Evidence suggests there are 5 steps you can take to improve your mental health and wellbeing. Trying these things could help you feel more positive and able to get the most out of life. Self-help suggestions from NHS website.
Acne Support provides expert, impartial information from consultant dermatologists on the treatment, causes and prevention of acne, as well as advice on how to access emotional support. Includes information about different treatments available (both on prescription and over the counter/through beauty clinics), how they work etc.
A presentation about sleep in people with ADHD with advice on tips, tricks and advice for parents of children with ADHD who struggle with insomnia.
Age UK is a charity that provide help for older people in numerous ways. They have a telephone friendship service for people experiencing social isolation, an advice line to help with information about benefits and finances. Their website has information about power of attorney and living wills, pensions, carers, health conditions, loneliness and remaining active. Age UK also provide help with local help at home, gardening and handyperson services, as well as social events, dementia meeting services and day cares.
Information about how to taper alcohol safely, when detoxing at home. Information about alcohol withdrawal symptoms, support, and examples of alcohol reduction regimes.
Impartial advice about equipment to help make daily living easier. You fill out a questionnaire that comprehensively takes you through activities you may struggle with (e.g. breaking down 'preparing drinks' into the steps involved), and then recommends aids that you may find helpful as a result.
The balance app is designed by Dr Louise Newson (GP and menopause specialist). Allows patients to track their menopause symptoms, get access to specialist information, and join a community of like-minded people to share experiences.
National charity supporting people with eating disorders. Has a helpline, instant messaging support, an online chat room, resources and information about eating disorders, and help for friends and family.
British Hypertension Society - home blood pressure monitoring diary. Send to patients with home BP machines - gives all the instructions. They can then drop readings in, or send in the average reading.
Information leaflets about skin conditions and their treatments. This includes actinic keratosis, acne, balanitis, eczema, leg ulcers, viral warts, vulvodynia, lichen sclerosus, SCC, BCC, melanoma, hidradenitis and more. This website also has a section containing guidelines for clinicians (although they are presented as journal articles and are quite lengthy).
An app that helps with the urge to self-harm. Helps you to ride the wave with different activities: comfort, distract, express yourself, release, breathe.
Suicide prevention helpline and webchat (both 5pm-midnight). No longer for men only, they support anyone who needs to talk about life’s problems. They have a crisis helpline. They also support people who have been bereaved through suicide. Their website also contains information and resources about specific concerns and worries, including abuse, anger, anxiety, alcohol and drugs, bullying, depression, erectile dysfunction, hair loss, homelessness, sexuality, relationship breakdown and more.
Written by the British Association of Dermatologists, this is a handbook and guide about common dermatological conditions. This includes acne, prescribing isotretinoin, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, scabies, fungal skin infections, skin cancer, bcc, scc, melanoma, emollient and steroid prescribing. It is mainly aimed at dermatology registrars but a lot of the information is helpful in general practice too.
Diabetes UK a leading charity. Their website provides information about all aspects of diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2) including information about the prevention of type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, lifestyle advice, living with diabetes, information about treatments and the condition itself. They run a dedicated helpline with advisors who have an extensive knowledge of diabetes. They can provide information about the condition, take the time to talk things through and explore emotional, social, psychological or practical difficulties. There are also local support groups that patients can get involved in, and an online support community too.
Information leaflet from Patient UK about advice during pregnancy. Includes information on food and drink to avoid, vitamins and supplements, smoking. alcohol, sex, drugs, working, and more. Useful when trying to conceive or during first pregnancy call.
Alternative ways to use the COCP, including tricycling or continuous pill taking. Information leaflet advising on these methods vs standard 3 week on 1 week off method.
EMC contains information about medicines licensed for use in the UK. All documents have been checked and approved by either the UK or European government agencies which license medicines. Contains summary of product characteristics (SPC) and patient information leaflets (PIL). SPCs contain useful information about prescribing, dosage, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, prescribing in specific circumstances, pregnancy, breastfeeding, hepatic and renal impairment. Contains side effects (listed by frequency).
Guys and Thomas' information leaflet on how to use emollients - gives advice on application and cautions for use.
This fact sheet provides some practical strategies for dealing with the troubling behaviour problems and communication difficulties often encountered when caring for a person with dementia.
FLOWS is a legal support service, designed to help protect women against domestic abuse. They can provide advice on things such as injunctions (e.g. non-molestation orders), divorce, or what happens to somebody's home if leaving a partner.
Gloucestershire NHS trust information sheet for FODMAP diet for IBS with dietary recommendations and guidance
Guidance for prescribing contraception in women over 40yrs. Includes when to safely stop contraception, how to co-prescribe with HRT, and safety considerations.
Information sheet for parents of children who are fussy eaters. Practical tips, and insights into the different sensory components of eating to try to break down and investigate the cause of the issue.
Information about how to reduce the risk of a fall, how to fall-proof a home, exercises to improve balance, advice for if you fall.
Gingerbread is a charity providing support and advice to single parents, so that they have the tools to support their children and themselves. This includes information about benefits, bereavement, child care, child maintenance, contact arrangements, cost of living, housing, parental responsibility and more. They also have a supportive online community where people can meet other single parents and support each other. They have an advice helpline as well as online information.
Sue Ryder (adapted from Berkshire guidelines) guidance for end of life PRN and syringe driver medication prescribing.
National charity raising awareness and providing information about digestive diseases. A good website for information about various GI disorders, in particular including IBS. They have fact sheets for different GI conditions and symptoms.
Aimed at young people but can be applicable to all relationships, self-help advice for going through a break-up and ways to help.
Listen to Specialist NHS Gastroenterology Dietitians giving the most up-to-date and accurate advice on first-line dietary treatment for adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, including information on dairy, lactose, gluten and the low FODMAP diet and whether allergy testing is useful in IBS treatment.
A charity for victims and survivors of honour based abuse in the UK. Honour based abuse can take many forms, including child marriage, virginity testing, enforced abortion, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, as well as physical, sexual and economic abuse and coercive control. For some communities, the concept of ‘honour’ is prized above the safety and wellbeing of individuals. To compromise a family’s ‘honour’ is to bring dishonour and shame – which can have severe consequences. This is sometimes used to justify emotional abuse, physical abuse, disownment and in some cases even murder. Honour Based Abuse is more prevalent within communities from South Asia, the Middle East, and North and East Africa. Reports come from Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Orthodox Jewish and occasionally traveller communities. It is not determined by gender – both perpetrators and victims can be male or female.
Resources for patients to help towards better self-management of their long term pain. Offers knowledge, tools and resources to help patients become clearer about their needs, manage or cope with their pain well and be more effective in their use of health care. There are also resources for doctors to support patients living with chronic pain.
Living Made Easy is brought to you by the DLF, the charity previously known as the Disabled Living Foundation. Free impartial advice and information on solutions, gadgets, adaptations and aids to make life easier. Combine with Ask Sara, where you fill in a questionnaire and they make recommendations on aids which may help you around the house. Living Made Easy directs you to places where you may be able to purchase the aids you need.
Mankind is a charity supporting male victims of domestic abuse. They have a helpline that offers emotional support and practical help, including signposting to support services and making an escape plan.
Medicines for Children provides practical and reassuring advice to empower parents/carers to give medicines correctly and with confidence to their children. Leaflets are written by practising health professionals, who provide practical advice that complements information in the British National Formulary for Children. The website is partnered with WellChild, Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacist Group (NPPG) and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).
*Needs a login* - free subscription for a certain number of views per month. Table of different brands of HRT, detailing what each one contains, form of HRT (e.g. sequential vs continuous combined), and how to take. Useful particularly when starting HRT, deciding between patches etc.
Moodgym is like an interactive self-help book which helps you to learn and practise skills which can help to prevent and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety. Moodgym provides training in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), and consists of five interactive modules which are completed in order. These include information, interactive exercises, workbooks to record thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and quizzes with personalised feedback.
NHS service for mental health and wellbeing support for veterans, service leavers and reservists. Patients will be speaking with people who are either from the Armed Forces community or highly experienced in working with serving personnel, reservists, veterans and their families. Services include providing care and treatment for mental health problems, including therapeutic treatment for psychological trauma, and intensive emergency care in crisis. They also work with charities and local organisations to support patients with their wider health and wellbeing needs, such as housing, relationships, finances, employment, drug and alcohol misuse and social support.
Information about medications used for mental health. Includes information leaflets for patients and also information for doctors, including: medications in pregnancy, comparing different medication side effect profiles, management of drug specific side-effects, switching medications or formulations.
Information about how to check your peak flow and how to complete a peak flow diary. The Asthma and Lung UK website more broadly has a lot of information about different lung conditions, and a helpline with trained staff who are able to provide advice about management of different lung conditions.
Created by the Pituitary Foundation, this guide has been put together for GPs and provides information about pituitary conditions including acromegaly, pituitary tumours, cushing's, hyperprolactinaemia, hypopituitarism, hypogonadism and more.
The Pituitary Foundation is a charity that offers practical, emotional and peer support to everyone living with or impacted by a pituitary condition, to feel empowered and live with a greater sense of wellbeing. Their website contains information about pituitary conditions such as acromegaly, cushing's, hypopituitarism, prolactinomas, pituitary adenomas and more. They also have a helpline run by endocrine nurses, a telephone buddy system and they run support groups.
Minor Eye Conditions Service (MECS) and Urgent Eyecare Service (UES) is an NHS service provided by opticians to assess and treat both minor and sudden onset eye problems. Patients do not need a referral from a GP. The website has a link to find local participating opticians which patients can then contact directly. Examples of problems that may be suitable include: Red, dry, gritty, painful, inflamed, watery eyes. Flashes, floaters, loss of vision, foreign body in eye, minor eye injuries.
24/7 National domestic abuse helpline for women experiencing domestic abuse. The helpline provides emotional and practical support. They can help with planning an escape, financial and legal advice, and can help find a refuge vacancy for people leaving an abusive situation.
Rock My Menopause was set up to give women the confidence to recognise and discuss their symptoms and equip families, friends, employers and the wider public with information about the menopause to support women at this time of life. Rock My Menopause is a campaign of the Primary Care Women’s Health Forum (PCWHF), providing expert medical guidance, direction and information about the menopause.
RCOG has developed a number of helpful information leaflets for patients about various procedures and conditions. Includes leaflets on topics such as hysteroscopy, LLETZ, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, miscarriage, assisted delivery, pelvic girdle pain etc. A good place to source additional information for your patients.
Developed with the NHS and RCPH, What 0-18 has created information leaflets for common conditions seen in children in primary care. These can be sent to parents to provide additional information and safetynetting advice. Also known as 'healthier together'.
A resource created by NHS Scotland: self help resources for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Contains suggestions of strategies to manage issues with time management, anxiety, impulsiveness, attention, frustration, home management, problem solving, sleep etc.
Shout 85258 is a free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope. It is a de-escalation, volunteer-driven service, working with people in immediate distress to take them to a calmer moment and empower them with support and techniques to take their next steps to feeling better and handle future issues, as well as possibly signposting someone to further support services or their GP so that they can get continuous and long-term support. It is not a service that can provide regular, ongoing support.
Advice on sleep hygiene with tips to help with insomnia and improve sleep. An article from the Sleep Foundation (an American non-profit corporation).
Sleepio is a six-week clinically proven programme used to treat insomnia, available free on the NHS. It is now available for all patients in England using their NHS login. It is a CBT based program delivered via an app that can be used on mobile devices.
An organisation offering peer-to-peer support to all those over the age of 18, impacted by suicide loss in the UK. They help those bereaved by suicide to support each other, at the time of their loss and in the months and years that follow. They offer peer led support groups, online virtual support groups, a national telephone helpline, online community forum and email support.
App designed to help with pelvic floor exercises. There is information for both men and women with pelvic floor dysfunction. Particularly helpful for women post-natally, the app guides you through an exercise plan and you can set reminders on your phone.
Resources to support teenage mental health. Includes information leaflets and also links to four free mental health apps: Calm Harm (resisting self-harm impulses), Clear Fear (managing symptoms of anxiety), Move Mood (to help with low mood and depression), and Combined Minds (aimed at helping families and friends to provide mental health support). Resources on the website have sections aimed at teenagers, at schools, at healthcare professionals, at families and also at friends of somebody struggling with their mental health.
BMJ article that compared effect of tai chi versus aerobic exercise for fibromyalgia: comparative effectiveness randomized controlled trial. Outcome was a reduction in symptom score that was greater in those who did tai chi exercises. Article may be used to facilitate discussions with patients around tai chi or other stretching exercises as a pain management strategy in fibromyalgia.
A youtube video that goes through some tai chi exercises for patients with fibromyalgia. Involves a number of seated exercises and low intensity exercises. A randomised control trial demonstrated evidence that exercise such as tai chi may be helpful for pain management in fibromyalgia; this video is one example of some exercises that they may find helpful.
Educational tool that aims to inspire research-based action in the treatment of chronic pain. Animated and written information about understanding chronic pain, and learning to overcome it. Useful resource links about understanding pain and moving towards recovery.
The Silver Line Helpline is a free, confidential telephone service just for older people. They provide friendship, conversation and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Depending on what kind of support somebody needs, they can direct people to certain services, groups or resources that may help. "Whether you’d like to exchange a quick “good morning” with someone, fancy a chat about how your day has gone, or need a trusted listening ear to share your thoughts and feelings with, we’re here to talk."
The Sleep Charity produces a wide range of evidence-based information on all aspects of sleep from triggers to treatments. This includes advice sheets and suggestions for people of all ages, with specific information for children, teens and adults. They also have a helpline where they can discuss recommendations and strategies.
Charity with free helpline, advice, information and support for anybody suffering from tinnitus. They have summarised evidence on treatments for tinnitus (including complimentary ones) with advice on their efficacy and evidence base.
Resources and information for pregnancy and pregnancy loss. Includes a pregnancy hub with information about planning pregnancy, being pregnant, giving birth, and postnatal information. Pregnancy loss section includes information about miscarriage, stillbirth, ectopic pregnancy, neonatal death, termination of pregnancy, and has links to their online community support groups.
Information from the 'medicines for children' website regarding prescribing medicine off license. Useful for discussions with parents.
Versus Arthritis is a charity that raises awareness and supports people with arthritis. Their website has information about arthritis and its various treatments, and other rheumatological conditions such as fibromyalgia. They also have a helpline for further information and advice. This page in particular has exercises to keep joints healthy and to help with arthritis related pains.
Victim Support helps anyone affected by crime. Not only those who experience it directly, but also their friends, family and any other people involved. It doesn’t matter when the crime took place, or whether it has been reported it to the police. They run a 24/7 helpline that is independent from the police, free and confidential.
Online community supporting people with a range of long term health conditions, encouraging them to find ways to be active. Developed by 16 leading health and social care charities and backed by expertise, insight and significant National Lottery funding from Sport England. Advice and suggestions on the website. People share their activities with the #WeAreUndefeatable .
Really great website of resources for parents and doctors. Developed with the NHS and RCPH, resources for both healthcare professionals and parents about maternal and child health. Includes: Information on common childhood illnesses, symptoms in pregnancy, postnatal health, maternal mental health, child safety, healthy living. For healthcare professionals there are also resources to support discussions about healthy living such as childhood obesity.
Suggested pathway for investigating abdominal pain/GI symptoms in adults and children. Aims to reduce time to diagnosis by suggesting ways to co-investigate various possible causes of pain, as well as providing advice on red flag symptoms to watch out for.
Information and support for women experiencing domestic abuse. Contains a survivor's handbook with advice about how to safely leave an abusive relationship. The website directs to other agencies for support including the Refuge domestic abuse helpline.
Detailed factsheets on the most common gynaecological conditions and sexual health. Helpful information and infographics for HRT including a factsheet on risk factors for breast cancer (putting HRT into context).