The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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Around 40% of adults have pre-hypertension (120-139/80-89mmHg) increasing their risk of developing hypertension and associated cardiovascular conditions. Guidance on pre-hypertension management focuses on improving lifestyle. Self-monitoring may improve awareness and understanding of blood pressure (BP) for people with pre-hypertension, allowing them to modify their lifestyle risks. ⋯ Home BP self-monitoring can be feasible and easily implementable for people with pre-hypertension - however, some barriers were identified.
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Enhancing the attractiveness of a career in general practice is a significant public health concern, given the current shortage in Belgium. ⋯ Perceptions of general practice are significantly shaped by interactions with role models from the medical sector who convey either a positive or negative image of general practice. To address the shortage issue, it is imperative to increase positive interactions with GPs within the curriculum and work towards changing the institutional culture at this level.
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Qualitative Longitudinal Research (QLR) has a long tradition in a variety of social science disciplines and is increasingly used in applied healthcare research. QLR can provide insights into the nature, causes and consequences of change (or its absence). However, its use in primary care research is limited. ⋯ QLR has much to offer primary care research allowing exploration of views and experiences of a variety of participants over time and following them through important transitions.
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The spillover impact from disrupted healthcare services for non-COVID-infected diabetes mellitus (DM) patients caused by the reshuffling of the manpower during the pandemic remains understudied, especially in Hong Kong where healthcare resources were already strained before the pandemic. ⋯ The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 had negative spillover impacts on DM patients without COVID-19 in Hong Kong, with a higher mortality in 2020 and 2021 compared with the pre-pandemic level.
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The 'GP Daffodil Standards for Advanced Serious Illness and End of Life Care' was launched by the Royal College of General Practitioners and Marie Curie in 2019 to support improvement of end-of-life care activity in primary care. ⋯ Final results were reported and best practice shared, along with recommendations to sustain the ongoing implementation of the Daffodil Standards.