, it is suggested that a curriculum be chosen that can create participant initial anticipation, awareness, and belief in the importance of and need for disaster preparedness training. Further investigation is recommended into the relationship between students’ perceived training importance and any future curriculum delivery efforts on behalf of required or mandatory preparedness offerings in continuing professional development.

This study aimed to provide information about pathways to care and clinical response to community-based brief interventions for improving youth mental health through evaluating the Mindspace Mayo service.

Participants were 1,184 individuals aged 12–25 years (Mean = 17.92, SD = 2.66) who engaged with the Mindspace service. Demographic information included gender, age and living situation. The Clinical Outcome in Routine Evaluation (CORE) was used to measure psychological distress before and after attending the Mindspace service between February 2015 and 2022.

On average, individuals received six sessions of therapeutic support. Analyses indicated that most referrals were made by either a parent (40%) or self-referral (38%). The most frequent reason for referral was mood and anxiety-related issues. Across the entire sample, reductions in CORE scores were both statistically and clinically significant. Neither the source of the referral nor living situation significantly predicted intervention response. Complexity of issues presented at referral significantly predicted a reduction in psychological distress post-intervention in young people aged over 17 years.

This study highlighted the value of primary care mental health services for young people aged 12–25 years, and underlined the importance of recording electronic data to track referral pathways, reasons for referral and the intervention outcomes over time.

Despite the central importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration in the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) network and the implementation of various programs designed to enhance collaboration, rigorous evidence for the efficacy of these approaches is lacking. We conducted a novel randomized controlled trial (RCT; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05395286) of a promising approach to enhance collaboration readiness and behavior among 95 early career scholars from throughout the CTSA network.

Participants were randomly assigned (within two cohorts) to participate in an Innovation Lab, a week-long immersive collaboration experience, or to a treatment-as-usual control group. Primary outcomes were change in metrics of self-reported collaboration readiness (through 12-month follow-up) and objective collaboration network size from bibliometrics (through 21 months); secondary outcomes included self-reported number of grants submitted and, among Innovation Lab participants only, reactions to the Lab experience (through 12 months).

Short-term reactions from Innovation Lab participants were quite positive, and controlled evidence for a beneficial impact of Innovation Labs over the control condition was observed in the self-reported number of grant proposals in the intent-to-treat sample. Primary measures of collaboration readiness were near ceiling in both groups, limiting the ability to detect enhancement. Collaboration network size increased over time to a comparable degree in both groups.

The findings highlight the need for systematic intervention development research to identify efficacious strategies that can be implemented throughout the CTSA network to better support the goal of enhanced cross-disciplinary collaboration.