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Playwork is a recognised profession in the United Kingdom (UK) and is currently a growing area of interest internationally. However, debates about the nature and purpose of playwork have raged in the playwork field since the profession was invented in the early adventure playgrounds. This study is the first to capture data about what the now international playwork workforce understands to be the purpose of playwork. The International Playwork Census (IPC) was an online survey which asked participants from 19 different countries about their knowledge and experience of playwork. This paper reports on one question from the IPC: what is the purpose of playwork? A thematic analysis was undertaken from 193 responses on what was considered "the purpose of playwork" and three themes emerged: Facilitate and Provide for children's play; Support and Advocate. This paper describes how these three themes reflect both the historical change in understandings of the purpose of playwork and how different understandings of playwork are developed through the experience of practitioners working in range of different contexts.

The WHO encourages national diet survey (NDS) implementation to obtain relevant data to inform policies addressing all forms of malnutrition, which remains a pressing issue throughout Europe. This paper provides an up-to-date review on energy, macro- and selected micronutrient intakes in children across WHO Europe using the latest available NDS intakes. It assesses these against WHO recommended nutrient intakes (RNI) to highlight vulnerable groups and areas of concern. Dietary survey information was gathered by Internet searches, contacting survey authors and nutrition experts. Survey characteristics, energy and nutrient intakes were extracted and weighted means calculated and presented by region. Child energy and nutrient intakes were extracted from twenty-one NDS across a third (n 18) of the fifty-three WHO Europe countries. Of these, 38 % (n 6) reported intakes by socio-economic group, but by various indicators. Energy and macronutrients, where boys and older children had higher intakes, were more widely reported than micronutrients. Most countries met under half of the WHO RNI for nutrients reported in their NDS. Micronutrient attainment was higher than macronutrients, but worst in girls and older children. Only a third, mainly Western, WHO European member states provided published data on child nutrient intakes. Gaps in provision mean that dietary inadequacies may go unidentified, preventing evidence-based policy formation. WHO RNI attainment was poor, particularly in girls and older children. Inconsistent age groups, dietary methodologies, nutrient composition databases and under-reporting hinder inter-country comparisons. Future efforts should encourage countries to conduct NDS in a standardised format by age and sociodemographic variables.

Many studies have shown that childhood circumstances can have long term consequences that persist until old age. To better understand the transmission of early life circumstances, this paper analyses the effects of health and financial situation during childhood on quality of life after retirement as well as the mediating role of later life health, educational level, and income in this association. Moreover, this study is the first to compare these pathways across European regions. The analyses are based on data of 13,092 retirees aged ≥ 60 and ≤ 85 years from the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with full information on childhood and later life measures of health, educational level, financial situation, and quality of life as well as relevant covariates. Five European regions are studied: Central-Western Europe (Austria, Germany), Central-Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia), Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden), Southern Europe (Italy, Spain), and Western Europe (Belgium, France, The Netherlands). Path analysis is used to identify the direct and indirect effects of childhood measures on quality of life. We find retirees' quality of life to be associated with childhood finances and health in all five European regions. While both the direct and indirect effects of childhood health are rather moderate and homogeneous across regions, especially the direct effects of childhood finances on quality of life after retirement display a distinct North-South gradient being strongest in Southern Europe. Potential explanations for the regional variations are differences in the countries' welfare systems., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Aim: Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) most commonly presents in children aged 5-14 years old. Lifelong rheumatic heart disease (RHD) can result. This study investigated time trends in ARF and RHD using inpatient data from the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne (RCH).Methods: A retrospective cohort study covering the period 1937-2013 was conducted using records from RCH, a quaternary paediatric hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Patient data were identified using RCH classification of diseases coding for ARF or RHD for years <1952. For the period 1952-1987, this system was used in addition to identifying International Classification of Disease (ICD) discharge codes that corresponded to ARF or RHD. From 1988-2013, only ICD codes were used to identify patient data. Descriptive epidemiological analyses were performed, including incidence rate calculations using historical census population denominator data. Analyses focussed on children in the peak age group.Results: Among children aged five to 14 years, a total of 4337 RCH admissions with ARF/RHD occurred for 3015 patients. A sharp decline in first ARF/RHD hospitalisations at RCH occurred from 1959, following a peak mean annual incidence rate during 1944-1947 of 40.1/100 000 children (95% confidence interval (CI): 36.6-43.9; P < 0.05). Over 1996-2013, the mean annual incidence rate was 1.6/100 000 (95% CI: 1.3-1.8) and reached 2.3/100 000 (95% CI: 1.3-3.7) in 2005.Conclusion: The burden of ARF and RHD treated at RCH declined following the 1940s, mirroring changes seen in North America and Europe. Despite this, inpatient treatment for these conditions continued to be provided right up until the end of the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the world's governments committed, in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to achieve universal health coverage by 2030, something they will be held accountable for. We examine progress in the WHO European Region using data from several sources. We assess effective coverage using data from the Global Burden of Disease Programme, including access to 9 key interventions for maternal and child health and communicable and non-communicable diseases and mortality from 32 conditions amenable to health care. Progress is mixed; while Finland and Iceland have already achieved the 2030 target already, other countries, including in the Caucasus and Central Asia have not yet, and are unlikely to by 2030. We then examine financial protection, where progress lags in Central and South East Europe and the former Soviet Union, where high out-of-pocket healthcare payments and catastrophic spending are still common. We stress the need to consider inequalities within countries, with the most vulnerable groups, such as Roma or newly arrived migrants (from the Middle East and Africa) often underserved, while their needs are frequently undocumented. To make progress on the SDGs, governments must invest more heavily in health services research and support the infrastructure and capacity required to enable it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]