The increasing demand for adolescent eating disorder services during and following the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated alternative treatment approaches. Traditional in-patient and daycare settings faced challenges, including resource limitations and geographical accessibility.

To describe and evaluate the outcomes of the Hospital at Home (H@H) service, an innovative, virtual, intensive treatment programme designed to prevent in-patient admissions or shorten length of in-patient stay.

A prospective cohort of 71 consecutive admissions from October 2021 to December 2024 was established. Data included percentage median body mass index (%mBMI), Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) and any readmissions for in-patient treatment within the following 6 months. Qualitative feedback was also sought from staff and a sample of patients and family members.

Of the 71 admissions to H@H, only 9 (13%) required hospitalisation. Mean %mBMI increased significantly, from 82.4% (s.d. 8.17) on admission to 90.07% (s.d. 9.44) on discharge (p < 0.001, 95% CI 5.67 to 9.61). Global EDE-Q score improved significantly, from 3.75 (s.d. 1.32) on admission to 2.62 (s.d. 1.45) on discharge (p < 0.001, 95% CI −1.47 to −0.78). Average CGAS improved significantly, from 38.7 (s.d. 7.4) on admission to 51.8 (s.d. 14.2) on discharge (p < 0.001, 95% CI 10.06 to 16.11). Families and patients reported high satisfaction with the virtual care model.

This innovative model prevented hospital admissions, demonstrating clinical benefits and high user satisfaction. Expansion and further research are recommended to explore the long-term clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Parents of adolescents facing suicidality play a crucial protective role, but often feel overwhelmed. The Partners in Parenting Plus – Suicide Prevention (PiP-SP+) programme is a co-designed, coach-supported, online parenting programme aimed to empower parents within their carer role to manage their adolescent’s suicide risk.

To evaluate PiP-SP+’s acceptability, feasibility, validity and short-term effects.

Fifteen parents of adolescents aged 12–18 years, concerned about their adolescent’s suicidality, participated in an open-label, non-randomised uncontrolled trial. Parents (n = 11) completed semi-structured interviews, exploring the programme’s acceptability, feasibility and validity. Thirteen parents completed quantitative assessments of parental self-efficacy to respond to adolescent suicidality and non-suicidal self-injury, protective parenting behaviours, carer burden, parental distress, mental health support quality, family functioning, and adolescent anxiety and depressive symptoms at baseline and 120 days post baseline. Finally, nine adolescents of the participating parents self-reported anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and perceptions of parental support at baseline and 120 days post baseline.

PiP-SP+ was an acceptable, feasible and valid intervention for parents. Significant baseline-to-post-intervention improvements were observed in parents’ self-efficacy to respond to adolescent suicidality and non-suicidal self-injury, protective parenting behaviours, carer burden, parental distress and mental health support quality. No significant differences were reported in family functioning. Adolescents perceived increased parental support; both parents and adolescents reported reductions in adolescent anxiety symptoms. Although parents reported a significant decrease in adolescent depressive symptoms, adolescents did not.

Findings support the value of undertaking an appropriately powered, randomised controlled trial to confirm these pilot findings.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, auto-immune, neurodegenerative condition with increasing global prevalence. People living with MS (plwMS) have reported limited guidance relating to nutrition information. Paired with varied health literacy levels, this makes plwMS susceptible to nutrition misinformation.

A cross-sectional online social network analysis (SNA) examining nutrition information for MS.

A systematic SNA using Twitter/X and YouTube platforms using NodeXL to summarise metrics. Quality was assessed using the QUEST tool. Content analysis of YouTube videos was synthesised into themes for misinformation.

Online publicly available social media user posts and video content.

Twitter/X SNA revealed keywords used most by an account representing 72·8 % of the user network with common diet mentions including Wahls (57 times), paleo (15 times) and ketogenic (11 times). ‘Favourite count’ metrics were strongly correlated with ‘repost count’ (r = 0·83, P = 0·000). Videos which endorsed a diet were more likely to have a lower QUEST score. User engagement metrics were higher for lower quality videos. The quality of online nutrition information relating to MS was moderate (61 %). Physicians were the most likely source of nutrition information endorsing a diet for MS. The content analysis identified a knowledge gap for both medical professionals and plwMS.

Nutrition misinformation for MS occurs on social media and information quality is variable. Audiences need to be cautioned about users with large followings and evaluate the credibility of all information. This study reiterates the importance of evidence-based information for the MS community.

Suicidal ideation and behaviours are common among adolescents, posing significant challenges. Parents have a protective role in mitigating this risk, yet they often feel ill-equipped to support their adolescents, and their specific support needs are not well understood.

To explore the lived experiences of parents with suicidal adolescents and identify their support needs in the context of a therapist-assisted online parenting programme.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three stakeholder groups based in Australia: nine parents with lived experience caring for a suicidal adolescent, five young people who experienced suicidality during adolescence and five clinical/research experts in youth mental health/suicide prevention. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse and interpret findings.

Three key themes highlight the experience of parenting a suicidal adolescent: the traumatising emotional experience, uncertainty and parent empowerment. Six themes described parents’ support needs: validation and support, practical and tailored strategies, rebuilding the parent–adolescent relationship, parental self-care, flexible and accessible modes of delivery, and understanding non-suicidal self-injury.

Findings highlight key themes of parenting a suicidal adolescent and parental support needs. An online parenting programme could offer parents flexible access to evidence-based parenting strategies. Yet, a purely digital approach may not address the complexities of the parent-adolescent dynamic and provide adequate tailoring. As such, a hybrid approach incorporating therapist support can provide parents with both the compassionate support and practical guidance they seek.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the population’s mental health, particularly for individuals with health anxiety (HA) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). This is in conjunction with a significant change in accessibility of face-to-face psychological services which have had to rapidly adapt to the remote delivery of therapy.

Using a single-arm open trial design, the study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based CBT interventions for HA and OCD delivered via a blend of online therapist consultations interspersed with self-study reading materials. A secondary aim was to evaluate remote training workshops provided to therapists.

Therapists attended three half-day remote workshops after which consecutive participants with HA or OCD were assigned to therapists for treatment. Monthly expert supervision was provided. Patients completed routine outcome measures at each session and an idiosyncratic measure of pre-occupation with COVID-19 at pre- and post-treatment.

Significant and comparable improvements were observed on measures of anxiety, depression and social adjustment from pre- to post-treatment in both the HA (n=14) and OCD (n=20) groups. Disorder-specific measures also showed significant improvements after treatment. The HA group showed greater levels of change on the COVID-19-specific questionnaire. The training workshops were well received by therapists, who valued the monthly supervision sessions.

The study provides support for the effectiveness of the online delivery of CBT for HA and OCD supported by the inclusion of additional self-study booklets.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is hallmarked by recurrent episodes of severe acute pain and the risk for chronic pain. Remote peer support programs have been shown to effectively improve health outcomes for many chronic conditions. The objective of this study was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of an online peer mentoring program (iPeer2Peer program) for adolescents with SCD.

A waitlist pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted. Adolescents randomized to the intervention group were matched with trained peer mentors (19–25 years; successfully managing their SCD), consisting of up to 10 sessions of approximately 30-min video calls over a 15-week period. The control group received standard care. The primary outcomes were rates of accrual, withdrawal, and adherence to iP2P program/protocol, with secondary outcomes identifying topics of mentorship–mentee conversations through qualitative analysis.

Twenty-eight participants (14 intervention; 14 control) were randomized to the study (mean age: 14.8 ± 1.7 years; 57% female). Accrual rate was 80% (28/35) and withdrawal rate was 18% (5/28), with 28% (4/14) adhering to the iP2P program; however, 71% (10/14) of adolescents in the intervention completed at least one call. Based on content analysis of 75 mentor–mentee calls, three distinct content categories emerged: impact of SCD, self-management, transitioning to adulthood with SCD, and general topics.

The results from this pilot study suggest that the current iteration of the iP2P SCD program lacks feasibility. Future research with the iP2P program can focus improved engagement via personalized mentoring, variable communication avenues, and an emphasis on gender.

To characterise the nature of digital food and beverage advertising in Singapore.

Food and beverage advertisements within twenty clicks on the top twelve non-food websites and all posts on the Facebook and Instagram pages of fifteen major food companies in Singapore were sampled from 1 January to 30 June 2018.

Advertised foods were classified as being core (healthier), non-core or mixed dishes (e.g. burger) using the WHO nutrient profile model and national guidelines. Marketing techniques were assessed using published coding frameworks.

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Advertisements (n 117) on the twelve non-food websites were largely presented as editorial content. Food companies posted twice weekly on average on social media sites (n 1261), with eatery chains posting most frequently and generating the largest amount of likes and shares. Key marketing techniques emphasised non-health attributes, for example, hedonic or convenience attributes (85 % of advertisements). Only a minority of foods and beverages advertised were core foods (non-food website: 16·2 %; social media: 13·5 %).

Top food and beverage companies in Singapore actively use social media as a platform for promotion with a complex array of marketing techniques. A vast majority of these posts were unhealthy highlighting an urgent need to consider regulating digital food and beverage advertising in Singapore.