Ministry of Health Library
Health Improvement and Innovation Digest
Issue 163 - 15 March 2018
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@moh.govt.nz
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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.
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Shorter Waits for Cancer Treatment (International)
Patient navigators for people with chronic disease: A systematic review
People with chronic diseases experience barriers to managing their diseases and accessing available health services. Patient navigator programs are increasingly being used to help people with chronic diseases navigate and access health services. The objective of this review, published in PLoS One, was to summarize the evidence for patient navigator programs in people with a broad range of chronic diseases, compared to usual care.
Effects of patient navigation on satisfaction with cancer care: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Patient navigation (PN) is a model of healthcare coordination designed to reduce barriers to achieving optimal health outcomes. This systematic review and meta-analysis, published in Supportive Care in Cancer, evaluated whether patient navigation is associated with higher patient satisfaction with cancer care.
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Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes (New Zealand)
Accuracy of point-of-care HbA1c testing in pregnant women
In New Zealand, it is recommended that all pregnant women have a haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test performed with their booking antenatal bloods to identify previously unrecognised diabetes. However, screening rates in some groups are low. Use of a point-of-care device may improve compliance with screening. The aim of this study, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, was to assess the accuracy of the COBAS b101 point-of-care system referenced against a laboratory method, for measurement of HbA1c levels in pregnant women.
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Primary Mental Health (International)
Effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions in primary care populations
Excessive drinking is a significant cause of mortality, morbidity and social problems in many countries. The objective of this Cochrane Review was to assess the effectiveness of screening and brief alcohol intervention to reduce excessive alcohol consumption in hazardous or harmful drinkers in general practice or emergency care settings.
A personalized intervention to prevent depression in primary care: cost-effectiveness study nested into a clustered randomized trial
Depression is viewed as a major and increasing public health issue, as it causes high distress in the people experiencing it and considerable financial costs to society. Efforts are being made to reduce this burden by preventing depression. A critical component of this strategy is the ability to assess the individual level and profile of risk for the development of major depression. This paper, published in BMC Medicine, presents the cost-effectiveness of a personalized intervention based on the risk of developing depression carried out in primary care, compared with usual care.
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Weight Management (International)
Nutritional labelling for healthier food or non-alcoholic drink purchasing and consumption
Nutritional labelling is advocated as a means to promote healthier food purchasing and consumption, including lower energy intake. Internationally, many different nutritional labelling schemes have been introduced. There is no consensus on whether such labelling is effective in promoting healthier behaviour. The objective of this Cochrane Review was to assess the impact of nutritional labelling for food and non-alcoholic drinks on purchasing and consumption of healthier items.
Weight management programmes: Re-analysis of a systematic review to identify pathways to effectiveness
Previous systematic reviews of weight management programmes (WMPs) have not been able to account for heterogeneity of effectiveness within programmes using top-down behavioural change taxonomies. This could be due to overlapping causal pathways to effectiveness (or lack of effectiveness) in these complex interventions. This study, published in Health Expectations, used a Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) can help identify these overlapping pathways.
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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.
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