Ministry of Health Library

Health Improvement and Innovation Digest

Issue 202 - 24 October 2019

Welcome to the fortnightly Health Improvement and Innovation Digest (formerly the HIIRC digest). The Digest has links to key evidence of interest, with access to new content arranged by topic.

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Have you heard about Grey Matter?

We'd like to introduce you to another newsletter that the Ministry of Health Library prepares.  The Grey Matter newsletter provides monthly access to a selection of recent NGO, Think Tank, and International Government reports related to health. Information is arranged by topic, allowing readers to quickly find their areas of interest.  If you'd like to subscribe to Grey Matter, email library@health.govt.nz.

Article access

For articles that aren't open access, contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance in accessing the full text. If your organisation has a subscription, you may be able to use the icon under full text links in PubMed to access the full article.

Health Equity (New Zealand)

How long do preschoolers in Aotearoa/New Zealand sleep? Associations with ethnicity and socioeconomic position
The objective of this study, published in Sleep Health, was to investigate potential sleep inequities in preschoolers in Aotearoa/New Zealand, by examining sleep durations and week/weekend sleep duration differences of Māori (indigenous) and non-Māori preschoolers; and independent associations between ethnicity (child and maternal), socioeconomic position (SEP) and preschoolers’ sub-optimal and inconsistent week/weekend sleep durations.

Ethnic disparities in the incidence and outcome from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A New Zealand observational study
New Zealand (NZ) has an ethnically diverse population. International studies have demonstrated significant differences in health equity by ethnicity; however, there is limited evidence in the context of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in NZ. This study, published in Resuscitation, investigated whether heath disparities in incidence and outcome of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest exist between NZ ethnic groups.

Quality Improvement (International)

Evidence Relating Health Care Provider Burnout and Quality of Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Whether health care provider burnout contributes to lower quality of patient care is unclear. The purpose of this study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, was to estimate the overall relationship between burnout and quality of care and to evaluate whether published studies provide exaggerated estimates of this relationship.

Hospital Productivity (International)

Improving Operating Room Efficiency
Operating rooms are critical financial centres for hospital systems, with surgical care representing about a third of all health care spending. However, not all of the costs are appropriate or necessary, as there are sometimes significant inefficiencies in how operating rooms are utilized. This review, published in Current Urology Reports, explores how recent innovations utilizing patient-centred data, systems principles from manufacturing industries, and enhanced communication processes have made significant improvements in improving operating room efficiency.

Reduced Hospitalizations, Emergency Room Visits, and Costs Associated with a Web-Based Health Literacy, Aligned-Incentive Intervention: Mixed Methods Study
The association between health literacy and health care costs, particularly for hospitalizations and emergency room services, has been previously observed. Health information interventions aimed at addressing the negative impacts of inadequate health literacy are needed. The MedEncentive Mutual Accountability and Information Therapy (MAIT) Program is a Web-based system designed to improve health and lower costs by aligning patient-doctor incentives. This study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, explores a Web-based patient-doctor aligned-incentive, information therapy program conducted in an 1800-member employee health plan. The authors aimed to determine the program’s quantitative impact on hospitalization and emergency room utilization and costs, and assess survey responses about the program’s perceived value.

Cancer Services (International)

Peer support opportunities across the cancer care continuum: a systematic scoping review of recent peer-reviewed literature
Evidence suggests peer support (PS) is as an effective strategy for enhancing prevention and control of chronic and infectious diseases, including cancer. This systematic scoping review, published in Supportive Care in Cancer, examines the range and variety of interventions on the use of PS across the cancer care continuum.

Shorter Stays In Emergency Departments (International)

When a health policy cuts both ways: Impact of the National Emergency Access Target policy on staff and emergency department performance
The objective of this study, published in Emergency Medicine Australasia, was to explore the impact of the Four-Hour Rule/National Emergency Access Target (4HR/NEAT) on staff and ED performance.

Primary Health Care (New Zealand)

The impact of a New Zealand community pharmacy service on patients’ medication adherence and ambulatory sensitive hospitalizations
In July 2012 a nationwide community pharmacy-based service was launched in New Zealand. The Long Term Conditions (LTC) service was introduced to help patients with chronic medical conditions, who have difficulties adhering to their medication regimens, improve their adherence. As part of the service pharmacists provide a variety of interventions including: patient education, medication reconciliation, medication synchronization, as well as preparing adherence support aids such as blister packs, sending reminders, and providing tailored dispensing frequencies. Seven years after its introduction scant data are available measuring the impact of the service on patients’ health outcomes. The objective of this study, published in Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, was to examine the impact of LTC on patients’ medication adherence and ambulatory sensitive hospitalizations.

Spatial equity and realised access to healthcare – a geospatial analysis of general practitioner enrolments in Waikato, New Zealand
Geographic measures of accessibility can quantify inequitable distributions of healthcare. Although closest-distance measures are often used in Aotearoa New Zealand these may not reflect patient use of healthcare. This research, published in Rural and Remote Health, examines patterns of patient enrolment in general practitioner (GP) services from a geospatial perspective.

Primary Mental Health (International)

Interventions for drug‐using offenders with co‐occurring mental health problems
The objective of this Cochrane Review was to assess the effectiveness of interventions for drug‐using offenders with co‐occurring mental health problems in reducing criminal activity or drug use, or both.

Universal Mental Health Interventions for Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Health Economic Evaluations
Effective mental health interventions may reduce the impact that mental health problems have on young people’s well-being. Nevertheless, little is known about the cost effectiveness of such interventions for children and adolescents. The objectives of this systematic review, published in Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, were to summarise and assess recent health economic evaluations of universal mental health interventions for children and adolescents aged 6–18 years.

Weight Management (New Zealand)

Ethnic-specific suggestions for physical activity based on existing recreational physical activity preferences of New Zealand women
This study, published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, examined recreational physical activities of New Zealand women to develop ethnic-specific suggestions encouraging physical activity (PA) participation as a targeted approach to reduce obesity rates among different groups.

Exploring motivation for bariatric surgery among Indigenous Māori women
Bariatric surgery is the most effective intervention for alleviating obesity and its complications. Indigenous people worldwide experience higher rates of obesity and obesity disease burden. However, few studies exploring bariatric surgery among Indigenous peoples are published. This study, published in Obesity Research & Clinical Practice, aimed to explore the motivation of Māori women in coming forward for bariatric surgery.

Childhood Obesity (International)

Assessing the effectiveness of a naturally occurring population-level physical activity intervention for children
The aim of the study, published in Public Health, was to assess the impact of a recreation access pass on grade 5 children's physical activity (PA) levels.

Key Ministry of Health Publications

Ka Pū te Ruha, ka Hao te Rangatahi - Good practice guidance for stop smoking services
The aim of this guidance is to open up the permission space for stop smoking services to work in more responsive ways with young wāhine Māori.

District Health Board Initiative

Dashboard added to HealthOne to give GPs a view of patients' hospital stay
General practice teams will be able to see patients' ED visits, hospital admissions and discharges faster through a new GP dashboard function in the South Island's HealthOne shared primary care record system.

The information available on or through this newsletter does not represent Ministry of Health policy. It is intended to provide general information to the health sector and the public, and is not intended to address specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity.