The therapist reported several barriers to pressure ulcer prevention and few facilitators. The primary barriers were resources, equipment and education. Attitudes and knowledge in AHPs were comparable to data previously reported from experienced nursing staff.

Background: Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a major burden to individuals, impacting their physical, mental and social wellbeing. While PU prevention is traditionally regarded as a nursing issue, an interprofessional approach has been promoted as best practice. However, little is known about current practice or the knowledge and attitudes of the wider interprofessional team (IPT). Purpose: Pre-designed questionnaires were used to explore knowledge and attitudes with healthcare staff in the community. Methods: Questionnaires were disseminated to all healthcare staff within a community healthcare Trust predominantly via an online tool. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The median values of all professional groups demonstrated satisfactory attitudes (>75%) and levels of knowledge (>60%) to PU prevention. However, there were differences within and between groups. Management staff demonstrated the most positive attitude to PU prevention (89%), followed by occupational therapists (OTs) and healthcare assistants (HCAs) (87%, IQR: 75%→89%). OTs demonstrated the highest scores for knowledge (69%, IQR: 62%→73%), while healthcare and rehabilitation assistants scored the lowest (58%, IQR: 58%-64%). Conclusion: This study has demonstrated that the majority of healthcare staff in a UK community setting have satisfactory levels of knowledge and attitudes in relation to PU prevention overall. Nevertheless, there were some differences between groups, albeit non-significant. There were also differences between sub-themes of the questionnaires, indicating a greater focus of pressure ulcer treatment over prevention. While PU prevention is widely regarded to be a nursing issue, these findings provide some indication of the potential for an interprofessional approach.

Objective This scoping review aimed to bring together and identify digital tools that support people with one or more long-term conditions to maintain physical activity and describe their components and theoretical underpinnings. Methods Searches were conducted in Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Medline, EMBASE, IEEE Xplore, PsycINFO, Scopus, Google Scholar and clinical trial databases, for studies published between 2009 and 2019, across a range of long-term conditions. Screening and data extraction was undertaken by two independent reviewers and the Preferred Reporting Items for Scoping Reviews guidelines informed the review's conduct and reporting. Results A total of 38 results were identified from 34 studies, with the majority randomised controlled trials or protocols, with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity the most common long-term conditions. Comorbidities were reported in >50% of studies but did not clearly inform intervention development. Most digital tools were web-browser-based ± wearables/trackers, telerehabilitation tools or gaming devices/components. Mobile device applications and combination short message service/activity trackers/wearables were also identified. Most interventions were supported by a facilitator, often for goal setting/feedback and/or monitoring. Physical activity maintenance outcomes were mostly reported at 9 months or 3 months post-intervention, while theoretical underpinnings were commonly social cognitive theory, the transtheoretical model and the theory of planned behaviour. Conclusions This review mapped the literature on a wide range of digital tools and long-term conditions. It identified the increasing use of digital tools, in combination with human support, to help people with long-term conditions, to maintain physical activity, commonly for under a year post-intervention. Clear gaps were the lack of digital tools for multimorbid long-term conditions, longer-term follow-ups, understanding participant's experiences and informs future questions around effectiveness.